Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

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Cobrajrr
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Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

A little introduction and a little info on my purchase . About 3 months ago I purchased a DHC table in good shape with a older Hyptherm max43 cutter and I am finally getting a chance to get things setup. I got to see the table in action before purchase so everything seemed to work but 1 thing stuck out is that the previous owner did not have the plasma torch wired into the control. They had a remote switch that had to be triggered manually by the user when the program called to light the torch. It seemed kind of screwy but they seemed to be able to make it work for them. I knew that to have it properly setup I would need that cable to go from the control to plasma cutter that would allow the torch to be started by the program automatically. So I called Plasmacam up to see about the cable and I am now patiently waiting LOL for my TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP from Plasmacam. That has been a little bit of a process to get done since I did not buy from a registered owner but hopefully I am on my way to full legal ownership. So until then I am SOL on the cable.

Ok so here is were I need your opinions. When talking to Plasmacam they said the 1st thing to do after the transfer goes thru would be to upgrade to the newest software $$ and I am not sure if that's necessary or not. What do you guys that have upgraded from the old software see that is beneficial with the new software. The 2nd thing they said was to upgrade to the DHC2 package but that was way out of my price range for now but if any of you that have upgraded from the old to the new have any thoughts on the advantages of upgrading I would like to here them for down the road purposes.

I am currently running version 2.11 on a dinosaur PC that is about to get hulk smashed. Does plasmacam have the older software for download on there user site? I am unable to login in yet because of the transfer so just wondering Id like to at least put the newest DHC 3.11 software on a better PC that will not cause headaches.

Thats all for now thanks for any input.

JR
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

Hi Jr,
Plasmacam does not provide copies of the old 3.11 software - either by download on a cd, and they do not support any of the old software. If you could obtain a copy of 3.11 from somewhere, then you should be able to install it onto your computer. I don't know of a source, but you could ask around. If you only need to fire the torch via software control, and do not need (or your software does not support) torch height control - then this is something you could probably do yourself (make up the cable). If you wish to pursue this, let us know and we can probably provide a wiring diagram for you.
David
Last edited by adbuch on Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Casaba »

Sent you a PM
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

Your Hypertherm MAX43 cutter was last produced in 1999, and Hypertherm will continue to provide consumables for your torch until the end of this year - so you might want to order some spares while they are still available. Another option is to retrofit the Hypertherm Durmax torch kit to your machine to take advantage of the newest Hypertherm technology and have a continuing source for consumables. Here is the Hypertherm page with information on this upgrade.

https://www.hypertherm.com/en-US/hypert ... -max42432/
Hypertherm Duramax retrofit torch kits.jpg
Here is the wiring diagram for the torch trigger circuit on your MAX43 cutter.
Hypertherm Max43 torch trigger control diagram.jpg
Here is a close up view. JP1 is the chassis connector where your torch cable plugs into your plasma cutter. Pins 7 and 8 are the torch trigger control connections (violet colored wires). You will need to open up your machine to gain access to these two connection points.
MAX43 Torch Start wiring - closeup view.jpg
The next thing to do is to determine which of the pins on the Plasmacam controller are the torch trigger connections. Assuming that your Plasmacam controller uses the same configuration as the newer controllers for the DHC and DHC2 - this would be the round connector located on the lower side of the controller box. This will be process of elimination to find the correct 2 pins. I would assume that the Plasmacam controller uses either a relay or open-collector output for this. You can use either a test lamp or voltmeter for this test. When you have connected your test lamp to the correct 2 pins, the lamp should light when the torch trigger circuit is activated by the controller.

I would recommend running some test cuts (with the torch disconnected) and monitoring the Plasmacam controller pins to find the correct pins. If you controller has this, you could also push the "test" button which is used to test fire the torch. While this test button is pushed, the torch trigger circuit will be active and you can test the connector pins to determine which 2 pins are correct.

