THC - out of ideas

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29 Jan 2022 14:06 - 29 Jan 2022 14:15 #233435 by samforsey12345
Hi guys.

Thanks again for this amazing resource. I am here to be a leech, again!

My machine is running QTplasmaC, installed may last yr. 

I successfully used the plasma cutter several months ago, with no water tray and so forth, and made an aluminium fuel tank.  I had no THC and i had paired the breakaway switch with the bottom limit on the Z axis.

So fast foward to the past month. I have finished the water tray and having looked through the qtplasmac manual, i have paired the breakaway switch with the float switch.

My understanding from the manual was that when the machine isn't probing, the input should then be switched to a breakaway function. I don't get any such error when in use when the torch comes adrift. 

Secondly I am out of ideas with the THC. I have valid voltage input, at about 1mm cut height, its about 80v. At 5mm cut height its about 100v. I get no z height adjustment which keeps breaking the torch away. I have checked that sheetcam is putting M65P2 in the G-code. I have tried everything on the interface, from auto volts to non auto volts, putting extreme numbers into the material cut volts parameter, with no ability to get any correction.

I decided to check the plasmac.current.velocity - this does not match the feed rate even when jogging at maximum speed, it is reading about 20 as opposed to say 1000. I don't know if that is correct or not, but decided to try reducing %vad threshold to 1%, which should trick it into thinking I am at the feed rate. Still nothing.

So any ideas guys? 

Thanks in advance
Sam

 
Last edit: 29 Jan 2022 14:15 by samforsey12345.

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29 Jan 2022 22:49 #233497 by phillc54
Replied by phillc54 on topic THC - out of ideas
Could you post a zip of your config from the BACKUP button on the parameters tab.

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30 Jan 2022 10:58 - 30 Jan 2022 11:09 #233530 by samforsey12345
Replied by samforsey12345 on topic THC - out of ideas
Hi Phil.

I'm sure it is a cock up in my config. Just can't pinpoint it.

I must be on an older version of QTplasmac because my only option is to backup from the settings tab.

Anyho I've uploaded what it has saved.

Thanks so much. Even without THC working I'm quite thrilled with what my machine can do! and that is largely due to the good work you and others have done.

Sam 

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Last edit: 30 Jan 2022 11:09 by samforsey12345.

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31 Jan 2022 06:18 #233606 by phillc54
Replied by phillc54 on topic THC - out of ideas
I made a sim from your config and everything seems to work ok. The float switch pauses a running job if it trips and the THC works correctly.

If you load linuxcnc from a terminal do you get any error messages?

Does your Z axis behave correctly when probing?

It seems you are using a fairly old version, I would recommend that you update to the latest version as well. You already have a backup of your config now.

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01 Feb 2022 20:40 #233741 by samforsey12345
Replied by samforsey12345 on topic THC - out of ideas
Hi Phil

Thanks for that.

I have uploaded a text doc of the terminal when booting from it. It has some warnings about the spindle. Again, not sure if this is to be expected or not.

It probes no problems - float switch functions as it should. I can vary the working height in the parameters no problems.

I will get updated at some point - although there is surely something else wrong?

Thanks again

Sam

 

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01 Feb 2022 21:59 #233748 by tommylight
Replied by tommylight on topic THC - out of ideas
can you check the value of:
plasmac.thc-feed-rate
?

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01 Feb 2022 23:02 - 01 Feb 2022 23:02 #233756 by samforsey12345
Replied by samforsey12345 on topic THC - out of ideas
Hi Tommy these are the plasmac.thc values.
I'll try and see if it enables when doing a cut if that would help at all.

Thanks folks
Sam
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Last edit: 01 Feb 2022 23:02 by samforsey12345.

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01 Feb 2022 23:13 #233758 by tommylight
Replied by tommylight on topic THC - out of ideas
That is perfectly fine.
Now monitor the:
plasmac.thc-active
during a cut, see if it does turn on.

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01 Feb 2022 23:35 #233760 by phillc54
Replied by phillc54 on topic THC - out of ideas
The spindle warning were fixed in a later version, they are nothing to worry about.

As well as thc-active that Tommy mentions can you also check that the velocity reaches the cut feed rate during a cut, I see you mention a discrepency in an earlier post.

Warning: Spoiler!


 
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03 Feb 2022 17:12 - 03 Feb 2022 17:20 #233891 by samforsey12345
Replied by samforsey12345 on topic THC - out of ideas
Hey guys -

Quick update. 

I have sorted breakaway issue - silly config/ wiring issue on my behalf. I now have them set so that if the input is low, (ie either switch goes open circuit) it triggers float switch. Works a charm now.

I have checked the velocity in the UI as i attempt to cut, and it does reach feed rate. In this case I'm testing at 1250mm/min. The only time it dips below feed rate is when the cutter goes around a corner (my test is a thin rectangle).

The halshow thc.active does not light up when cutting.

Any ideas from here?

Thanks again.
Sam
Last edit: 03 Feb 2022 17:20 by samforsey12345.

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