PlasmaCam never has worked and new ag teacher

Hello! I am a first year teacher and new to teaching ag mechanics. I did not take ag mech when I was in high school and still learning every day. I am teaching at a desolated school in the desert and from what I am told the plasmacam has never worked. An ag teacher from 9 years ago did have it working is another story I was told. The previous ag teacher last year was working on fixing the machine, but I have no idea what he did. The company refuses to help me and none of the ag teachers in surrounding counties have a plasmacam. We do not have a computer that goes with the machine either. Its coming down to me using my personal laptop. Any pointers I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

Honestly I don't even know where to start. I know nothing about these machines. The one we had in college was broken the day we received it so I never got to use it or the software. I am a fast learner with videos.

I teach Welding/Manufacturing up in Washington, and have a PlasmaCAM probably almost identical to yours. Mine is about 8 years old, and has been a steep learning curve, as well as a constant pain the butt.
Two things; get a computer with a parallel port, and a 6 foot parallel cable to connect your computer to your PlasmaCAM controller. Secondly, see if you can locate the software. If you can't, PlasmaCAM is going to charge you $2000 for their new Design Edge Software. I MAY be able to help you out with the price of the software issue, as with being a teacher, I know its tough to justify that kind of cost for one seat of software.
PM me about the software, but try to get a computer and 'short' parallel cable first.

Are you in Austin by chance? I have about 5yrs experience on a Plasmacam. I have the software, years of designs and a good excuse (its a long story) to help.

did you ever get it fixed I am also a teacher that inherited a DHC and can not get any help at all from plasmacam absolutely horrible experience worst company ever

Yes. It's a company that specializes in "sales" with a minor interest in CNC machines. Let me know what your issue is and I'll see if I can help.

I am available to help people who are having trouble with their PlasmaCam tables, their Samson 510 tables or their Go Torch machines, as well as with the DesignEdge software (Version 4.32 and higher).

I offer both personal one-on-one training by appointment, anywhere in the USA, and also online training.

If you have DesignEdge installed onto a computer, and that computer is connected to the Internet, I can help you work out issues you may be having with the software. I can also help you troubleshoot problems with table operation.

PlasmaCam recently put the kibosh on "Remote Desktop capability, using things like Team Viewer and Go To Meeting. Apparently there were issues with the ability to remotely connect to a computer and control that computer's keyboard and mouse. Watch the video below for an explanation.

I have found two different ways for us to engage in remote screen sharing WITHOUT risking the safety or security issues raised by other remote desktop software.

For a limited time, I am offering online help at no charge! You should have either a headset, or speakers and a desktop microphone connected to the DesignEdge computer. Headsets are cheap, and they offer the best communication without a lot of background noise. We can also connect via cellular phone IF you have a good, reliable cell signal in your shop. I don't like to use cell phones because of dropped calls and other time consuming issues that arise with using cell phones around PlasmaCam tables.

If you would like to take this for a test drive, contact me to set up a time to connect our computers together via a browser-based screen sharing program that DOES NOT interfere with DesignEdge software. It is not a perfect solution, but it is very close!

Did you ever get your Plasmacam working? I used to be an Ag teacher and would be willing to help out. We have a Plasmacam DHC2 at school. I originally helped set it up and was the primary person troubleshooting for years. The machine is still in use by a couple other teachers now and is in use almost weekly this time of year and daily by end of school year during certain weeks. We started with the 3.11 version software and have transitioned to the Design Edge so I can help with older software as well as the newer version. I have heard of rotten support from the company but they have always been easy or work with for our school. The biggest trouble I have seen with Plasmacam is related to communication on the parallel port. The computer makes a difference. You will need the company software to even get started and the upgrade is about 2k but the old version 3.11 is likely what came with the machine and can be found sometimes. I'm in northern Illinois and if anywhere near, you are welcome to come to our school for any help we can offer. I mentioned I used to be an Ag teacher, now I'm an administrator but always willing to help a teacher in the career and technical areas.

The new DesignEdge software is about $2K, but that does NOT include all of the upgrades that ADD the features that were included in the old original 3.11 software. PlasmaCam removed everything, and now sells the individual upgrades independently, mostly for the magical price of $998.00 each.

He did not reply to me, so I do not know the status of his machine, but the post is dated 2018, so I assume he either gave up or got it figured out.

Given the situation, and the ridiculous price they are charging; I'm thinking that an open-source reference design for a retrofit made from common, inexpensive parts would likely be a useful thing to people in this position.

PlasmaCAM's website seems to indicate that the machine uses a rack-and-pinion drive; and it looks like the drive motors can be replaced without too much trouble - an adapter bracket could be made for standard NEMA 23 motors on anything from a drill press to a 3D printer (I'd use a high-temp plastic though, perhaps PETG, and not PLA which could soften from the motor & torch head's heat output).

Hmm....

As I have no memory, I cannot name the person or give you a link, but someone DID figure out how to use the PlasmaCam tables with Gecko (?) equipment and I believe they used the original PlasmaCam motors, but I could be wrong. Maybe they did replace them with the NEMA motors. Anyway, they ran a PlasmaCam table without using the hallowed yellow controller box, and the DesignEdge software. So there IS HOPE for those who, like me, are not sure how much longer PlasmaCam will be "Around."

The bugger is, I really LIKE the DesignEdge software, and I DO LIKE the tables, even with their quirks, especially when I use them as a ROUTER table. There is certainly room for improvement, but we are the unshaven castaway survivors floating in the ocean clinging to leaky inner tubes, and Plasmacam is the giant steel cargo ship that passes by us without even any acknowledgement.