Advice/feedback

Hey guys, I’ve been cutting a few things here and there with descent results so far, but tonight I decided to try to dial in my cuts and get actual kerf widths with a line speed test. 9 lines increments of 5 from 85ipm to 125ipm. Hypertherm 45xp, shielded, 45amps, 1/8 steel. I set my lead in to .1, lead angle 60⁰, lead distance 0, clearance .059. I noticed that the 1st line (85ipm) cut perfectly, on the following 8 lines there is no lead in cut, the torch fired on after the lead in movement began…any idea what could be causing this??



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Hello Lucas, did you do this with a G-code program or in Fusion 360? There are some good test cut programs in the Tips & Tricks section of this forum. Look for a thread " Test cut program to find the ideal cutting speed
Good Luck with your testing.

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Thanks Millar, I’ll check out some other posts shortly, as for my test I just used fusion 360 and made individual cut profiles for each line, I want to do a few circle cuts next to establish a good speed for complex designs but I am mainly concerned about losing my lead in cut after the first line

Your lack of lead in is probably the same issue I (and others) have had. It’s the torch on relay to torch firing delay.

My first cuts are fine, but subsequent cuts In a program the torch was moving before firing. I had to more than double my pierce delay to get it to cut completely on follow up cuts (torch firings).

Langmuir is aware of this and suggested the longer pierce delay. If the machine knew when the torch fired then pierce delay could be left at hypertherms book specs.

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HT has another circuit available to signal when the arc is actually established. That’s when the pierce delay is supposed to start. Other plasmas don’t have that circuit (I think it’s one of HT’s patents). So the pierce times in the HT manual need to be adjusted to allow for the arc establishment delay. I expect a Hypertherm table doesn’t need that adjustment but I don’t have the money to find out :grin:

so I just talked to a hypertherm tech & he said that I do indeed need to utilize two more pins on my cpc port (12&14). These are apparently the pins needed to get motion after the arc is established…so where would I hook these pins?

would I use 12 & 14 in place of pins 3 & 4?

You don’t. The Crossfire doesn’t have the ability to read that signal and behave accordingly. For that you need HT’s CNC table (and another wheelbarrow of money :slight_smile: ).

3&4 tell it to fire (on or off); 12&14 tells a relay in HT’s table that the arc has established so it powers the timer circuit to start counting down for the pierce delay. Crossfire doesn’t have that sensing circuit - it only knows on & off right now.

Well crap! So I just need to increase my piece delay for now?

Yep. That’s the solution. I think Langmuir advocates doubling the manual’s recommendation for pierce delay.

There’s a reason HT is considered the best. They developed a lot of things like this that make their cutters perform better than anyone else’s. And on their systems (plasma & CNC together) their consumable life is phenomenal compared to the competitors. They have patents by the boatload for plasma tech. Unfortunately that also comes with a price tag and other folks can’t just add the features if they’re covered by one of those patents.

Gotcha, well thanks for the info, I’m cutting stuff now and I was abt to pull out what little hair I have left!