[reed]

If i can adjust pierce and cut height by pressing up/down button during cutting ?

reed

[Mike@Torchmate]

In a manual mode you can jog the torch up and down during a cut, but the whole point of the AVHC system is to automatically maintain a tip to work distance if the material warps or is not level.

I might take a read through the PDF available to download from this site labeled "Optimize your Cuts"

http://fab-solutions.com/download_sites/downloads/

[reed]

I bought a remote pendant from yonr company,but not to know how to install and use.

reed

[Mike@Torchmate]

Installing the pendant is as simple as plugging it into your computer. Once it is installed, you will have to do a few things in the software to enable it's use. In the software go to the Configuration - Preferences - Pendant. On this page put a Check in the box next to "Use Flex Pendant" and then click the button that says "Use Standard Layout". Click OK and then go to the File Menu and choose Save Setup. The pendant will now be enabled for use.

[reed]

Dear Mr.Mike

Thanks .

Another problem,why my consumable 9-8213 is often burn out,please give me some advise .

reed

[LenMcC]

In a manual mode you can jog the torch up and down during a cut, but the whole point of the AVHC system is to automatically maintain a tip to work distance if the material warps or is not level.

I might take a read through the PDF available to download from this site labeled "Optimize your Cuts"

http://fab-solutions.com/download_sites/downloads/

Ok, our TM2 is alive!!! We spent today acquainting ourselves with the machine and software ...and burning up tips trying to dial in the height controller. This PDF you posted was very helpful. I feel like we're almost where we need to be. I could use some help on one thing in particular, though... If the torch happens to be positioned on a support slat that is in the line of the cut when it receives the signal to fire, the torch plunges into the material and gets hung up. I'm guessing this is because the support slat messes up the voltage reading and the controller keeps trying to decrease the voltage. Is there a way to set everything up so that doesn't happen?

Material: 0.060 steel
Speed: 90IPM
Pierce height: 0.2
Cut height: 0.2
Sense delay: 0.4
Pierce delay: 1.8
M50 delay: 0.1
Machine: Cutmaster 81 (set to 40A)
Torch: SL100 Machine (with standoff shield cup and 40A tip installed)

If I forgot any critical information, please let me know. I was thinking the drag tip might help with accidental drags, since it seems like once the tip touches the work the height control doesn't recover, but then again I think the tip that came with the Cutmaster would interfere with the ATHC... Maybe a modified (i.e. ground down) drag tip would be more appropriate? THANKS! TM support has been great so far!

[Mike@Torchmate]

Have you set the Automatic Voltage for the AVHC system yet? You can do this by running a cut in a manual mode and reading the voltage displayed on the screen, and once you have an average number you can set the automatic voltage to run at that number. Running shielded consumables will usually result in an increase of the voltage due to the shield over the tip.

Also I usually recommend that you set the torch maximum travel down distance by loosening the torch in the lifter station directly over the slat, and jog the lifter station down all the way. Then tighten the torch down and raise it back up. This prevents the torch from ever going in between the slat supports.

[LenMcC]

yeah, that's important. i actually tried the manual cut setup first, but it didn't work. i might not be doing it properly or there was another factor in there messing it up. i ran it in manual mode, watched the steady voltage (which was around 130V, if I remember right), entered that as the voltage, ran the cut again in auto mode, and the torch just ran away from the table the whole cut. Then I entered the recommended voltage of 108V (from the table in that PDF you posted) and the cuts were very good. ...Except for a few where the torch dragged hard enough to lose position. I figured out that on those cuts the torch was trying to fire directly over a slat.

Thinking about it more, I don't see how cuts directly over and in line with a slat would ever come out well. I suppose I could offset the slat supports on one side of the table to angle the slats so the torch traveling in the y direction won't ever be trying to cut directly on a slat. Or am I thinking too hard?

[Mike@Torchmate]

yeah, that's important. i actually tried the manual cut setup first, but it didn't work. i might not be doing it properly or there was another factor in there messing it up. i ran it in manual mode, watched the steady voltage (which was around 130V, if I remember right), entered that as the voltage, ran the cut again in auto mode, and the torch just ran away from the table the whole cut. Then I entered the recommended voltage of 108V (from the table in that PDF you posted) and the cuts were very good. ...Except for a few where the torch dragged hard enough to lose position. I figured out that on those cuts the torch was trying to fire directly over a slat.

Thinking about it more, I don't see how cuts directly over and in line with a slat would ever come out well. I suppose I could offset the slat supports on one side of the table to angle the slats so the torch traveling in the y direction won't ever be trying to cut directly on a slat. Or am I thinking too hard?

If the torch is dragging on the material, the voltage is set too low. If you wanted to use that as a starting point you would increase the voltage by mabey 5 volts at a time until it was running at the correct voltage.

Some people do angle their slats so that if they are cutting squares or the like, they aren't cutting directly on top of a slat. Even with the AVHC in automatic, cutting directly down the slat shouldn't effect the arc voltage enough to cause sparatic behavior.

What do you mean by the torch was running away from the table?

[LenMcC]

By running away I meant the torch was increasing its height the entire length of the cut to raise the voltage to my too-high setting. Setting it to 108 gave good cuts. Unless it fired on a slat.

Another question I thought of was how much does air quality affect the athc? Our air is probably a bit wet as I haven't installed a dessicant filter yet.

[Mike@Torchmate]

Moisture in the air lines will probably decrease your consumable life, and could increase the pierce delay, or increase the amount of problems you will have with the start initiating.

[LenMcC]

yeah, i was aware of shortened consumable life, but didn't know what other affects it could have. i should have the air properly plumbed today or tomorrow. then we'll run some more cuts and i'll report back one way or the other. thanks for the help so far!

[kdz31]

Hey - I'm working with Len on cutting that perforated aluminum. Just joined so I could make some posts myself. First off we had success with the AVAH on flat sheet. Our problems came from the controller reading an incorrect arc voltage, probably induced in the unshielded wire that we were running. After rearranging the wiring a bit, the controller now reads between 0-2 V when not cutting (it was much higher before).

Moving on to the perforated with the controller in manual mode, we've been trying to clean up the cuts a little bit. A consistent problem seems to be the arc holding on to a nearby edge after passing into a gap and leaving dross on the bottom side. The faster the machine runs, the less of a problem it seems to be. Does anyone have any other ideas of how to reduce this?

[Mike@Torchmate]

Hey - I'm working with Len on cutting that perforated aluminum. Just joined so I could make some posts myself. First off we had success with the AVAH on flat sheet. Our problems came from the controller reading an incorrect arc voltage, probably induced in the unshielded wire that we were running. After rearranging the wiring a bit, the controller now reads between 0-2 V when not cutting (it was much higher before).

Moving on to the perforated with the controller in manual mode, we've been trying to clean up the cuts a little bit. A consistent problem seems to be the arc holding on to a nearby edge after passing into a gap and leaving dross on the bottom side. The faster the machine runs, the less of a problem it seems to be. Does anyone have any other ideas of how to reduce this?

Possibly try cutting slower with a less amperage tip and setting, which might not allow the arc to stretch as far as a higher amperage setting would.