This is something that just started a few days ago. System has performed great before this. Start program and moves to pierce and starts cutting for a few inches and then shuts off but continues moving, refires while on the same cut. This happens at random places so it doesnt matter how long or short the cut is. No errors thrown on Firecontrol or Hypertherm. I tried turning off the THC but it didnt make a difference.
Hypertherm Powermax 45 sync
45A Sync cartrige
10Ga mild steel
95IPM
.08 Delay
.15 Pierce height
.14 Cut height
141V live voltage and maintains that when torch shuts off and then on again.
Air 100 PSI at regulator
Ground is connected to sanded down material
Im at a loss, I hope this is enough information but I will try to upload a video.
After talking to the Hypertherm tech service he helped me set up my panel to see the on off control signal to the torch. I did some test cuts and the plasma cutter is intermittently loosing the on signal which is pointing to the start stop relay or board. Calling Langmuir on Monday.
Just a FYI, after talking to Hypertherm service tech, we set up the machine panel to indicate an “ON” signal from Firecontrol. The light stayed on eventhough the torch stopped fireing. He said it was a bad component on the main board. At least its under warranty so its off to Conneticut.
I am having a similar problem with my Everlast 62i. All these happened with fairly new consumables; the rest of the cuts have little or no dross when properly cutting. The material is 14ga HRC @ 90ipm, .06 cut height. Using Fusion as design and gcode. In the marked-up pic, the top right didn’t cut all the way through. The machine never shut off with warnings and I would only find these problems when the cutting was finished.
I wasn’t watching the cuts or I was watching the Fire Control screen or the plasma cutter panel. Can’t be everywhere at the same time. It would be nice if Fire Control had a log file that would show the cut with torch height. ipm, voltage, pierce delay and height.
Sometimes the pieces can be hand cut and salvaged. Some that are intricate are wasted material. Can’t make money with these problems. Anyone have ideas what is going wrong.
I should have updated this. So after sending Plasma cutter and torch lead to Hypertherm they found nothing wrong with either. Back in contact with langmuir to trouble shooting different things, I had the cover off of the FC box while using the table and I noticed the problem went away. Thinking it may be a temperature problem I put the cover back on and stuck a temp probe in the box. Sure enough the torch cut off and on again. The temperature in the box was 122 F which I didnt think was too bad. Langmuir support said hes never seen this happen but sent me a new power supply and the torch on/off control for the board. After replacing them it worked fine for a day or so but the problem started again. Still thinking its a temperature problem I turned the FC cover upside down so the vent slots would be on top and allow hot air out the top. Doing this I have not had the problem since. Is it fixed by doing this? not sure but its working great now. Ill try to upload a video of my test. While the FC box was hot I started a program and torch cut off and on. I removed the cover and you can see the intermittent on/off gets less frequent as the FC box cools off. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your prompt replies and input. Both of you make sense. I gotta find a way to monitor everything at the same time. I will delve into your input and post results. The frustration is the waste of material and not knowing when I will get a perfect cut or scrap. Sometimes I catch the problem and stop cutting then go to the cut loop, backup to the bad cut and start again. Maybe another idea to Langmuir is the ability to not only start froma particular line of code but to stop at another line. That would be a great way to save a piece of steel. Being lazy though. I guess for now to start at a line and have to hit the stop button.
Work clamp should always be on the metal being cut. Air should always be 70 to 75psi when cutting. .060” cut height should always be checked manually with feeler gauges.
I have these issues whether I ground to slats or sheet. I have checked the cut height with the handy little gcode program and by stopping scrap cutting and checking with feelergauge. Although I have THC on, I watch the xyz box and can see that when the torch starts a new loop that it will start with programmed heights before going into THC mode. I am running at 65psi and will readjust up.
I respect and admire the well known responders and have read so many posts from not only this forum, but others to figure my issues out. They all make sense and I understand the responses. What I don’t understand is that these issues can happen anywhere in the cut. No two the same issue at the same spot or close to it. The rest of the cut is very acceptable. The issues are frustrating as they don’t always happen but happen enough to make it almost unsustainable to make money with.
I will start videoing the computer screen and plasmacutter panel while watching cut. A poor mans logging program sort of. Hopefully I will find a correlation between the three. Here is a thought to Langmuir. Instead of a logging program, howabout a way to record the screen.
Raw voltage. I’ll give your suggestion a try and let you know. Thank you.
Another thought on Fire Control is that if the torch height still shows while THC is in control. I can’t help myself thinking of all the data that is there, but unavailable for troubleshooting issues.
If your wired from inside the plasma cutter form the work cable and the torch electrode then with THC on your voltage should be between 96 and 115 volts or so and should hold that. From what I am seeing TH is to high, your losing your positive and cut speed is a little slow. Also start with some new consumables.
