For starters, I am running it on a Windows 8 laptop with a Razerweld Cut 45 with hypertherm style torch.
The first issue, sometimes during a cut, the torch will just shut the arc off. Air will continue to blow and mach will continue to run the motors but the arc will not be lit. When this happens I have to stop the program, rewind to the point it stopped and start it again to hopefully resolve it.
The second issue, Mach 3 sometimes just decides to skip steps that are clearly shown in the preview/jog follow window. If I type 3 words for example, it may skip the first word on one run and cut it the next. Or if using a stencil font, it may cut out one leg of a letter.
The third issue, Mach3 sometimes freezes entirely if I mess with it too much outside of running a program like jogging or manual torch firing.
Extinguishing arc issues are usually caused by either moisture in the air supply, or excessive torch height. What amperage do you have it set to? Insufficient amperage can also cause the torch to extinguish if the torch height is too large.
I have never seen Mach3 skip lines of code that are graphically displayed so I am not sure what would cause that. Are you able to take a video of the issue occurring?
Edit: Also, want to double check that the work clamp is secured to the material you are cutting. Otherwise only the pilot arc will be firing which will extinguish after a set period of time.
I just tried to cut this sign and you can see shortly into the video that it stops firing entirely for a letter and then goes back to firing again at its next stop.
I thought maybe it was grounding issue, but does not seem to be. I normally attach the ground clamp to the brass portion of the nut on the underside of the table. I tried securing it to the slat bed as well no change.
Then I thought maybe its a work height issue but it seems consistent to the 1/16" shim throughout.
My air setup has a moderately sized desiccant and filtered dryer and dry drip legs.
Does it matter that my torch has a drag tip on it? Will that increase the work height too much?
In the video below, I am cutting 1/8" material, 45 amps @80 IPM with a brand new nozzle and electrocude. (first use)
Thanks for posting the video, it helps to clear up what the issue is.
We recently learned about the HYP45 torch that Razorweld offers and got one in today. We haven’t done any testing with it, but I know on my Hypertherm Powermax 1000 that any time it misfires (i.e fails to light the pilot arc) it is caused by a worn electrode. Since yours is a brand new electrode, i would be surprised if it was that, but may be worthwhile to swap in a new electrode and see if the issue persists.
Your settings and feed rate seem fine to me.
While I dont believe its causing the issue, I’d recommend finding a non-drag style shield for that torch. Does the Hypertherm mechanized shield fit?
Do you have a digital multi-meter? Consider disconnecting the torch fire cable and probing the female plug on the electronics enclosure, checking for continuity each time the torch is commanded to fire. That will rule out any issue with the CrossFire electronics.
One last thing to check, in your G code are there M03 codes for each cutout? M03 fires the torch.
I do not have a multi-meter on hand at the moment.
It doesn’t appear there is a mechanized deflector for the 45 amp line. They do have a “fine cut” style that isn’t a drag tip I don’t think.
I had issues with both the new electrode and the one I swapped out. But I will get more on monday and try.
In scrolling through the G-Code, which was generated automatically by using an extruded image in CAM, I do see M5 and M3 every so often. Its around 11000 lines so I couldnt tell you without running another piece if it was at that spot or not.
I thought maybe there was a bad connection where I wired the torch fire cable, but I don’t think that would cause this. I was sure which connectors were the right gauge for the torch firing wires inside the Cut45 but I used the yellow ones and they seemed pretty snug.
Try replacing the torch handle with a Sharpie marker. Run the G-code in Mach 3 & it should draw the design (& travel lines too). But you’ll be able to see when it starts the place the arc usually goes out. Hit the spacebar to stop it and you’ll be close to where in the G-code file the M03 code should be.
I picked up new consumables as well as a machine deflector for a hypertherm PM45.
The drag tip adds an additional 3/32” gap to the work on top of using the 1/16” shim. So I’m hoping my gap is just far too big and it’s causing the torch not to light sometimes.
However, if this was the case wouldn’t the pilot arc still be going off?
That’s exactly what mine was doing, or possibly still may be, I have only cut 2 things since I think I fixed the issue with the travel speed. When mine would do it, I knew it wasn’t a mach 3 issue because I could run the program again and the arc would fire in a previous spot that it went out in