The table is assembled, and IT LIVES!!! Hahahahah!
Seriously, the assembly went great. They sent me the wrong legs, but I fixed that and they sent another. A few screws left over… that always worries me, but they also didn’t send a couple that I needed, so I guess it evens out? Software was plug and play, x, y, z axis moved first try just fine. Hooking up the torch with their plug and play cable was as described. Thank you @ntkfabworks for the info on rewiring the 15 degree hand torch to a machine torch. It was easy, and it worked first time!
Made the first test cut today on a test card I designed. It went really well, considering I just guessed at feeds and speeds and amps. First cut was also 18 gauge, and only have 45 amp consumables. So the cuts aren’t too good. I tried it with some 11 gauge I have and it came out much better, very little dross. Pics below.
Questions/Problems (Hypertherm 45xp)
Large hole on the line cut in the top of the plate at the start. .5 sec pause on the pierce cut. I tried to make it shorter, but anything less than .5 and it cuts the line, moves to the second cut which has a lead in, and does the touch off, moves up to pierce height, then makes 3 puff noises and the program pauses. Tried .4, .25 and .1. No love. Don’t know why it’s doing that.
Can I run the torch at a lower amperage than the consumable shows. The shield has 45-85amps printed on it. I think I read that running it at lower amperage than it is made for will damage the consumables. I have some fine cut consumables on order, but getting stuff from Hypertherm is really problematic right now - long lead time. AirGas has them, but they are getting them from other stores and from their warehouse. Will be awhile til I get them all.
I didn’t know I’d need a wetsuit to run the torch. What a mess! Splashes all over the place. I’ll figure that out, I’m sure there’s some splash guards that are easy to make. I learned quick to cut in the middle of the table, not at the corner.
Thanks in advance! This is going to be a fun journey!
After the first pierce the hypertherm has a delay for the post flow air to clear the torch. My delay is approximately .4 seconds for a 25’ lead. I add .4 second to all hypertherm chart pierce delay settings. Then manually edit the gcode and change the first pierce back to book settings.
That is great , Langmuir does provide good instructions.
That always keeps the guy thinking.
Your manual with the 45XP comes with a comprehensive set of cut charts so there’s no need to guess at speed and amps.
.5 is your delay limit minimum. It’s enough time for all the system lag to pull that relay in.
The first pierce is always longer with the langmuir so if you’re going to be doing line cutting have another piece of sacrificial geometry to cut as your first piece before you move into the line and it will minimize that initial Pierce mark blowout.
You can always run lower but if you take a very good look at the hypertherm charts with only a few exceptions :
45 amps consumables will run at 45 amps 65 amp consumables will run at 65 amps 85 amps consumable to run at 85amps.
With fine cut there is a few exceptions at 40 amps.
And if you’re running ultra thin materials like 26 gauge then you will likely be closer to 25 amps only because you have a speed limit of 300 IPM on the langmuir pro. So you’re trading speed for amps off the charts.
I have a couple 6 inch by 23 inch pieces of galvanized sheet metal that I use is a dam near where I’m cutting.
It looks pretty for some first test cuts out of the gate.
Thanks to both of you! I’ll make sure the first cut is an inside lead in.
I saw those, just wanted to see if it was firing and moving accurately. I was actually pretty close.
I saw the cut charts for this tip, basically the only variable changed was cut speed. I’ve got some fine cut consumables ordered from local welding supplying. 16gauge is the thinnest I’ll be doing right now, so not crucial yet.
So Langmuir post lengthens the first pierce in the cam program? And the .5 that #tinwhisperer is referring to as the minimum is because it goes under the delay on the hypertherm?
Thanks, I’m going down to the studio tinker and play!
I’m not sure what @TinWhisperer is talking about with the .5 minimum. My typical settings for 14ga in fusion post is .06 cut height .15 pierce,. .6 pierce delay. Hypertherms chart says .2 pierce delay I add .4 because of hypertherms delay for clearing post flow. After posting I edit the first g04 line in gcode from .6 to .2 as the first pierce is not affected by post flow. Here is a link to Jim colts post about the delay do to post flow. Hypertherm pierce delay after first pierce? - PlasmaSpider.com
Firecontrol measure time from when signal is sent so you will need to adjust your pierce delays based on lead length. I pierce delay to 73 percent in fire control when trying to get really small pierce holes on straight line cuts
Pierce delay is set to .5 in the gcode on my test code. If I go below that, even to .4 (either rewriting the gcode or reducing the percent through FireControl), it does the first cut, then on the second cut puffs 3 times instead of firing and the program stops.
The minimum tinwhisperer mentions:
From what you are saying, you add .4 to the pierce delay recommended, then subtract it from the first cut. TinWhisperer says that Langmuir makes the first cut longer, and Hypertherm does not delay the first cut. It all seems to work together like a well oiled machine…
Realized my THC was not operating - the section in FireControl was grayed out. Software doesn’t connect with the update if there is no internet . I downloaded it last night and it’s working today. Did a test and all is good now. Probably doesn’t even activate on this test card since the cuts are so short.
Thanks! I’ll try lowering the first G04 and leaving the rest as is for the line pierce.
. I downloaded it last night and it’s working today. Did a test and all is good now. Probably doesn’t even activate on this test card since the cuts are so short.