Once you have located the correct 2 pins, then these will be wired to the JP1 pins 6 and 7 to connect the controller to the torch trigger circuit. The round circular connector that plugs into the Plasmacam controller is available from a variety of sources. Let me know when you get to that point and I will try to find a source for you. Please reply to this post with your questions and/or comments.

David

PS Here is the Service Manual for your cutter.
Hypertherm MAX43 Service Manual.pdf

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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

Casaba wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 7:02 pmSent you a PM
Did not receive a PM.
David
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

Ok thanks guys for the input so far ,

David ,
Ok so I did spend a little money early on and I did get that duramax retrofit torch but I actually bought the hand torch instead of the machine torch . I kind of thought about that and decided that if the plasmacam machine didnt pan out I would still have a plasma cutter to use for the shop. I also thought that if I really get alot of use out of the plasmcam machine I would upgrade to the machine torch later with a newer hypertherm and still have the old 43 for shop use.

So just a quick question after reading your post does the round plug from the plasmcam control to plasma cutter just control the triggering of the torch or is there other stuff that can be wired up to the remaining pins for use ? do any of the other connector pins send any other signals such as the voltage for the height control?

I am hoping that plasmacam comes through soon with the transfer and I can get the cable and get that wired in. but maybe I could source that from somewhere else if you know of a place .


Casaba,

Thumbsup! let you know how that works out.
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

The Hypertherm hand torch will be fine to use on your Plasmacam table. That is what I use on both of my tables. Plasmacam sells an adjustable torch mount that will work fine. The round plug has connections for both torch trigger and divided arc voltage used for torch height control (if your software level offers that option). I don't know of a source other than Plasmacam for the torch control cable. Even if you do get the Plasmacam torch control cable, you will still need to open up your plasma cutter to make modifications and connections - so it is not a "plug and play" situation.
David
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

OK yes I did figure that I would be wiring that plug in but I am comfortable with that at least in my head I am LOL. I just was not sure what the DHC control is actually capable of.
I am on the fence right now on whether to upgrade this thing now to the DHC2 or just learn this old system and see what it can do . I would like to here a little more from some users on what they thought the biggest differences were with the upgrade. At this point I only have a few phone calls into plasmacam and discussed the upgrade but really they did not get into mentioning any advantage other than the new upgrade keeps the torch from crashing as much. They probably did not get into that much detail on the benefits because they were to set on me getting the thing transferred before they went any further which is fine I guess.

I have been playing around with the old software a little and I kind of have to laugh at it a little. It seems very basic which is fine it got the job done for many folks and it seems very easy to learn but I just cant get over the fact that I need to click on the toolbar to select zoom rather than using the scroll wheel on the mouse. That will drive me insane enough to make me upgrade to the newest software LOL. Mind you guys there may be options to get the scroll wheel to work I just have not used it that much to see if I can get that to work or not. I am sure someone who uses the old stuff could probably tell me right away if its possible.

That's all for now
JR
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

I think it depends on your budget and your expectations. The comparison between your software and Design Edge is probably like comparing a Model T to a Porsche. I started out with Design Edge with some of the advanced features and have never used 3.11 or older software. But I have been told the difference is "night and day". The three "must have" upgrades to Design Edge are Advanced Design Software, Advanced Machine Control, and Advanced Height Control. I'm not sure what level of upgrades (if any) Design Edge comes with when you purchase the upgrade from 3.11 or older to the DHC2/Design Edge package. Once you have successfully transferred ownership for the table, you will have access to the Owner's Community Online Forum and can ask questions and get opinions from other Plasmacam owners. There is also a Plasmacam Facebook site below.
David

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlasmaC ... &ref=notif
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

By the way, even with Design Edge and advanced everything, the center mouse scroll wheel is not used to zoom the screen. For quick accurate zooming centered on the cursor position - "F1 key" is used. "F2 to zoom out. The scroll wheel is used to access snaps.

