I’m reaching the end of my patience with this issue.
I bought my CrossFire Pro about two years after its release, and although I’ve run into problems over the years, Langmuir support always came through. One time, a technician even spent hours on the phone helping me solve a problem.
This time is different.
I had just completed a full 4’ x 8’ sheet of 16-gauge steel, around 600 pierces without any issues. After replacing the consumables, I started a new sheet. Almost immediately, the torch began lifting during the cut and wasn’t cutting through the material.
I replaced the consumables multiple times, checked my ground clamp, air supply, wiring, and everything else I could think of. The result never changed. Meanwhile, I continued wasting steel trying to diagnose the problem.
Support has had me change settings and run tests, but nothing has worked. The THC passes its tests, throws no errors, yet clearly isn’t functioning correctly. What’s most frustrating is getting a single suggestion at a time instead of a serious effort to troubleshoot the problem.
At this point, it feels like I’m expected to keep chasing dead ends until I simply give up.
The reality is simple: if the machine won’t cut, my CrossFire Pro is just an expensive yard ornament. I’ve even tried calling Langmuir directly, and nobody answers. I am willing to pay for parts or pay one of their techs for a dedicated period of time.
Is the green IHS light in Firecontrol coming on when the torch lifts? If the IHS switch opens or a wire is loose in the IHS system, Firecontrol thinks the torch is touching the metal and raises it to prevent a crash.
If your system is a couple of years old, it’s likely one if the connections at the IHS switch has come loose and is causing this issue.
Thanks for the information. Your advice sounds promising, and I will take a look at the IHS. I’ve inspected the wires at the back of the torch mount, and they appear to be in good condition. I haven’t disassembled the torch mount since the machine was new. Are the IHS wires the ones located directly behind the torch mount?
At times, one of those screws loosens up and will cause intermittent issues where IHS triggers and the sort. Heck, something as silly as metal debris can fall on there or build up and it can cause things to trigger as well.
IHS is a good place to start looking for possible voltage leaks, everything above are good tips as metal debris, moisture or loose contacts can cause either IHS failures or Voltage leaks which can cause the THC to rise.
In my experience though, the easiest way to rule out anything THC related is just to disable it in the top right of FireControl by clicking that x next to Height Control. It will still do the IHS sequence just won’t cause it to actively move during the cut. I would only do this on a sufficiently thick and flat material (10GA or thicker).
If this causes the machine to cut properly then at that point most likely something in the THC chain is acting up. However, if it doesn’t cut properly then either it’s an issue with the plasma cutter itself, or the IHS is causing the initial height to be higher than intended.
