Man! I see the tent in the photo. He even has you camping out until you’re done!?
1 Like
The tent was for him to hang out in on the lawn with our dogs but it’s too windy. He pounded in the casters And has provided emotional support.
Secretary has a friend over and is holding all my calls.
1 Like
Calling it a day after sealing the water table and tightening the stanchions and y axis parts. Felt great to have the gantry slide smoothly.
Had a nice nap with my little boy and three dogs after pizza, also took a break to make dinner and do the nightly routine. I feel pretty good about the progress and how everything g has gone.
4 Likes
Hurt my back, called in sick and didnt work on the table for two days.
Just got back to it and finished. Break in program ran without a problem, I think.
About to try and cut a square. Wish me luck.
1 Like
Bah. Torch isnt firing. I have the plung and play cable from Langmuir… not sure what to do but I’m looking around…
Hahahah. Physical on/off switch on the torch.
We are in business!
3 Likes
Just working on squaring up the torch head. Have a slight angle to my cuts, also not sure if THC is working. The 45xp machine torch hits the thumbscrew and I think that’s throwing it off a bit.
On my second cut attempt at some cursive font, the torch was dragging on the material. I raised the torch in the mount and ran a heart program and the torch didn’t appear to raise (material was slightly warped).
Reading and searching right now, seems everything is hooked up right. I may need to watch fire control as the program runs.
Had some play in Y2 lead screw. Was also running the toolset for 20 gauge at 30 amps. Machine was set to 45.
Tightened y2 coupling, corrected tool and machine settings. Better overall cut but worse lead in and out. Perhaps adding longer lead in and overcut may help.
I can still watch the torch remain at initial cutting height though. Almost made contact with the material.
THC is showing speed when jogging, but no active,up or down lights while a program is running.
Can you use the manual controls to raise & lower it (Z height)? If you can, then check your GCode to see if there are height commands (Z). If not, what post-processor did you use?
If you can’t move the THC using the manual controls in FireControl, what version of the firmware are you on? They’ve been releasing new versions fairly often and you may be a rev or two behind.
What version of FireControl are you on (it’s also been updated)?
2 Likes
Yes I have manual control over z axis. I’ll double check my post. Thanks!
Here’s my post from my test square. I’ll have to compare it to my heart I was test cutting where I saw THC did not appear to be adjusting.
(SheetCam - FireControl Post v1.5)
G90 G94
G17
G21 (Units: Metric)
H0
G0 X218.543 Y72.968
G92 Z0.
G38.2 Z-127.0 F2540.0
G92 Z0.0
G0 Z5.08
G38.2 Z-127.0 F254.0
G92 Z0.0
G0 Z0.508 (IHS Backlash)
G92 Z0.0
G0 Z3.81 (Pierce Height)
M3
G1 Z1.524 F1524.0 (Cut Height)
H1
G2 X216.511 Y75.0 I0.0 J2.032 F7620.0
G1 Y128.1717
G2 X218.1717 Y126.511 I1.6607 J0.0
G1 X162.6281
G2 X164.2888 Y128.1717 I0.0 J1.6607
G1 Y72.6281
G2 X162.6281 Y74.2888 I-1.6607 J0.0
G1 X215.7998
G2 X217.8318 Y72.2568 I0.0 J-2.032
H0
What version of FireControl & firmware do you have?
20.3 for fire control
Took a picture for the other versions, shouldn’t it say pro?
Also having this problem now. It’s not firing the torch soon enough or the torch is moving too fast and it’s not even cutting at the start of my lead in. I got better results by increasing the pierce delay in fire control and slowing the torch speed just a hair.
But definitely no THC indications.
1 Like
I’ve been having that issue where torch takes off before it fires. Im using the Miller 625, so not sure about the HT45xp, but I had to add some delay after my cuts to let the torch ‘reset / cool’ before the next pierce. I modified the fusion360 post to give me some options to add delay. Link to the thread about that below…not sure if same issue, but definitely messed up a bunch of cuts before I realized what was happening.
That makes sense, I only have that problem when it’s the second pierce. Funny that you have the same problem using a miller and fusion. I’m using hypertherm and sheetcam. Problem must be in fire control then right?
Well I added a 3 second pause after cut in sheetcam and still have the issue of the torch moving before firing on my second pierce.
Yeah - I’ve not found a magic setting yet for my setup - there may not be one. 3 secs seems to work for me on some speed / thickness combinations but not on others. I was doing some 1/4" plate today and I needed 13 seconds. I’m using Fusion and Sheetcam.
Don’t want to lead you down wrong path - there are lots of HT45xp users on here - surely we’re not the only ones having the issue??? I never used my table with THC firmware < 1.9 - it’s possible it’s an issue in the controller???
Perhaps batch 1 users that have been running much longer might have some insight.
Thanks. I think I’ll do some more searching and testing then make a new post.