Material surface not detected.

[colotroy]

All of a sudden today I'm getting this Material surface not detected message. This started in the middle of a project.

MaterialNotDetected.JPG

If I remove the Sense Material to Set Height check it will fire the torch and try to cut but at the top most limit of the Z axis and not cut as it's too far away. If I manually set height down it moves to the top height limit when I try to cut.

SettingsHeightControl.JPG

I've tried moving the torch ground, replacing the consumables and making sure the sense wire is touching the nose of the torch. I've even played with the diag but I'm not sure what I really need to look at there.

One thing that confuses me is even if I don't have it set to cut, I don't have the auto cut control set, it does the same thing and I get the Material surface not detected message.

This happened today in the middle of a project. It got part way through and now I keep getting this error. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Troy

PlasmaCam_ver.JPG

[rdj357]

If you open machine diagnostics and touch the work (ground) clamp to the shield of the torch, the Aux indicator should turn yellow. If not, try touching the clip on the side or the end of the wire to see if you can find where it is not making contact. If the wire got pulled, it is possible the resistor under the heat shrink has broken and is the problem. It is a 47k ohm resistor.

[colotroy]

Ok, I found the "Report if Material not detected" check and removed it but if I try to cut it moves the z axis to top limit but will try to cut. Why isn't this sensing the material??

ReportIfMaterialNotDetected.JPG

Thanks again. I really need this darn thing working...

-Troy

[colotroy]

Ok, it looks like the sense wire is working. If I push the torch until it touches the material the Aux indicator in Diag goes yellow.

NOT touching...

NotTouching.JPG

Touching after gently pushing torch head until it touches material...

Touching.JPG

[colotroy]

I'll add that if I check trigger control in diag the torch does fire.
-Troy

[colotroy]

I kept messing with it and next when I'd try to initialize again the table would only move to about the 1/2 way point.

I'd tried powering the table off via the switch many times but I finally pulled the cord, let it sit for 30 sec and powered it up, re-initialized and now it's working!

#@$!#!#@%#@$^#!%!#%$ Gremlins!

[rdj357]

If the circuit to the controller is not wired correctly (reversed polarity or missing/intermittent ground) it can cause weird things to happen especially with sensing.

Double check that the torch hasn’t slipped up in the holder causing it to not be able to reach the material. I’ve fought sensing problems before only to find that the torch didn’t reach the material by about 1/16” in an area where slats were worn lol

[colotroy]

I've checked both the torch height and even lowered it in the holder just to make sure I wasn't hitting the bottom of the movement. I do see the aux light on when I test with diag and the torch is in contact with the table.

I've also checked the circuit and it's wired correctly.

I'm still getting these problems that pulling the power on the table and starting over helps for a little while, but shows back up. It's getting more and more frequent.

I'm starting to wonder if this is a parallel card issue. I have to detect the card each time I start the table or computer and it tells me something like it's not the best card but works???

[rdj357]

I have Axxon cards that are designed for the tables as well as double shielded cords. They're a bit spendy in comparison to the Amazon alternatives. I post this and usually 3 or 4 folks chime in that they have $9.99 cards and a cable that their brother got from a surplus auction and theirs work just fine but for me, a professional card works great and (knock on wood) I have not had a single communication error since switching from a cheapie to an Axxon card and cable.

[colotroy]

I have one of your cables but have been trying to avoid the card because it's 30% the cost of a good PC I just built, but I may have to do that. I have 1 more thing I want to try first.

Thanks

[adbuch]

This is the one I use. Have had no communication problems since installing in my original pc about 6 years ago. For testing, this might be the way to go. I am using these in all of my Plasmacam control computers.
David

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q ... UTF8&psc=1

startech card.jpg

[colotroy]

Adbuch,
Thanks for the reply but that is the card that's in the PC now. When you connect to the table do you always have to manually push autodetect and do you then get a message that says something like, "HW detected but it's not the best HW so expect issues?" I can post the exact message later...

[adbuch]

Adbuch,
Thanks for the reply but that is the card that's in the PC now. When you connect to the table do you always have to manually push autodetect and do you then get a message that says something like, "HW detected but it's not the best HW so expect issues?" I can post the exact message later...

I always leave my pc for the table powered down and physically disconnected from the controller. When I get ready to use my table - I first plug the parallel cable into the connector on the controller, then plug the ac power cord into the controller, then power up the pc and controller. I open the Design Edge program, and then initialize the table. I never have to click on the "Detect Machine" button in the settings button in the System Setup window. I have this same setup for 3 different tables (2 actual table and my rotary pipe cutter) using the same model parallel card in each pc.

John Derby has said he uses this same Startech card with no problems. I believe that Robert has said he always leaves his computer on and connected to his table. I believe that Robert uses the Axxon parallel card.

I do use the double shielded parallel cables purchased from Plasmacam. I believe the cables Robert sells are equivalent.

Have you tried swapping out your parallel cable with one of the quality double shielded cables?

David

detect machine.jpg

[adbuch]

I believe that you have two different problems which are potentially unrelated. Material surface not detected and communication problem may be unrelated. If would be helpful to see a screen shot of your actual error message. Adding a UPS has been known to help in the past with power supply noise issues.
David

[colotroy]

David,
Thanks for the help. I do have the parallel cable Robert sells. My PC doesn't have a PCI-E port so the Axion card isn't a solution...

Below is the warning message...

Autodetection.JPG

[adbuch]

The message seems to indicate that you have low quality hardware. What type of card slots does your computer have? Most of these parallel cards are available in several different configurations. Perhaps your best bet would be to try a different computer.

[rdj357]

Axxon makes a PCI card (however any computer made in recent history has a PCIe so I’d always consider updating that at the same time myself. I don’t stock the PCI for that reason.

Axxon.io is their site where anyone needing the PCI version can reach them to get one should they so desire.

[colotroy]

Whoops, my bad. I'd thought the video card took the only pci-e slot but I was wrong, I have a pci-e x1 (g3) slot.

[adbuch]

The Startech cards I use fit into the pci-e slot.
David