I’m like a kid on Christmas right now. I started building my table Wednesday evening and finished it up yesterday evening. I had a bit of a struggle getting SheetCAM all setup this morning, but after a few hours of tinkering, I got it.
I wanted to try something with some intricate designs, so I though, why not my home state of WV!
This is 16 gauge mild hot rolled. Settings I got the best cut with are .05 delay, 100ipm, 30 amps, and full 70psi.
Couple things im struggling with. First, grounding. I can’t get a good ground from the water table drain bolt. I had to clamp to a slat, which then put my clamp somewhat in water which isn’t good.
Second, firecontrol. I had a couple instances where the machine would fire but then get stuck firing at the pierce and not move. The software wouldn’t let me stop the job so I had to turn the plasma off to get it to stop. Then I had to reset firecontrol or else the same issue would happen again. Had this happen twice now. I assume it’s a big, but maybe it’s my computer not having enough processor? (8 year old i5 processor)
Anyway, im super excited to start cutting all kinds of stuff. This table is amazing and you get so much for your money.
I have been using 4’ by 4’ sheets so the clamp is hanging off the edge away from the water table on the piece. I don’t know what it would hurt to have the clamp in the water.
You could also get a smaller clamp and run a wire from the big clamp about 3 foot long and clamp the smaller clamp to your work peice. And leave the large work clamp on the drain out of the way. lol or enough to reach
Just tried a bigger cut and now im having issues with fire control freezing Midway through the full cut. The torch moves to the next spot, comes down to fire, but doesn’t and just stays there. Then none of the buttons in firecontrol work so I have to ctl alt delete and end program.
We posted an updated version to FireControl that addressed a bunch of little bugs that i think might cover what you are experiencing. Use add/remove programs to uninstall the current version you have and download the version on the website. Link is here: http://www.langmuirsystems.com/downloads
Thanks for letting us know. I recommend installing that version of FireControl i mentioned and trying again. The nature of what you are experiencing has me wondering if its being caused by electrical noise. If you turn THC off and dry run the program, does it run without fail?
Are you using the USB cable supplied with double ferrite chokes?
Click that button to toggle off THC. That will allow you to run the program with the torch off. Make sure you have material on the table because it will still do IHS moves.
The software update Daniel linked is a hotfix for some visualizer performance issues. We plan to release FireControl 20.2 on the site today as the first official software update which will improve visual performance even beyond the hotfix release so stayed tuned!
Definetely sounds like an electrical noise issue from the plasma cutter (which is odd because you are running a RW45). Noise can affect USB communication which FireControl relies on for communication with the machine. Can you try a few things?:
Run the program with THC toggled off in FireControl and also disconnect the THC plug from the Electronics Enclosure.
Move the Laptop and the plasma cutter as far away from eachother as possible and run again.
Got it! I moved the plasma a few inches further away (about as far as the torch lead would allow) and it ran perfectly. Not the greatest cut, but I think that’s due to one of my settings.
Again, thanks so much for such awesome support. You guys are top notch!
