Had a lightning strike. Now some issues.

[Deezl Smoke]

I'll try to be direct and brief.

We had a lightning storm. Unusual to be that strong and so close.
Bolt hit one of the 3 phase high voltage wires before the transformer. Nearly severed the wire and blew out the transformer.
Out of habit, I unplug the control cabinet from the 110 wall socket after each use. However I do not cut power to the plasma head. Hypertherm 105.

After storm, computer fires up no issues. Plasma head comes on as per normal, hypertherm runs across the screen, then 85 appears as the default amp. However no motor movement, and a DC fault light on at the controller. Consulted Arclight, and determined it blew out the DTHC card and possibly the PWM box at the plasma head. So bought new, installed. Good motor control.All good there. No fault lights.

But,...the torch will not fire. Tried the usual turn it off then back on again with all components. No result. Rechecked all connections, all correct and proper lights on.

The "torch on" icon lights up, but no fire. Also, the g-code program from Sheetcam should send the amp settings etc., to the torch upon clicking on the "run" icon. It does not appear to be sending or getting the message. I think it's sending the message, but the plasma is not receiving it. I think there's a way to check for recorded codes on the Hypertherm, but I forgot how.

The recent PWM topic mentioned going to the CandCNC page. I did, did'nt find any similars. Any ideas are appreciated.

[Joe Jones]

The death of a $10,000.00 home backup generator struck by lightning was MY bitter lesson on unplugging EVERYTHING when a storm is even remotely possible.

Joe

[djreiswig]

If the icon on the plasma lights up, then it's getting the signal from the pwm. I would think the issue is inside the plasma. You should be able to get the torch to fire by shorting the pins inside the cpc on the plasma with the pwm unplugged.
As for the amps not setting, possibly a bad hub port. Not sure how to test that. I would post this question on the candcnc forum. They're pretty good about answering quickly.

[Deezl Smoke]

If the icon on the plasma lights up, then it's getting the signal from the pwm. I would think the issue is inside the plasma. You should be able to get the torch to fire by shorting the pins inside the cpc on the plasma with the pwm unplugged.
As for the amps not setting, possibly a bad hub port. Not sure how to test that. I would post this question on the candcnc forum. They're pretty good about answering quickly.

I shall do that. Thank you.

[Deezl Smoke]

The death of a $10,000.00 home backup generator struck by lightning was MY bitter lesson on unplugging EVERYTHING when a storm is even remotely possible.

Joe

My dad always had a saying for these instances.
"if our foresight was as good as our hindsight, we'd be better off by a dam sight".

We don't get lightning here in Hillsboro Oregon very often. When we do, it's just a bolt or two near the hills, then just black clouds. It's really difficult to forecast, and business continues as usual even if it is forecast because it is so rare to have issues because of it.

[acourtjester]

So it appears the lightning came in though the Hypertherm to your controller and took out the DTHC. Doing this it is sure that it took out sections of the Hpertherm too. If you have insurance make a claim and have them buy you another Hypertherm as there is most likely other damage that will haunt you later. Lightning is never clean and simple, damage is not always instant, weakened electronics may not show until other demands are made.

[Deezl Smoke]

So it appears the lightning came in though the Hypertherm to your controller and took out the DTHC. Doing this it is sure that it took out sections of the Hpertherm too. If you have insurance make a claim and have them buy you another Hypertherm as there is most likely other damage that will haunt you later. Lightning is never clean and simple, damage is not always instant, weakened electronics may not show until other demands are made.

That is starting to my concern yep. Even though the hypertherm seems ok, there may be underlying issues that I can't see from the outside. I tend to run a high deductable, so I'll likely, if needed, just buy a new updated plasma. I should've went with the 125 to start with, but foresight, hindsight, damsight....etc.

[tcaudle]

Since the DTHC is only involved in moving the Z if you have no motor movement you lost more than just the DTHC and PWM.

Most tightening hits I have seen don't take out just one or two cards. Everything in the box runs son either 5 or 3.3V DC . There is not a lot of tolerance for over that. There are TVS devices on a lo t of the bus lines (Transit voltage suppressors) but they are only good to protect power circuits .

[tcaudle]

Its easy to test the torch fire in the plasma: Remove the CPC cpnnector and short pin 3 to pin 4 . It should fire the torch . If it does not you have plasma issues. If it does then replace the cable and short the torch swtich pair at the PWM module.

There are LEDs on the PWM and on the DTHC RJ45 jack (yellow LED) that turn on when torch fire is sent from I/O card

[Deezl Smoke]

Ok, purchased and installed a new RS485 hub and all seems to be working fine now.
If after a few jobs issues start to appear, I'll update again what it takes to fix'm.
Thank you for all the help.

[weldguy]

Nice affordable fix. Thanks for posting back with your solution, could help others in the future

[hazmatadmire]

I'm sorry to hear about your lightning strike troubles. It seems like you've done a thorough job troubleshooting and replacing the damaged components. Regarding your Hypertherm 105 torch not firing and the G-code program not transmitting settings, you might want to check the following:

1. Ensure the torch lead and ground connections are secure.
2. Double-check the G-code settings in Sheetcam to ensure they are correct and match your plasma setup.
3. Verify that the Hypertherm 105 is properly configured to receive and interpret G-code commands. You might need to consult the Hypertherm manual for this.

If all these steps don't resolve the issue, you may want to contact Hypertherm's customer support for further guidance or reach out to a local technician who specializes in plasma cutting equipment. They should be able to help you diagnose the problem more specifically. Good luck with your repairs!