Feature Request

snowgoer540 wrote:

phillc54 wrote: Do Powermax's keep the Arc OK signal on during CPA mode?

So that was my initial impression of how they would work, however that's not been my experience. All of the issues I've mentioned were most recently done in Mode 2 (CPA Mode). As soon as the torch flamed out, the machine paused. I supposed there could be something wrong with my power unit, but I would think it's highly unlikely as it's brand new otherwise.

All the manual says is:

For cutting expanded metal, grates, metal containing holes, or any job that requires a continuous pilot arc. Using this mode to cut standard metal plate reduces consumable life.

I think Stefan did some manual single cuts in CPA mode to cut up some skeletons.
linuxcnc.org/docs/2.8/html/plasma/plasma...ide.html#_single_cut
He didn't mention any flameouts.

phillc54 wrote:

snowgoer540 wrote:

phillc54 wrote: Do Powermax's keep the Arc OK signal on during CPA mode?

So that was my initial impression of how they would work, however that's not been my experience. All of the issues I've mentioned were most recently done in Mode 2 (CPA Mode). As soon as the torch flamed out, the machine paused. I supposed there could be something wrong with my power unit, but I would think it's highly unlikely as it's brand new otherwise.

All the manual says is:

For cutting expanded metal, grates, metal containing holes, or any job that requires a continuous pilot arc. Using this mode to cut standard metal plate reduces consumable life.

I think Stefan did some manual single cuts in CPA mode to cut up some skeletons.
linuxcnc.org/docs/2.8/html/plasma/plasma...ide.html#_single_cut
He didn't mention any flameouts.

Perhaps manual mode is coded to ignore the loss of arc-ok? It mentions you cant move until you receive an arc-ok signal, but makes no mention of how a loss is handled.

I can do whatever specific testing you'd like this weekend as I'm off tomorrow-Sunday, and the girlfriend works all weekend, leaving me free to tinker in the garage at my leisure :lol:. But again, I'm pretty sure, based on what I've seen thus far, that if I wanted to cut a piece of expanded metal (which I do), it's not going to go as planned.

Unfortunately I don't have any time at the moment as I am half way through revamping the conversational stuff and it's taking a bit longer than I thought.

phillc54 wrote: Unfortunately I don't have any time at the moment as I am half way through revamping the conversational stuff and it's taking a bit longer than I thought.

No worries at all! I will be doing some cutting this weekend, so I will definitely experiment and report back to confirm (or dispel) my suspicions. I did email Hypertherm to confirm that the Arc-OK isnt supposed to stay on in CPA mode, just to be safe.

I did think about a setp to turn the arc-ok permanently true for testing. Would there be adverse effects associated with doing that?

snowgoer540 wrote: I did think about a setp to turn the arc-ok permanently true for testing. Would there be adverse effects associated with doing that?

If you looked at some cuts in halscope, you could get a feel how long it takes before the ArcOK comes on and then you could use a time delay component on the torch on signal with unlinkp/setp to synthesise an ArcOK.