Fine cut consumables misfire

[benval76]

I am having an intermittent problem with my fine cut consumables. For the last couple of days the electrodes have been arcing off to the nozzles. Sometimes the cut will start just fine, but within a couple of inches I will lose the arc. The next cut will cut perfect. I am using Hypertherm consumables on 14 gauge mild steel and running pretty close to book specs. There is definitely not a ground issue nor are the consumables over tightened. Would anyone have an idea of what the root cause of this problem is? I am at a little bit of a loss because all of my other consumables are working perfectly. BTW this is on a 9 month old Hypertherm 85. Thanks, Ben.

[jimcolt]

Contact Hypertherm tech service... The toll free number is in your manual. They will help you out.
Jim

[BorstMetalWorks]

I have a similar problem so i am interested in what you find out however....

I believe i narrowed it down to wet air. If the torch fires it cuts just fine however tips wear out fast. sometimes the torch doesnt fire completely. just a blue spark jumps across and then nothing.

any ideas?

Also, My machine is around 9 months old and has been in the shop already to have a board replaced because the torch voltage feedback quit completely out of the blue....


Thanks

Borst

[pamandopie]

I also had this issue on my 85 and it was the power distribution board as well. my machine was about the same age. They could not get mine fixed in the time that i needed it so I ended up buying a second 85. Today that one started acting up. I have also heard of other people having problems with this board. Not good! I am going to put the one that they fixed back online and see how that one does. I will re-post with the results.


Opie

[Phill]

My Pm65 missfires with finecuts as well, seems to be on short cuts, it will missfire and then try to refire. Only finecuts so far.... keeping fingers crossed.

[jimcolt]

The best bet....as always when you have some sort of a technical issue with a Hypertherm system....is to contact Hypertherm tech support...they are free, they are extremely knowledgable, and will help you quickly sort the issue.

The Powermax FineCut consumables....because they operate at a much lower air flow rate...are susceptible to misfiring if inlet air pressure as well as the cutting air pressures are not correct. They also are a bit pickier about pierce height and cut heigh accuracy and settings. Often, the Hypertherm tech will ask a few questions about your machine, what consumable parts numbers are being used...and will offer some solutions to the issue.

Best regards, Jim Colt

I am having an intermittent problem with my fine cut consumables. For the last couple of days the electrodes have been arcing off to the nozzles. Sometimes the cut will start just fine, but within a couple of inches I will lose the arc. The next cut will cut perfect. I am using Hypertherm consumables on 14 gauge mild steel and running pretty close to book specs. There is definitely not a ground issue nor are the consumables over tightened. Would anyone have an idea of what the root cause of this problem is? I am at a little bit of a loss because all of my other consumables are working perfectly. BTW this is on a 9 month old Hypertherm 85. Thanks, Ben.

[jimcolt]

Can you provide me some more detail on the failure mode of your 85? There is not a board called a Power Distribution board in that nit....so if you could steer me to the board that you had replaced....maybe I could sort out what the internal issue was.

Jim Colt

I also had this issue on my 85 and it was the power distribution board as well. my machine was about the same age. They could not get mine fixed in the time that i needed it so I ended up buying a second 85. Today that one started acting up. I have also heard of other people having problems with this board. Not good! I am going to put the one that they fixed back online and see how that one does. I will re-post with the results.


Opie

[trucutcnc]

Also, My machine is around 9 months old and has been in the shop already to have a board replaced because the torch voltage feedback quit completely out of the blue....

Are you talking about the voltage divider board that sends voltage to the THC?

[BorstMetalWorks]

Also, My machine is around 9 months old and has been in the shop already to have a board replaced because the torch voltage feedback quit completely out of the blue....

Are you talking about the voltage divider board that sends voltage to the THC?

no, it wasn't that, I called hypertherm and they just sent me out another divider board the next day as the machine was only a month old when this happened. I swapped them out and still the same problem. so the pm85 went to the local Purity shop for repair. I don't know what they replaced but it has been working fine ever since.

I was pretty pissed that I purchased a brand new machine so that i had no issues and it went out half way through the first job and i had to rent a machine to finish the job. The purity rep promised to talk to the hypertherm rep to try and get me credit on the rental but i never heard back and never made any progress with follow up calls. Could have been Purity dropping the ball, could have been Hypertherm said no, regardless, can't help but feel like i got the shaft after buying a brand new machine..

sorry, rant over.

[jimcolt]

Let me know the location, the date of the fix at Purity and the machine model and serial number and I will make sure you are taken care of.

Jim Colt Hypertherm jim.colt@hypertherm.com

Also, My machine is around 9 months old and has been in the shop already to have a board replaced because the torch voltage feedback quit completely out of the blue....

Are you talking about the voltage divider board that sends voltage to the THC?

no, it wasn't that, I called hypertherm and they just sent me out another divider board the next day as the machine was only a month old when this happened. I swapped them out and still the same problem. so the pm85 went to the local Purity shop for repair. I don't know what they replaced but it has been working fine ever since.

I was pretty pissed that I purchased a brand new machine so that i had no issues and it went out half way through the first job and i had to rent a machine to finish the job. The purity rep promised to talk to the hypertherm rep to try and get me credit on the rental but i never heard back and never made any progress with follow up calls. Could have been Purity dropping the ball, could have been Hypertherm said no, regardless, can't help but feel like i got the shaft after buying a brand new machine..

sorry, rant over.

[BorstMetalWorks]

Thank you very much Jim, I really appreciate it.

I sent an email to the address you provided. Please let me know if you need any more information.

Patrick

[quote="jimcolt"]Let me know the location, the date of the fix at Purity and the machine model and serial number and I will make sure you are taken care of.

Jim Colt Hypertherm jim.colt@hypertherm.com

[icmplasma85]

Ive had a plasmacam dhc2 with hypertherm powermax 65 for about 6 months now and love the setup. I borrowed a 10 year old compressor from a buddy of mine and it worked great up until the last 2 months, where I was having these same issues. I thought there was maybe something wrong with my torch control cable because of the torch not firing correctly, but I recently just purchased a new air compressor with a bigger tank and ever since I bought it my issues have disappeared. All I can figure is moisture in the line, and I would recommend draining your tank daily, which is something I didnt always do. Just my two cents. I have definitely always been a trial and error kinda guy, and experience is the best teacher as far as Im concerned, being as I did TONS of research before I got into the CNC game, nothing is better than dealing with the problems first hand.

[pamandopie]

My issue was an old wore out compressor as well. I got a new one and my issues went away completely!

[abmagrum]

I had the same problem
I fixed it by raising the air pressure , no problems since.

[BTA Plasma]

If air pressure is not the issue chances are its the actual PC that is loosing connectivity through a data stream memory allocation issue. This can be caused by runing Mach 3, CAD, Sheetcam and other programs at once. It can also be a symptom of a PC on the verge of being unusable. This is one of the reasons CandCNC went with a new Ethernet/Parallel port system to support windows 7 and 8. The new PID THC is more stable and with the ability to take the step and direction engine out from the PC and installed in the control box actual speeds of motors increased and THC response ends up to 10 times faster. You may want to either consider upgrading your PC to a GX620 or upgrading the controller to the newest style.

We have seen aging PCs turn off the torch in mid cut from those issues. Hypertherm's CPC interface card is RARELY, RARELY to blame.

[BTA Plasma]

And Patrick the Borst metal work off that 8x10 gantry is SUPERB! I hope you dont mind us sharing those pics.

[BorstMetalWorks]

And Patrick the Borst metal work off that 8x10 gantry is SUPERB! I hope you dont mind us sharing those pics.

Feel free to use whatever you like... Thank you