Height Control

[skiwithnoskis]

I have a DHC2 andI can not get my hieght control to work properly. I checked the wiring to the plasma cutter. It looks right. When i zero the z axis ( using goerges' method) it never goes to "0" . If i click to height control box and start cutting the machine want to dive in to the material. Please help me this caused me some major head aches tonight

[skiwithnoskis]

Nobody has any ideas???

[WSS]

Try here:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/plasmacam/

That forum tends to run the mechanical/electrical bend.

WSS

[geo4932]

When you set the Z-shift, it will not be 0. It tells you the distance above the grate. That is the point of the z-shift.
You did not mention what torch and consumables you are using so I can't help you with the torch diving issue. It will be a setting.

George

[Francisco]

Hi!

We?re having a strange height control problem (Samson 510, Powermax 85 w/85 A shielded consumables). Cutting 1/4" mild steel, everything works perfectly, but on 1/2" plate the torch dives in after cutting a few (from two to six) holes. The holes are about 1" dia. We're using the tabulated pierce height (.18"), cutting height (.06") and cutting speed (45 ipm). We've setup the "slower on circles under" to 1.25", and requested height control to be disabled when speed drops below 90% of nominal. Plate detection is through stalling on the material. z offset and arc voltage auto set.

Suggestions, please?

Thanks!

Francisco

[geo4932]

Why are you using "Stall on material" instead of the "Sense Material"?
What are the cut speed and the Arc Voltage Shift setting?

George

[Francisco]

Hi, George. Thanks for replying.

Cut speed is set at 42 ipm (worked down from the operator's manual?s recommendation of 45 ipm until cut quality was optimized). Arc voltage shift is around 1.27 (as we have tried the "auto set on next cut" function, it has varied a little around that value).

One of your colleagues at PC tech support suggested we should just disable the height control. We did, and it worked: the torch finds the plate, climbs to pierce Z, then goes down to cutting height and up for rapid travel. It works very well on nice, new material. Still, when time comes when a cambered plate has to be worked on, DHC will be needed. Also, I would like to understand why the HC doesn't work properly in this situation. Is it a settings error? We never had this problem with the older generation software.

[skiwithnoskis]

When you set the Z-shift, it will not be 0. It tells you the distance above the grate. That is the point of the z-shift.
You did not mention what torch and consumables you are using so I can't help you with the torch diving issue. It will be a setting.

George

I am using a ht 1250 with fine cuts

[geo4932]

Cut height set to .07 if you are using a machine shield.
The arc voltage shift needs to be calibrated to the nozzle you use.
80 amp nozzle Arc Voltage shift is 1.35
60 amp 1.30
40 amp 1.25
FineCut .700

George