How or where are you connecting your ground clamp. I am having issues that the torch will not fire, although it should be. It seems as though it will make a few cuts without issue then becomes every start.
I have tried clamping to the slat bed, water tray and the material itself, sometimes just readjusting the clamp will take care of it, other times not. Also it seems that I can have the machine shut off for a while and start again without a problem, even though I was having a problem before I shut it off. Torch is a Hypertherm 45xp
Hey @pamopar! You should generally be clamping the ground clamp on the material itself. You can put it on the slats itself, but I would recommend the material. What are other issues you’re experiencing with the torch not firing? Is it every time it fires after those few cuts?
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Check work cable at clamp end screw for tightness and at machine make sure work clamp end is turned tight. make sure you have 110-120 psi air supply to inlet of plasma cutter and 70 psi at torch when cutting if you have older 45 Hypertherm.
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I use one of these.
Really simplifies attaching to steel, of course stainless and aluminum are less effective.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VTQBUXU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
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Doesn’t work so well on stainless, but yea, for ferrous materials, a GREAT addition
sometimes it is every time, other times not. I changed to new consumables sometimes and it still would not fire, wiggle the clamp or move somewhere else and it will work for a couple cuts. Once it fires it will stay lit
Check the cable attachment to the clamp. Make sure it’s not loose or broken.
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A medium pair of vise grips, drill a hole and mount your work cable to them.
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Since the torch is a blow-back type the air is critical to get the torch to fire, as Richard is saying.
You might check the actual air pressure that is getting to the torch by following these instructions:
If you need to, this is how you would adjust that internal air pressure:
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You can always clamp a pair of vise grips to your sheet then attach to that with magnet
I also like @mechanic416 suggestion
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I like that idea Knick!
Do you have THC? Are you getting any errors when it doesn’t fire? I’ve just gone through this with mine with it intermittently not firing and then height control not working and it dragging parts around. After some troubleshooting with support, they’re replacing the motion control board and the THC module so, it may be a machine problem and not a ground clamp location problem.
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Hey @pamopar! Is it in 4T or 2T mode? If it’s in 4T mode, it’ll need to be in 2T in order to communicate the firing/non-firing signals correctly.
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Is this part of the plasma unit setup ?
It is hard to tell who you are asking this question:
If it is in regards to “4T vs 2T”, that is whether you cutter is set with triggering to respond in this manner:
4T: You pull trigger/release and torch continues to fire. To stop, you pull and release the trigger again.
2T: You hold trigger on to fire. When you release, it stops.
THC is part of the table. When it throws an error, it will show up in the FireControl screen.
My question was related to the plasma cutter: Did you check the internal pressure reading?
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A 45xp doesn’t have a 2T/4T mode.
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I really think before we can go any further, it would be nice to see some photos of:
- how the torch is mounted. Inconsistent behavior of the torch firing can also be attributed to the consumable stack being screwed on too tight. If it is a machine torch, any clamping around the head of the torch could cause problems.
- Confirm what cutter you have. On another thread, I believe you said you have Hypertherm 45XP.
- If you could make a video of the behavior of the torch firing, that would be priceless. It would be nice to have it focused on the FireControl screen with the torch in the background. You will not be able to attach the video in this thread but if you have a YouTube account, upload there and post the link here.
- Photo of the work clamp. If the work lead seems loose at the machine, it may need something tightened inside the plasma case.
And when you are trying to reply to someone of what they specifically asked, the fool-proof way is to highlight the words in the post and then click on “Quote”. That will paste their message in your post:
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