I have a Longmuir systems crossfire pro plasma table w/ powermax 600 plasma cutter. My question is, i have a problem with the post arc flow defeating the restart of the torch between subsequent cuts. do i add to pierce delay in the tool definition or pause at end of cut in the tool definition to compensate for this dwell. Hypertherm also said if i could add a double click to the arc start signal that would defeat the post flow also.
Im getting gaps in cuts from where the torch didnt fire until the post flow was done.
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Can you further elaborate on what is happening? Is the torch not firing at all when post flowing?
Keep in mind that all plasma cutter have a delay between when commanded to fire and when they fire due to the delay required to turn post flow off before the arc can fire.
I think he is saying that his torch won’t fire again when post flow is active, but you can cancel post flow by tapping and releasing the trigger. Then the next trigger will start the arc.
I suppose you could add a pause after cut for the length of the post flow, but your cut time will go up a lot and you’ll be playing paddington bear in all the puddles you’ll have from splash out.
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Well, thanks for your vote of confidence @brownfox, but I’m not familiar with the Powermax 600. As @langmuir-daniel points out, every PC needs to temporarily shut off post flow to enable the blow back arc trigger. It sounds as if the PowerMax 600 is not intended for CNC purposing if it doesn’t do this automatically.
However… as @brownfox postulates in his second post and, paraphrasing, anything that could be done manually, certainly can be done in G-Code. It would be a simple matter in the post processor to add an M3; Pause; M5; Pause; M3… sequence to all the fire commands after the first one. Obviously, as @brownfox so eloquently described as “Splashing about in the puddles”, you’d have to experiment with the timing of the two pauses…
Unhook the plasma cutter from the controller. Trigger the torch to fire the pilot arc, let go of the trigger it will post flow, squeeze the trigger and hold it it should stop post flow and re fire the pilot arc. If it does then your controller is sending the refire signal to fast for the plasma cutter to react to and won’t refire till post flow is over. As stated by others you will need to add a pause in the to give it time to refire.
this is my problem, the pc is a hypertherm powermax 600 purchased in 2005 and not manufactured since 2008. it was superceded by the 45xc that everybody uses. it was capable of using the machine torch and cuts ok except the gaps left in the 2nd, 3rd and subsequent cuts because of the post flow not allowing the torch to refire during post flow. as i said before, Hypertherm says that you can defeat that post flow by double clicking the trigger similar to double clicking a mouse. so my question is how do i setup a post processor to do this.
in sheetcams tool editor i see there is a pierce delay setting and a delay at end of cut setting, will either of these do what i want to do or is there some where else i can look? thanks for your help!
in sheetcams tool editor i see there is a pierce delay setting and a delay at end of cut setting, will either of these do what i want to do or is there some where else i can look? thanks for your help!
What pierce delay are you using? Looks to me like you just need more pierce delay.
Which CAM tool do you use? SheetCam or Fusion? I assume you’re using an original CrossFire, not a Pro. Please confirm.
i am using sheetcam as i said above. Daniel it appears the pierce delay in the toolset i have varies from .03 to .05 seconds. i believe that toolset was developed for the 45xc pc/ yes i am using firecontrol with a crossfire pro table.
Seeing the pic I’d agree that you just need longer pierce delay. Grab the book specs for your machine or edit what you have instead of using the specs for the 45xp.
[quote=“brownfox, post:11, topic:10198”]
Seeing the pic I’d agree that you just need longer pierce delay. Grab the book specs for your machine or edit what you have instead of using the specs for the 45xp
I took your advice and went back to the toolset in sheetcam and increased the pierce delay to ,5 seconds and now it cuts fine, thanks for the help!!!
This is the forum on which all problems are resolved! 
@ jwhotrod
If you want the f bomb check out the one I redid to make it symmetrical.
1 : 1 is too big for me, try 1 : .85, use .125 arc lead in and .5 pierce delay good to hear you got it working
.03 and .05 is way too short, where did you get it?
Probably in the Metric to Imperial conversion. Always happens…
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The .03 delay was from a 45xp toolset I took off of the forum. I reset it too .5 delay today and recut the file. It cut fine so it was Danny from Langmuir that felt my pierce delay was too short. I’ll try your scale down because it did seem to be too large. Thanks.
Probably posted before Langmuir explained a difference between how they treat pierce delay and how Hypertherm manages it.
For Langmuir the clock starts as soon as they trigger the command to fire. Hypertherm waits until the plasma’s relays kick in and the power flows. There’s a fraction of a second difference that causes the Crossfire to try to start cutting too soon because it hasn’t really established the arc.
They recommended bumping all of Hypertherm’s recommended pierce delays.
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i had read that explanation and what i did was not relate that info to what i had going on. in my lack of experience i thought my problem was related to post flow and not the pierce delay function. along with the fact that i am working with a PC that is not as “computer savy” as the new ones are. i have a tendency to overthink things from time to time. the frontend design is what i am very comfortable with, i also have a Laguna CNC router table that i am working with and both have been a very enlightening journey. Thanks for your help keeping me grounded.
I have a 600 as well. What torch are you using? If you are using retrofit Duramax torch you can find cut charts in this document:
https://www.hypertherm.com/Download?fileId=HYP112515&zip=False
I’ve attached the original 600 manual which has cut charts for old style machine torch.
hyperthermPM600_usermanual_803390r3.zip (2.4 MB)
I have the retrofit torch and it cuts nice.
The torch I’m using is the Hypertherm 25’ Duramax MRT machine torch #228920 which was recommended by Hypertherm. I also chased down the mating connector for the start whip on that torch amphenol # 97-3101A-10SL+97-3057-1004-1 so it disconnects cleanly from the torch start wiring from Langmuir’s start port. It works great now that I changed the pierce delay in the tool definitions in sheetcam. what i forgat was you can get that amphenol connector from digikey.com or mouser.com.