Issues with Thermal Dynamics A80 and Proma Interface

[lostn50s]

Hi gang:
Any ideas on what I should look for on this issue or have any of you experienced the same issue? Probably something simple but it has been driving me nuts. During long and sometime intricate cuts my A80 cutter will quit cutting...it will continue on the programmed path and start back up occasionally for a moment or two but it will not complete the program in cut pattern. My electrician thinks the issue is in the interface but he says he is not familiar enough with Proma to figure it out. During smaller and shorter programs everything works fine. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Rob

[weldguy]

Hey Rob, do you see the fault indicator lit up or blinking accompanied by one of the pressure indicator lights lit up on the front of the plasma cutter when this happens? I doubt it is the interface.

[lostn50s]

One of the pressure indicator lights blink on the front of the cutter, no other faults seem to light up. The path always continues and it will restart the cutter on and off, never complete. I run a industrial compressor with a dryer, 160 gallons of storage capacity, extra filter prior to entering the A80. Any ideas?

[weldguy]

Ok, great. Those pressure indicator lights also serve as your error reporting system. Each light means something different when the fault light is on and 1 of the pressure indicator lights is blinking. See the attached image showing the fault lights and what each one means. Which one is flashing on your system?

TDFaults.PNG

[lostn50s]

Thanks, I will be cutting in the morning...I will let you know what I find out.

[weldguy]

Sounds good, curious to hear what you find out.

[lostn50s]

Been working good for the last few decent cuts but same old garbage yesterday. Faults come back as torch shorting out? Any ideas? Cutter doesn't have more than 5 hours on it?

Thanks,
Rob

[weldguy]

That's a drag. Previously I had asked what pressure indicator light was blinking. Never heard back on that. What light is it?

[lostn50s]

85 Shorted Torch !!!!
Dang it

[weldguy]

Shorted Torch sounds bad but its typically not with these systems. The common cause of this I have found is the plunger on the starter cartridge is stuck to the nozzle. Remove your consumables and look at the spring loaded plunger on the bottom of the start cartridge. At the bottom of that plunger is a beveled edge which contact the beveled edge in the top of the nozzle. Put the nozzle and cartridge together in your hand and you will see how they fit together. What happens is the electrical arcing can pit the beveled edge on the plunger and cause it to stick to the nozzle causing a error 85. Get a scotchbrite pad or fine sand paper and smooth out that beveled edge, blow clean with compressed air, reinstall your consumables and there is a good chance that everything is back to normal.

[lostn50s]

Thanks for the info, I'll try it in the morning.

Rob

[lostn50s]

Weldguy;

Tried your idea...spent quite a bit of time making sure everything was fine, I had previously changed all the consumables so I didn't think your idea would really help but I was willing to try anything. Spent quite a bit of time with a scotchbrite and started cutting...Cut quite a while on a number of items and so far it has worked flawlessly! Hopefully it is just not a fluke. Thanks for the help, I'll keep you informed of the work it does for the next week.

Thanks !
Rob

[adbuch]

Weldguy;

Tried your idea...spent quite a bit of time making sure everything was fine, I had previously changed all the consumables so I didn't think your idea would really help but I was willing to try anything. Spent quite a bit of time with a scotchbrite and started cutting...Cut quite a while on a number of items and so far it has worked flawlessly! Hopefully it is just not a fluke. Thanks for the help, I'll keep you informed of the work it does for the next week.

Thanks !
Rob

Happy to hear!!
David