Question about end of life message on plasma cutter and using it to pause CNC cutting automatically.

[N2 Welding]

So in another thread by Arnegrant he talks about using a camera to hear the beginning whistle of the consumables when they near end of life. His solution so he could multi task in his office is to be able to use a security camera to hear this whistle while doing office work in a room next to the shop but still hear the cutting from audio on the camera. viewtopic.php?f=89&t=34913


This got me to thinking, I wonder if Thermal Dynamics “ A60i & 60i ” has a way to tap into the circuit that makes the end of life symbol light up on the cutter panel so that the cutting could be paused in the CNC side of things. Then the consumables could be changed before losses start to rack up. My comment about it in his thread.

With me not having any CNC plasma cutting under my belt, it’s nice to read about things to look or listen for. Hope I am able to hear and detect a whistle as you put it and stop the cutting before not only material but a combination of consumables go down the drain. Thanks for sharing

Makes me wonder if the end of consumables life led circuit of the plasma cutter could be tapped into the stop button circuits in linuxcnc to have it stop automatically vs. having to baby sit and listen for that whistle etc.

In a perfect world I’d not be distracted by a phone call or some one talking to me in person etc and end in me not paying attention or listening for that whistle. Hmm this makes me want to look into the end of life trigger thing.

[acourtjester]

The life of the consumables is fairly long, you may forget what the whistling noise is about when you here it.
The camera is more helpful when a torch is knocked off by a tip up, or work stopping for another reason.

[N2 Welding]

What are some of the most critical stages of catching bad consumables before the expenses escalate??? Would it be during the the pierce? I mean if the consumables are damaged the most during pierce, then I’d think it would be very beneficial to have an end of life trigger stop the cutting right as the machine detects the consumables are at end of life which in this case would be during the pierce. Does this sound logical??? I’d think it would save the work material and cut time “ time is money “ if for example the tips are changed out before they get a chance to make bad cuts that destroy the job material.

[robertspark]

it depends.... some of us use old tips if we need to do a lot of dimpling / or drill centre punch marks or pierces.

we then swap out to new consumables for the detailed work.

price the consumables into the job

some machines offer a pierce count so you can set logic to warn of impending end of life to check consumables condition