IHS Fail Error - CrossFire Pro IHS Always Green (Solved)

CrossFire ® PRO Troubleshooting
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Hi All, I’m a new Crossfire Pro owner and I’ve just finished assembling it(Z-Axis w/ THC & Hypertherm 45a SmartSYNC). I’ve run the break-in program and done a few dry runs of parts made in Fusion360. When I go to make my first cuts, I get an IHS Fail error. The IHS icon at the bottom of FireControl remains green at all times. After a bit of troubleshooting and reading forum posts, I understand that the circuit is remaining open when it should be closed. I’ve ensured that the blade plugs(in the attached picture) are fully inserted and also that the IHS wire is connected to the electronics enclosure. I was wanting to take the blades out in order to ‘short circuit’ them in order to see if the ‘IHS’ will turn grey, however they are in there pretty tight and I’m concerned that if I try to force them apart they may break(maybe i put them in too tight?). The plastic around the blades actually started sliding but the blades themselves seem quite firmly connected. So I slid the plastic and ‘short circuited’ the blades while still attached. Sure enough the IHS icon immediately went grey. The screw that the left hand wire attaches to does seem somewhat loose(i.e. I can rotate the wire fairly freely). The screw that the right hand wire attaches to seems solid. I’m not sure but I believe it’s the screw that the left hand wire attaches to that is the problem. Any suggestions/best practices on how to access that screw in order to tighten this connection? It is somewhat difficult to get to and I imagine I will have to disassemble the z-axis to some extent.

Thanks for any suggestions

IHS
IHS481×640 71.3 KB

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Welcome to the forum!

Is the torch holder able to move up and down as you lift it by hand? Do this gently, it should have a bit of movement vertically if the torch is lifted up off of the workpiece.

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You have successfully isolated the problem to the Z axis assembly. Now you have to determine if it is the loose wire(which need to be tightened in any case) or a problem with the switch. There have been a number of cases where a brass tab from the switch is bent out and touching the lead screw. This can cause the switch to be held open.

There is a thread here where instructions are given for the disassembly of the Z axis. You should find something helpful in this thread Newish to cnc and fusion

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Thank you both, I did check - the z-axis did have a little movement up and down(because of the spring, I believe?)

I started playing around with some brass wire to see if I could get the circuit to close before following the z axis disassembly video in the thread you sent(thank you that video was exactly what I needed). It was the screw, as I thought. It seemed to have an excess of glue(clear thread locker?) that was making it read OL on my multimeter. I disassembled the z-axis and was able to clean it all off and then verify conduction on my multimeter before reassembly.

I really appreciate the help, I’ve just made my first cuts - thankfully, they turned out better than expected

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Great news. Glad I could help.

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