15m Industrial Plasma Cutter

That is nice !
When you open Linuxcnc at the config chooser choose sim then by machine and PlasmaC.
That is a simulation of a full machine with everything included so you can play with voltage and see the torch/tool go up and down on screen.
And that error is new but you can ignore it for now.

Well Tommy you were right, the tool does go up and down. Specifically, it goes right down to the bottom then shoots back up to the top. The program then stops and prints the error "bottom limit reached while probing down. program is paused".

I checked the manual and the error corresponds to: "The Z axis reached the bottom limit before the workpiece was detected."

I've been trying to run a cutting simulation (like the LINUXCNC logo one which I got working), using the examples in the plasma folder (for example "metric_circles.ngc"). It seems like it's not seeing the workpiece. The probe moves to the x and y coordinates of the line to be cut then descends through and past the line to the bottom of the box.

I have messed with the z offset and the probe height.

Interestingly, after doing this the manual "Probe Test" button stops before the bottom (based on probe height), however when I run the program, the tool probes and hits the bottom.

Anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks.

Are you just playing with a simulator or is this wired up to your machine?

Can you move the Z axis to the top of travel and do a touchoff at that height? eg if your Z axis has 95mm of travel, touch off the Z axis at 95mm. That will place Z0 at the bottom of travel where Plasmac expects it. Do not touch off the Z again. The value should be saved between sessions. I had troubles sorting this out too.

Now make sure your probe height is set above the material height.

@Rod
He is using a simulator to get used to it.
@Jarman
There is a small window that stays on top of Linuxcnc, there are all the buttons for probe or float or ohmic simulation, the voltage adjustments also, use that to triger whatever you need to.
To recap, run, click on the float button and play with the voltage, watch the torch go up and down while moving/cutting.

OK for a sim, turn it round, jog to the bottom of travel and touch off Z at 0.00
If you have created your own config of the SIM, the offsets will persist between sessions. I don't think they will for a sim.

edit:fixed

I'm using the simulator.

Still no luck I'm afraid.
I have tried setting a variety of z offsets (0-max height). And also different probe heights, same thing happens for each. It seems to me like the probe is not detecting the workpiece and runs to the edge of the red box, then returns an error. This happens if the workpiece is the edge of the red box (Z0) or if it is at the top, or anywhere in between, or if the probe is set to start slowly probing (probe height determines at what height the probe slows from jog) at the workpiece or just before, regardless of THC etc.

I have messed about with the arc buttons etc and the light says "Arc Ok" but my torch is not on. I have clicked the "Torch Enabled" button but the "Torch on" light next to it is off. Would this stop the program running successfully?

I have also tried a reinstall, no change.

If the torch being off isn't the problem, are we sure that the example files are properly configured for plasmac?

Thanks all.