[JPMach]

Got most of the floating assembly done today, still have to mount the limit switch for it and build the torch clamps and steel plate for the breakaway. Looks like I'll wind up with 11" of Z travel, not bad. A few more limit trips to install and hardstops, command signal wires and time to test and tweak, which is good cause there's steel coming Friday that I'm supposed to try my hardest to have a prototype cut and fabed up by end of next week.....:nutter: Maybe I'll get some sleep and rest next month...

[JPMach]

Magnetic breakaway and torch clamp done. Filled with water and added chemicals. Takes about 5 min to fill to top of slats, another 4-1/2 to completely empty. Checking how well it holds now.

Still have to finish the limit and overtravel stops on the far end of Y1 and Y2, hook up command wires and start doing alot of tests.

[Tonto318]

Table is looking good. Can't wait to see some parts off of it. Maybe we can get a video?

[JPMach]

Success!! After a whole day of pulling hairs and yelling a few profanities... figured out my dumbass got the step and direction wires flip flopped. As of right now I have the X running at 1800ipm max, still have some fine tuning to do, every time I try to push it to 2000ipm it trips the drive out, might get it there but if not I'm happy at 1800.

Next up the Z and then the Y1 Y2 slaving and adjust the homes to square the gantry. This thing just might work yet.

[Kerryfisher]

Well done!
You're flying,,,especially with those speeds!!

[JPMach]

What a day.. Wound up finding out that one of the drives was bad after alot of pissing around. Swapped in the drive for the rotary axis and was able to get XYZ moving. Had to trim it down a bit to 1500ipm rapids with no faults. I may be able to push back to the 1800 at some point later but for now I have deadlines to meet. Hopefully nothing major goes wrong tomorrow, have to start all the tests and setups for the torch ht control and make sure the gantry is square and moving the right distances etc.

[JPMach]

OK, I need help
I had a simple point to point G code program working yesterday, now today when I load the Gcode it freezes on path generation. I did a fresh install of Mach3 and still the same problem. I cut the program down to one line just a G0 X80. Y100. and still it brings up the "Please Wait...Path Generating" and will not finish.

[JPMach]

I guess somehow my profile XML got corrupt, started over and re-entered everything manually and it seems to be working, now finally on to some plasma specific tests

[Kerryfisher]

You seem to be doing things about 10 times faster than I did, including the fault finding, I'm sure you will make it on time,,,, well done so far!

[JPMach]

Well after some corrupt mach3 files yesterday and now today finally got it to cut some straight lines, find out it looks like my arc divider card is bad and will need replacing before I can cut this thin metal I need to cut. Hopefully they'll overnight me a new one tomorrow as of course it was too late today to get it shipped by the time we figured out the problem.

Must be beer-thirty......

[JPMach]

Well, Does anyone else on here run a Miller 875 plasma on their Candcnc setup? I can not get the arc volts to read right. Lots of calls and emails with Luke over at Candcnc, a new Rav card and still nothing works right. I can see the volt change at the plasma with a multimeter on the same connections I'm tapped for the Rav card (as close as possible on the leads to the front panel). but with the PWM set on the 7:1 like it should be the display only shows around 40 volts. We tried cheating and put the pwm up to 20:1 and 50:1 and at 50:1 I could finally get the display to show the same volts as the multimeter on an air fire, but try cutting metal and the volts never change (like they actually do with the multimeter)

I've tried changing the plasma over to just single phase, as I have phase perfects for my 3 phase power and thought maybe that generated 3rd leg was doing something, still get same results. Tried a different cable between rav card and pwm, still same stuff.

I don't know what else to do , neither it seems does Luke. Is my only option to just go and buy a hypertherm and sell the Miller?? I planned on doing that but not for over a year. The job I needed to cut today is 14 ga so I can't really do it without the ht control working.

Bummed out and worn out.....

[Tonto318]

Jp how's the table doing? Hopefully you got something figured out.

