I had an issue today were the machine froze in the beginning of a cut with the torch still on. I turned off the plasma, let it sit for about 30 secs, flipped it back on and the plasma immediately turned on. The machine did not move from the original spot it froze in. I thought it was gonna cut a hole in my water table.
I had to turn the plasma off, then turn off the eltronics on the table.
I will do some more investigating tomorrow when I have more time.
You can also yank the USB cable. I had that same problem and was able to stop torch firing.
What was your solution to fix?
I moved table a little farther from cutter and it has not recurred, but I’m waiting on new chokes. Apparently the Cut 60 is a known noisemaker.
i have my CUT60 on a welding cart next to the table. at first i had it right next to the control panel on the table and i was getting interference. all i had to do was move the cutter to the opposite side of the table and problems went away. using the choke as well.
I have seen a few videos where other people had problems and use the chokes some somehow they put three on one guy said he had to put three on to make it work three they were not
your sys ( other systems ) and had pictures I don’t know where I seen it if I see it again I’ll send you a picture or a video
I’m new here, but I’m wondering if any testing has been done with an SSD vs hard drive. My money says that will solve the problem for at least some people with really noisy boxes, who still have a problem even with the chokes, isolators, and a ground rod tied directly to the plasma cabinet… EMF is nasty stuff. I’ve actually solved EMF-based software crashes on a without a full SSD conversion - just a installed the offending software to a thumbdrive, instead of the hard drive. Kind of janky - but good for a proof of concept, before investing in a more $$ and involved upgrade.
My laptop in the above video has all SSD drives in it. Was this a plasma CNC machine that you solved the EMF problem on?
No, not a Plasma CNC. But I once worked in a shop with a Chassis dyno, and the laptop would have a kniption fit at random, where the dyno soiftware would freeze and have to be killed with the task manager and restarted (maybe once every 3-5 dyno pulls) with anything much over 900 HP at the wheels - SSD fixed it. Just for kicks, I took the ferrite choke off of the USB cable going to the control box that ran the eddy current brake, and it still didn’t have a problem (the ferrite choke was supposed to fix that problem). My laptop in my shop would get a BSOD if it was accessing the hard drive when I started an arc with my big plasma torch, within about 30 feet (not CNC, and I mean BIG - it has a lift hook, not a handle, and 5" casters), and an SSD fixed that (to be clear - this would happen with nothing plugged into the laptop, not even the charger). I once worked in a shop with a medium-ish CNC mill (10 HP 3ph spindle), and any time there was even a brownout, the back-EMF on the lines (from the spindle) would go through the cat5 cable, and any software that was accessing the hard drive at the time would freeze up, and have to be killed from the task manager and restarted, and an SSD fixed it (a ferrite choke helped, took a bigger brownout to freeze the cad software). That computer wasn’t affected directly by the brownouts - I could sit there and keep drawing for more than 15 minutes during a complete blackout, due to a massive UPS (with brownout protection), that was intended for small servers. But no, no CNC plasma machines - the one I just ordered will be my first one. I’ve been the accidental IT guy at most places I’ve ever worked since computers became common in shops, as well as the equipment repair guy, and in most cases, the only CNC programmer, but I’ve never even been close enough to touch a CNC plasma machine (watched a Lincoln 5x10 from 15 feet away for about 10 minutes, at a shop belonging to a vendor for one of my previous jobs). I just thought it was worth asking, since I’ve seen other EMF related problems with similar symptoms, or caused by plasma arc-start, that I was able to completely solve with an SSD. However, since it happens with an SSD, but not every arc-start, I think it has to be the status of the data interface over the USB cable, between the laptop and the CNC controller, and the freeze is probably caused by the USB controller on one end or the other of that connection. Since it’s not everyone having the problem, I’m going to bet that if we looked at logs of who is and isn’t having the problem, with laptop serial numbers in the data set, we could narrow down which USB controller chipsets have this problem, and which ones don’t, so that one could look at the list and pick a laptop with a less sensitive USB controller. I have a vested interest in this issue, as I haven’t bought a dedicated laptop for my crossfire yet, and as soon as I saw this topic, and read the posts, it occurred to me that it was likely the specific equipment in the laptop that makes the difference between who has the problem and who doesn’t.
Happy to report that we have found a more robust/elegant solution to this interference problem. Please check out this thread for more information: FIX: Interference From Plasma Cutter Freezing FireControl
I like this thorough response. I have a Hypertherm 85 less than three feet from my control box. My computer is a Dell 2-in-1 7000 series with a NVMe SSD hard drive. I’ve never had a single issue with my USB or my computer. I did upgrade to a slightly longer braided gold-plated USB cable and when they sent the ferrite choke I installed it for fun, but never because I had any issue… We have 30 computers and laptops at work and not a single one has a spinning hard drive anymore; In my opinion they are an abomination. Better things have come along and I will buy a new laptop with a 1 TB spinning drive in and never even press the power button until it has an SSD installed!
Hey,
I had the same issue. I fixed my problem by Earth grounding my table. My crossfire Pro works like a champ.
how and where did you ground it?
you want to ground your table…which means placing a steel rod into the ground at least 3’…and if you are in a climate where frost hits you need to go below frost line…then run a #6 wire from the rod into the shop to tie directly to the table leg…raw metal to raw metal…’
The Earth ground seamed to help me. Just wondering if putting rubber casters on the table made the problem with Firecontrol freezing worse.
I could see rubber wheels insulating the table from grounding through the concrete. Not a great ground, but a ground nonetheless. I ground everything - table, plasma cutter frame, air lines… I sometimes forget that not everyone thinks about proper earth grounds for equipment. That should probably be the first troubleshooting question for… just about anything from cut quality to control gremlins to arc voltage loss during a cut. Table, plasma cutter frame, and air lines should all be grounded to a solid earth ground. Air lines generate a lot of static electricity during high volume use.
Put one of these on your usb cable
I have also noticed that coiling the leads for the cutter (either of them) can be a bad thing too. Giant inductor…
R.
I’m experiencing interference from the controller (NOT the plasma cutter) and also having issues with fire control locking up. I have removed the inductor mentioned on other posts.
Plasma cutter is OFF.
Will still have fire control randomly lock up.
Interference is only when control box is powered on. I can plug in usb and run fire control with no problem.(virtually watching torch move, even though it’s not moving. ) (Again, plasma off)
As soon as I turn control box on, (torch unplugged, completely off) the program will randomly crash.
Also, if I get near any of the wires or the control box with my wireless earbuds, they drop out indicating an interference
Any idea how I can fix this?