Newbie Chinese plasma cnc setup

[petery]

Hi
Im a new to plasma cutting & recently purchased a small chinese plasma cnc (smartcut 2200) It uses its own system with intergrated screen. The documentation supplied was very vague & despite my best efforts ive been unable to get help or find anyone who can helpwith settings. Im sure once I know exactly what each setting within each setting menu does I can work out what mistakes im making but im kinda running blind at the moment
any help suggestion would be amazing

[plasmanewbie]

There is no doubt that you will want to disable the THC when your just getting started. Dont even think about the THC until you are successfully cutting without it. Aside from that just get at it and when you encounter an issue post back and i am sure you will get some guidance.

[petery]

Thanks, I think I’m getting somewhere as I’ve found a similar machine user guide online https://www.baileigh.com/media/uploads/ ... 7-2019.pdf
It covers a few of the settings along with that and some helpful guides online re: thickness, current & speed I’ve stopped the machine nose diving before & after each cut. It’s now cutting cleanly through even at decent speed. Thanks for the tip re THC however disabling it from the THC menu (see first post) then prevents the machine from even starting jobs, it does nothing, maybe I’m missing another setting you can see?

Ive run one of the samples bundled on the machine but the circles are awful, I’m guess it’s something pretty important in the speed menu I’ve not setup but I’ve no idea

[adbuch]

You've got it cutting now. That is a good first step! The flat spots on the sides of the circles could indicate that you have some binding or other mechanical problem.With power off and motors disconnected, does your table move smoothly in both directions as you move it by hand?
David

[acourtjester]

Ok a few things the THC only comes into the operation after it has pierced and started the cutting operation, usually about 1.5 seconds. Disabling it should effect it starting a cut operation. There may be a setting that is looking for the ARC ok signal before it moves, this would be in the G-code. A table should be able to move with a simple G-code.
The image above shows you have a hick up in the drive assemble, most likely a loose set screw on gear or pulley. I would suggest checking all the set screws in the all the drive components. the X and Y axis will transition twice for each circle the table makes, that is where the notch in the circle come from. I would also bo through the Steps Per calibration for the 3 axis to be sure they are correct. It is not hard to do after you understand how it is done. Have no fear in a short time the member here will have you cutting like a champ.

disc.JPG

[adbuch]

Ok a few things the THC only comes into the operation after it has pierced and started the cutting operation, usually about 1.5 seconds. Disabling it should effect it starting a cut operation. There may be a setting that is looking for the ARC ok signal before it moves, this would be in the G-code. A table should be able to move with a simple G-code.
The image above shows you have a hick up in the drive assemble, most likely a loose set screw on gear or pulley. I would suggest checking all the set screws in the all the drive components. the X and Y axis will transition twice for each circle the table makes, that is where the notch in the circle come from. I would also bo through the Steps Per calibration for the 3 axis to be sure they are correct. It is not hard to do after you understand how it is done. Have no fear in a short time the member here will have you cutting like a champ.
disc.JPG

[SRdesign]

I agree with the above, once you get the mechanical part figured out, you can adjust your circle speeds in the system menu. If it is password protected the password should be 1396.

[petery]

Thanks for all your help & suggestions it’s genuinely appreciated. Turned out to be a faulty roller bearing, the case was cracked. I’ve now replaced & works way better. I was still suffering from the machine arcing very high then starting job but not cutting for a few seconds before thc drops down to correct cutting height then around a second to end of job raise again (not cutting) A work around was to add longer lead in/outs to jobs however i fixed it with the IHS speed within THC settings. Dropping this down from 100 to 75 now means the thc moves head to correct height (albeit a little slowly)

[adbuch]

Thanks for all your help & suggestions it’s genuinely appreciated. Turned out to be a faulty roller bearing, the case was cracked. I’ve now replaced & works way better. I was still suffering from the machine arcing very high then starting job but not cutting for a few seconds before thc drops down to correct cutting height then around a second to end of job raise again (not cutting) A work around was to add longer lead in/outs to jobs however i fixed it with the IHS speed within THC settings. Dropping this down from 100 to 75 now means the thc moves head to correct height (albeit a little slowly)

Thanks for the update!! Will look forward to seeing some of your new improved cuts.
David