[JPMach]

Still trying to get arc volts right. Getting close to pulling trigger on a hypertherm if I can't get this to work.

[JPMach]

After fighting getting the correct arc voltage readout from the Miller through Candcnc's Rav card (both their tech support and Miller's) I broke down an ordered a Hypertherm Powermax 85 with cpc and serial port (has Rav card built in so I can skip the external card and should get proper arc volts at computer, along with can control cut current through comp as well now). It just showed up today! I was planning on upgrading to this toward the end of next year anyway, but now that I had to do it now I will have to push the press brake rebuild on the back burner while the funds rebuild a bit.

Anyway hoping to have this installed tomorrow and dialed in by Monday.

Been a tough couple weeks, between the problems, waiting for the new plaz to come in and keeping customer calm that parts will ship soon....

[LeeWay]

I know what you mean about planning for future machinery. Sometimes it pays to just go ahead and get the thing. That is what I did with the Tormach lathe. I had intended to buy it later a year or two down the road. Glad I chose to just get it. It will pay for itself for me in less than 2 years.

I have the Hypertherm PM 45. It works great with Tom's electronics. My table is so flat that I do not often use the THC. When I need to though, it works great. You won't be sorry about that choice.
Good luck with it.

[JPMach]

Yeah, I need the thc as I have alot of sub 12ga to cut, also got ohmic from Tom as well, but am waiting to hook that up till I get the plaz working right. The Pmax 85 will be good, as I think I had a lead on a potential job that was alot of 3/4" plate, which my old Miller never would of handled.

[JPMach]

Now I have new problems with my servos..arghhh. Dmm had me swapping drives to see if I really had a bad drive before or not or just had the drives mixed up with the motors they were supposed to be with (you would think if they were matched they would have a sticker or some big notes that say use this drive with this motor etc, but no).

So anyway after running the new torch cable my Z motor is now knocking and slowly creeping the Z lower. And get this, if I unplug the serial cable for tuning the drive the motor runs the Z lower and a pretty good jog rate. Soon as I plug the tuning motor back in its back to a slow creep. Mach 3 still runs it just fine but of course doesn't see the drift happening. Swapped drives on that axis and still the same thing on the Z motor. Going to try swapping encoder cables next and see what happens.....

[JPMach]

Ok, so I moved the servo motor and drive ground connections over to the table ground. Still had the drift issue.

I pulled the step/dir breakout board and mach3 ubob board out of the cabinet as far as I could (only have short cables going to the drives from card), and plugged the controller, PC, and hub into a separate wall plug not from inside the cabinet and I think the servo drift issue is gone.

The noise is still there and is still causing an arc volt reading with torch off. I'll try upping the divider ratio to 20:1 next to see if that makes it less or stays the same. Maybe when the shielding sleeve comes tomorrow I can fix up a few of the signal wires and maybe help the arc volt issue some more as well. Plus I still have to hook the 3phase power back up to the drives to see if that changes anything but I just might be getting it working yet. I'll just have to forgo an attached control console and build a small separate cabinet on wheels or something for the comp and stuff to sit in and plug into the wall instead of the noisy cabinet.

[JPMach]

After changing the step/dir logic power supply from the drives to the controller the drift stopped. I also shielded the step/dir signal cables to the drives.

Actually got a couple test shapes coupons cutout today, now I just have to get the Ohmic sensor hooked up and working and I just might be good to go. I do still have a arc volt reading with no arc fire of between 5-20 or so, but it seems to be reading close to right when cutting. I'll have to keep working on finding that issue but I should be able to make parts while I find it.

[JPMach]

Well, I got the Ohmic sensor installed this morning and working. Here are a few test shape coupons I cut, playing with accel rate and probably need to check my axis for backlash somehow and see if I can push the pinions into the racks any more or not. Its finally getting there. Then there's always the rotary to build yet too.

Size is 2"x4", actually came out within 0.005" of size as well in this 18ga steel so I'm pretty happy.