plasma cam newbie

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:57 pm

hello everyone,

I am new to cnc plasma world. we have a 5 x 10 at work and I fell in love with these things... So I found a very nice used one that I am buying this week. I will be using my thermal dynamics cutmaster 50 with this.. I am glad I stumble on to this forum because there is a lot of knowledge shared on this website, and I am sure that I will rely on this forum till I get the hang of things as I am completely green to this... so thanks in advance. btw the table is a 4'x4' and for now I will be using the dhc software as the table is a few years old. so any beginner's advice would be awesome ...

Post by **admin** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:32 am

Welcome to the site, I am sure you will enjoy the members here and find it to be very useful.

Best of luck with getting your plasma table set up this week, there's lots of help here.

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:03 pm

thanks glad to be a part of something that's is so awesome.. Cant wait to start cutting. ill post some pictures up when I get it Friday..

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:13 am

so im going to buy this table today.. Could yall give me a some things to check to make sure its in good working order.. He does not have it hooked to a cutter or computer. I know it was hooked to a thermal dynamics cut pac 100 I believe..

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:15 pm

20140309_204422.jpg

20140308_220718-1.jpg

20140308_220709_resized.jpg

20140308_220421_resized.jpg

20140308_220407_resized.jpg

20140308_154526_resized.jpg

so here it is. Its an older one but hardly used. Those are the original grates. The guy never had time to use it and finally got tired of it being in his way... Hardly has a scratch on it. Now I just got to get a new cutter. Should have done more research, my TD cutmaster 50 uses a high frequency start. Kinda bummed about that... But for 2500$ I paid for the table im still ahead I think. what do you guys think??

weldor2005 · Post by **weldor2005** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:57 am

I'm sorry that this is a late response.

You might have gotten the hardware for a good price, but since there was no computer, you will find that the software is the expensive part when it comes to Plasmacam. Of course i think this one being only the DHC isn't so bad vs the DHC2. It would have been better if it were connected to a computer so that you could then at least initiate and use the control center to see if the motors are good.

I hope this works out for you, but not seeing it run could be a costly mistake. the motors are costly if they don't work, and then again, the software is costly.

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:08 pm

he had the software, and i have a computer to run it.. But you are right about the motors. I went on this guys honesty so hopefully it dont bite me in the butt. Gonna try to get it hooked up and moving around this week..

icmplasma85 · Post by **icmplasma85** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:17 pm

Just going off looking at the pictures and how few hours you say he had on it, I would think the motors should be okay, but obviously you won't know until you hook everything up and try it out. If everything does work sounds like you got a pretty good deal, congrats on getting a table.

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:59 pm

Thanks.. th guy was very honest with me. And I know him thru a mutual friend so I dont think he would have sold me something that he did not think would work... But I got alot of learning to do..

weldor2005 · Post by **weldor2005** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:04 pm

If he financed it, he may have just sold it for what he owed on it.

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:23 pm

I think im gonna just man up and buy a hypertherm. But should I get a 45 or 65? 3/8 is probably the thickest I will ever cut. Thanks for any advice.. im sure its a topic that been beat to death.

weldor2005 · Post by **weldor2005** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:51 pm

If you already are thinking 3/8" maximum, then in the future you will be on 3/4" if you can afford it go with the 65.

Edit:

To further my information on the topic of the cutter, I will strongly urge you to make sure that you have a electrical circuit that can handle the 65 before you buy it, just something else to look at.

http://www.hypertherm.com/en-us/Product ... ax65.jsp#1

This shows roughly 50-52 Amps of input current, so I would say at least a 60 amp circuit to appropriately run this machine at 100% duty cycle, but i'm not an electrician

Post by **abmetal** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:06 pm

I'll second weldor2005's recommendation.

Allen

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:40 pm

Wow.. That take a lot of juice.. Thanks for the input.

weldor2005 · Post by **weldor2005** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:03 pm

bodiedyota92 wrote:Wow.. That take a lot of juice.. Thanks for the input.

