Viper Plasma help MUCH needed

[chillbery]

My brother & I got a plasma cutting table from Viper Plasma out of West Virginia. We've had nothing but difficulty with it since we bought it 2 mos ago.The software was improperly loaded, it has an Everlast plas that he had never wired up before so my brother had to figure it out on his own. The plas software was not even loaded in the machine. Only the milling. He's been on the phone with "tech support" almost every day & now the guy doesn't want to answer or return my bros calls. Just wondering if anyone has ever purchased a table from these guys & if so, have you had any troubles with it? My bro has over $7k invested so far & we still haven't gotten it working. Please help me with this issue. Thank you. Dave

[plasmapros]

That's a drag. What are the problems he is having?

plasmapros

[chillbery]

1st of all, it seems we have, at least, one missing tab. All screens we've looked at in tutorials shows a cut start tab, it's not there. We can't get the thc to work. When it gets about 1/2 inch from the end of the cut, it wants to go to the next cut path but it doesn't turn the flame off so it cuts across the material, skips gcodes, crashes all the time, we can't change the start points or cut path because that tab isn't there. I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. I'll post more if I think of them. We received no manuals for the software or the plasma cutter itself. It seems like it will be a good machine when we get it to cut right but there's just too much going on that's we don't understand. I operate a plasmacam table at work & its software is SO much easier. Wish we could have afforded their machine.

[jimcolt]

Looking at the Viper...it appears to use Mach 3 operating software....and something like Sheetcam as well. You can probably get some help from anyone that has built their own machines using CandCNC.coms do it yourself style components. The THC is missing some major functionality though....from what I can see. There seems to be no means of sensing the plate surface (before the cut starts) and retracting after a cut cycle....which will cuase crashing when traversing to the next part. The THC they show on their site is strictly an arc voltage feedback control that corrects heig during the cut. I would keep after the supplier until you get it sorted out. I agree on the PlasmaCam...I have one, and I also have a Torchmate. PlasmaCam is easy!


Jim

[chillbery]

That's correct Jim. I forgot to put that in my original post, but, it does use Sheetcam, Mach3 & the supplier recommended using Draftsight cad program. He also sent us a 'file containing plasmacam software. We installed it on our pc because he said it would eliminate Sheetcam & Draftsight. We can import our drawings from plascam to Mach3 but Mach3 won't let us adjust our settings once it's there. Wish we could get plasmacam software to operate our table. Get rid of the other stuff. Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

[plasmapros]

Mach 3 is a pain, I can't stand it but it is dirt cheap and does work if you can get it set up properly. Even when I had Mach 3 working it seemed I was always messing with something by the time I got through the CAM conversion, loaded the g-code and actually cut something. Seems very Commadore 64 style to me and I also prefer newer software that eliminates the need for g-code. Your right Plasmacam is much easier. Sounds like Viper plasma should be helping you out on this one.

Did you say that Viper plasma GAVE you a copy of the Plasmacam software to use with thier table? That's hilarious and so very wrong.

[chillbery]

I'm not liking Mach3 at all. The fact that it takes 3 different programs to make this thing cut is ridiculous. We're about to the point of sending it back & trying another brand of table. We can't afford much though. We aren't getting much tech support either. My brother's been through a lot over the last 2 yrs, lost a daughter, another had a heart transplant, & his son's considering going in the military. He's worried to death. Lost a lot when his daughter was battling cancer & this is a new business venture for him to try to get back on his feet & these guys aren't making it easy on him. We all know a plas is not that difficult to operate but this one & this software, is ridiculous. The thc doesn't work, it doesn't finish cuts before moving to the next one & the torch doesn't cut off when it does move to the next so it cuts across the material. It reorganizes the gcodes, skips gcodes. Just all around crappy product, as far as software goes. Rails, plas & other hardware seems well constructed though. We need something to make it operate though. Sorry. Didn't mean to put our life story on here but I'm ready to meet these guys face to face to tell them what I think of their product. I'm through venting now. lol

[plain ol Bill]

I have and use Mach3 daily without any problems at all. My machine is self designed and built using CandCNC electronics, Sheetcam, Mach3 and I use Corel X4 for 99% of my drawings. There are literally thousands of machines out there that run using Mach3 without problems so I would look at the equipment and your vendor for satisfaction.

[chillbery]

Bill. We did find that they cross threaded the electrode in the torch & it didn't screw in all the way. We fixed that & are still having the same problems. We have tabs missing, according to some screens that we've looked at online & even on Mach 3's website. I'm not saying it's a bad product. It's just that ours was loaded on a refurbished computer & it may still have some bugs or something. The vendor doesn't even know why it's doing what it's doing.

[JJsCustomDesigns]

Sounds like quite the assortment of problems. Did you setup tooling for Milling rather than plasma in your tooling program (sheetcam?)? Milling wont turn off the spindle when it moves to the next cut. I bring that up cause you said

The plas software was not even loaded in the machine. Only the milling.

- Im tossin out ideas here. Is there a tab feature in milling? idk-- never used sheetcam to mill. i just cut with plasma.

Im sure with help from this community you can fix the machine to work for your needs.

I attached a link to Sheetcam Manual (pdf)
http://www.sheetcam.com/Download/SheetC ... ual_A4.pdf

and Mach3 Manual (pdf) applicable to plasma
http://www.machsupport.com/docs/Mach3Mi ... Config.pdf

[chillbery]

Thanks JJ. I'll check & see what it's set on. We had the vendor look at the programming by remote access & he didn't say anything about that but, it may have been overlooked. Thank you again for the advice. Dave