Generating gcode in Sheetcam at the moment, when I upload the program to firecontrol everything seems nice and dandy, it’ll run the program without ever firing the torch. If i select manual fire, the plasma fires right up, but as soon as I hit start, it shuts off and runs the program exactly the way I wanted it minus actually cutting.
In sheetcam I have the plasma selected, IPM, lead in/out, pierce height and all that jazz, I cant figure out why the torch wont fire when it’s time to run the program.
To reiterate, the torch is wired correctly and it fires when told to, just not when I run the program.
Any insight is appreciated.
I’m off to work and likely wont be back on here til tomorrow morning so if you guys can drop some suggestions I’ll go over and answer whatever questions you might need clarification on then.
That file appears correct for a Langmuir machine with Z-axis. If you don’t have a Z-axis, that is the reason your program is not running correctly. For a No-Z machine, the pierce and cut height should be set to Zero.
If your machine has a Z-axis, there are a few issues that I noticed, but none that will prevent the torch from firing.
Your pierce height of .06" is quite low and would normally be a starting point for cut height. A good starting point would be .15" pierce height.
Your plunge rate is still the stock Sheetcam rate of 3.937IPM, which is way too slow. It should be 50IPM or more.
Your cut height is still at the stock Sheetcam setting of .059", which is fine, but it is only .001" lower than your pierce height.
Program speed is 15IPM, which may be fine if you are cutting thick metal.
The M3 torch firing command is present, after the IHS loop, so it should fire.
If your machine has a Z-axis, let me know and we will have to explore other possible causes for this issue.
I do have the z-axis. I read somewhere on here that the height should be set to .060, I thought that was pretty low but I’m still new to all this. The .059 changed from .060 when I ok-ed it but with how tiny of a difference I left it alone.
I’ll tweak those settings, I was really just trying to get the damn torch to fire before fine tuning the rest of it.
I’m typing hunt and peck right now, taking me a little longer to do stuff. I tested it out earlier and one thing i forgot to mention is that when I start the program, it gets into position, drops to pierce height then pauses. When I hit resume it runs the program exactly as its supposed to sans torch.
OK. Does the torch ever actually touch the metal? It should go down and touch the metal and then rise up to pierce height. You may have your torch mount too high in the Z- carriage and its running out of Z travel before it can trip the IHS switch. The torch needs to be able to touch the metal and still have downward travel left to be able to unload the IHS switch. I tell people to run the Z axis down until there is about 3/4" of travel left before it bottoms out. Then loosen the torch mount and lower it down until the torch hits the metal. Tighten the mount again and jog the Z-axis up to 1". Zero the axis’ and try to run your program again.
It did the same thing. I just noticed it says no connection on height control, I opened up the box and theres a red light on the red THC module, there are two yellow lights flashing on the motion control board (D1 and D2/TX RX). The z-axis has been running fine I didnt notice the THC isnt connected in firecontrol til now. I cannot seem to get it to connect
SOLVED: I had to manually install the thc download and it fired right up!! Thanks for everything!
I’ve downloaded and installed it several times. At least i think I installed it correct. I downloaded it, went into properties and unblocked the file then opened it and hit run, it did it’s thing and then the box said install successful came up and i closed it out. Is there anything else to do after that? I was working through the troubleshooter they have for the THC but the #1 test is to check the voltage at the machine 50:1 port while the plasma cutter is cutting. Mine won’t fire so I can’t go past #1 and the flow chart has nothing for that problem. I used a DVOM to see what the reading was on the torch on/off plug from the control box and when off it reads like 115mv it was jumping around, when manually firing the torch the voltage drops to 0 on the torch on/off tested at the box on the side the table. Not sure that seems right to me.
The torch on/off circuit should not have much in the way of voltage. It only closes a loop to fire the torch. There is no cutting voltage that goes through that circuit.
The THC driver is only to allow the THC chip on the main board to communicate with your computer. If the THC connection indicator at the top of Firecontrol is Green, it is working correctly.
Assuming you have a Razorweld, the divided voltage and torch on/off ports may be reversed on the machine. The easiest way to test is to just switch the cables and see if it fires. The other way to test is to check for continuity between one of the pins on the port and the work clamp. The voltage divider port should show continuity between one of the pins and the work clamp.
@ds690 Thanks for the response. I posted this to the wrong thread. I have a thread “took delivery of my new pro w/cut45 today in central Oregon” that I’ve been working on this problem with several other guys for 3 or 4 days with. I’ve tried switching the cables, tested the cables, manually installed the drivers, started the troubleshooting chart but the first test is to check voltage with the plasma cutting and mine won’t fire. After manually installing the driver for the THC now when i try to manually fire it the air comes on but the torch still does not fire off. I’ve done the test from the table to the cable connection and there’s no continuity between them. The THC lights up green and shows connected, the plasma lights are all green, the limit switches are setup, it homes, it ran the break in program, all the controls work to move the axis around, tried to fire it in air and on a work piece, I have the CNC torch on the razorweld not the handheld, The on/off port that turns the torch on only measures around 115mv and when i hit the fire button I hear a click and the voltage drops to 0 on the on/off port. I suspect there is supposed to be more voltage present than that on the on/off control but maybe not.
the first test should be if it fires at all either manually with the hand torch then thru firecontrol pressing the manual torch on/off, then you can continue with the rest. don’t worry about the THC part until you can get the torch to fire.
Did the cutter come with the hand torch and if so does it fire when pressing the trigger? if only the machine torch, plug in the torch fire cable to either port on the front of the cutter. Take a paperclip or piece of wire and stick one end inside the barrel connector and the other end on the outside silver part. If it fires then that’s the port it should be on. If it doesn’t fire, then try the other port.
Once you figure out which one is the torch fire port, then you can connect that cable to the control box (torch on/off). Then in firecontrol try the manual torch fire button.
Also, the cut45 needs to be set to at least 75-80 psi on the internal reg. If set below that, you’ll get misfires or not fire at all.
You should get continuity between the probes, when the relay clicks. The torch relay just connects the two sides together when it closes. No voltage is needed on that circuit. The voltage you are seeing could be stray voltage from the USB.
If you get air, but no fire, your air pressure could be too low or the consumables in the Torch are stuck. The signal that triggers the air solenoid is the same one that fires the torch.
Make sure you are not clamped on the lower 3 inches or so of the torch. Clamping there can restrict the movement of the parts inside the torch and prevent it from firing.