If you want to learn more about using Design Edge, Robert Johnson has some excellent tutorial videos.

https://www.youtube.com/c/LearnPlasmacam/videos

He also puts on workshops around the country at different times of the year.

https://www.learnplasmacam.com/

David



Scroll Wheel Snaps.jpg
scroll wheel snaps 1.jpg

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Cobrajrr
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

Ok a little update and thanks to all for the replies.

I finally got my plasmacam registered in my name. Kind of a pain in the rear but it seemed like it took forever when really it probably wasn't that long as plasmacam never notified me of any progress in the transfer. I finally got sick of waiting and emailed them and there reply was that they could not help via email but to call them. So being Friday night at that point I knew they would not be open so I tried to log in again to the owners portal and it actually went thru this time. A call to them last week confirmed that I did get registered.

While on the phone I asked a few questions I had on the machine but got back very limited replies which I guess is fine cause I'm asking about a outdated machine. So this leads me back here I think along with this site and the owners portal I can hopefully get some more questions answered and get this going.

I just received my TORCH CONTROL wiring harness from plasmacam and i was hoping it would have come with directions but it did not . When talking to plasmacam I asked for some help with the wiring and they referred me to go to my video manual which I can not get to work on either one of my computer's with windows xp or 10. So that's no help. I then looked it up on YouTube and found a good video on this but not sure if this is the correct way of doing things or not ( ) ??? Is this a good video to follow to get this wired in correctly?

I also was having multiple issues with the computer I got with he machine it seems that it had a virus on it or some other major issues that made it operate very very slow and it would crash constantly so I put the 3.11 on a new windows 10 computer and got the system to talk between the table and computer with the Startech PCIe(PEX1P) card. When I do the detect I get the low quality error and I called plasmacam about this and they said that the old DHC with 3.11 probably would do that and a upgrade to designEdge would probably fix this lol. How many of you with DHC and 3.11 get the low quality alert when they do the detect??I think it shows the ps/2 option checked. Is it even possible to get the EPP or ECP checked to get better quality??? I debated on spending the money on the $$200.00 axxon or softio card since it was developed for plasmacam but I figured for now the 20.00 dollar one was worth a shot . Does the $200.00 card make a difference in the older DHC 3.11 tables??

Thanks guys that's it for now any help greatly appreciated!!
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

Oh and to David thanks for the info on the zoom keys that actually helped alot and I would have been very disappointed had I upgraded to designedge and still had no zoom scroll. I run 3 other cad cam systems solidedge, worknc, and bobcad and thats my biggest gripe is that they should universalize shortcut keys and motions so they work across different platforms at least those 3 prgs use mouse scroll for zoom. Anyway I will keep wishing!!


Thanks
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

I have been using this Startech parallel card in two of my Plasmacam control computers for over 2 years with no problems whatsoever. I do understand that Robert and some of the others recommend the Axiom parallel card, but so far I have had zero problems or errors with this one.
https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Exp ... NrPXRydWU=
StarTech Parallel Adapter Card.jpg
I am using parallel cables purchased directly from Plasmacam on both computers. I would recommend trying a different parallel cable, preferably this one.
David

https://owners-community.com/order_parts.php?sid=
Parallel Port Cable.jpg

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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

Yes I am using that same startech card and I also bought a new parallel cable direct from plasmacam (it's got there name on it even) but I got the 10ft one. I still get the low quality alert with that stuff just not sure if it will get any better . It runs the table fine but I haven't hooked up the torch yet.
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by adbuch »

Maybe try a shorter cable.
David
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Re: Newb with new DHC table purchase need some thoughts

Post by Cobrajrr »

I guess I need to get this thing going and see what it does. My next thing to do is get the cable hooked in to the max43 cutter but I am having issues not being able to get the video manual to work. Does the video I posted show a good example on how to do this I can handle the wiring and electrical part of it but without knowing were the wiring goes I am a little lost. Any tips on how to get the video manual to work or wire this thing up??
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