I’m hoping someone else has ran into this issue. I’ve wasted a half sheet of 16ga trying to figure this out.
I design my parts in Solidworks, export the DXF, program it in Fusion 360 (paid subscription). I’ll export and dry run the program. Everything runs fine, I’ve cut hundreds of parts on my Crossfire XL with no issues until now. I’ll start the program with the plasma on (Hypertherm 65) with fresh consumable and dry air. The program will run fine at first, then jump to a random spot in the sheet (within the programmed cutting area) and pierce and run the rest of the program OUTSIDE the programmed path. Again, the dry run of the program is fine. Something is wrong with the output of Mach3 I think. I’ll post pics of the results.
Has anyone else had this problem? It is very frustrating to dry run my parts then have this problem once the plasma is running.
Should I ditch Mach3 and Fusion 360 for FireControl? It seems Langmuir doesn’t have much support for Mach3 and Fusion 360 these days.
Mach3 can only be used with the original CrossFire table. If you’re wanting to ditch Mach3 you’ll have to purchase the THC upgrade kit which comes with a new control box. It is then that you would then be able to use Firecontrol.
I found the issue. I use a macbook pro (2015ish) running windows on its own partition. I think the drivers updated and created this issue. It’s only when the torch is firing, it happened 4 times in a row. It’s some type of issue with the software running on that particular laptop. I used my CAD laptop to run Fusion 360 and Mach3, no issues. It actually cut MUCH better too, less dross. It looks like I’ll be selling this macbook pro and buying a new laptop for the plasma. Thanks for the help TinWhisperer and stinker337! Maybe I’ll grab that THC upgrade after all.
Not sure it is your Mac Book Pro. New CrossFireXR with THC and razorweld45 here. The first dozen cuts were perfect. Last night a simple cut started acting 100% as you describe. Dry runs are perfect. However when cutting the same error is repeated machine cuts first 3 parts perfectly. For reason unknown when it is about start the 4 the part the machine skips a few inches X+ and then starts the 4th part cut which is obviously ruined. Oh yes Fusion 360. Update interestingly enough I restarted XR this evening and loaded the same tool path. Tonight both the dry run and actual cut followed the same path therefore I will chuck this up to gremlins. However, I will contact Langmuir tomorrow to see if they have any suggestions to avoid this in the future. Also if anyone here has any suggested they will be appreciated.