Yea, in my studies of welding, I asked several of my teachers about what I needed to run equipment, they couldn't answer me. So then I learned a little bit about electricity and requirements on circuits and loads... don't take much to pop a main at full output on a plasma and your 25 amp air compressor and then the 5-10 amps drawn from the lights, whatever my radio runs.....and only a 100 amp main

So, I learned how to figure it all out and make sure it don't happen!

If you run the circuit for the 60 amp, and find you pop the main and not the branch, then you can always just upgrade your panel. The great part is that all the wires are already there for you

VPT · Post by **VPT** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:06 am

I have one 60amp outlet with an extension cord that a drag around from welder to welder to plasma cutter etc. Has been working out great for me.

But another thing to think about with power is not only the 60amps for the cutter but another 20+ for the compressor, 15+ for lighting in the area and more for the computer and stuff to run the table, etc.

Machine looks clean and in great condition, I wouldn't sweat it to much worrying about motors. Even if one motor is shot for some odd reason it isn't the end of the world, they are $240, cheap when you consider the big picture and what stuff could cost.

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:26 pm

I got my computer ready to go.. So im gonna get it hooked up this week and check it out. Hope to get a new cutter soon too.

Dan-PlasmaCAM · Post by **Dan-PlasmaCAM** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 11:05 am

The last Software Version for that Machine is 3.11. If you don't have it go here.

https://owners-community.com/

Tech support can get it for you. There is an upgrade to DesignEdge available as well. Call me and I will send you the Transfer of Ownership form. You will need that to log in to the owners community. (No Cost).

Looks like a clean machine- Have Fun!

Dan-PlasmaCAM

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 9:26 pm

Thanks Dan... I talked with Josh and he emailed me that form. Ok so my son got sick then I got sick but any way, I got my computer hooked up but it wont let me initialize the machine. It says to check parallel cable turn off wit 5 seconds and re try. Could the cable be bad? I got the computer from my father inlaw and he had to add a parallel port, could it be hooked up wrong? I know not much about computers. My neighbor said there are 2 kinds of parallel ports but idk. So any help would be appreciated...

VPT · Post by **VPT** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:04 am

Yeah I had a big problem with the parallel ports deal with my dell computer (actually bought a second computer and had same problem).

If you have a dell computer do this:

Open the plasmacam software

Go to settings

click on the "system setup" tab

In the parallel port box there are some settings to set.

First is the "base address" (hexadecimal) in this box put : 378

Check EPP optimized mode

Check low voltage port

And then click ok and try again.

If that works out you might want to go back and then try clicking the "auto detect settings" and see if anything changes and try those settings to see if it is better. If not go back to the manual settings.

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 3:03 pm

Thanks for the reply, I tried it exactly a s you said and it still say no port detected. Mine is a dell also. I think im going to have to get some one better with computers than I am..

VPT · Post by **VPT** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:03 am

Let me check my table computer for the exact right parallel port address. It may have been something like 256 now that I am thinking about it again. I remember it took me a long time searching the internet to find the right one and it works good.

There is a way to check the parallel port address on your computer but I forget exactly how. It had something to do with hitting F12 (or whatever the "setup" button is) at startup of the computer. It will tell you on the screen which button to hit at start up for a few second to enter the "startup menu". In the startup menu there is a place that tells you the parallel port number address that you would put into the box in the plasmacam software.

VPT · Post by **VPT** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:10 am

Finally found all the info. Sorry, disregard the previous post, I was wrong (its been awhile since I did this).

You have to change the BIOS setting for the parallel port in your computer in order for plasmacam to see the computer.

Here is a link to all the instructions I followed with my dell and got it to work good.

http://plasmacam.wikispaces.com/file/vi ... amacam.pdf

bodiedyota92 · Post by **bodiedyota92** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:03 pm

I will try that. Thanks for your help..

drakus · Post by **drakus** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:56 pm

If memory serves me correct and my math is correct with the specs on the HT65 a 40 or 45 amp breaker is all you need for single phase.

if running at 15kW (Specs state 9kW I am over figuring) power you take 15000 (watts) / 480 (Voltage) = 31.25 (amps) Derate the circuit & multiply by 1.25 and that comes out to 39.06 so a 40/45 amp breaker should run it fine.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

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