Need help wih 71 issues

[littlefatbuddy]

Ok, it might not be 71 but it is more than 2.
I do all of my drawing and design in Corel X6, 64bit. I have posted here a couple of times about trying to reduce the nodes to create a better cut file. I took the time today and just made a nine inch circle. I then saved it in every option that Corel offers, AutoCAD 2008 to autocad R2.5. I made sure that there were only four nodes in the cdr file. I saved them as dxf files with the each option. I then imported them to Sheetcam one at a time. The four nodes were turned into probably 50 all the way around the circle. In the autocad 2000-2008 options it still appeared to be a circular object. When I imported the R options it looked like individual lines connected to each other and "blocky" all the way around. Well, I didn't bother cutting each one of them as a I could see it would already be a mess. I also tried svg and that was the same as autocad.
Problem#2
I did need to cut some marquee letters so I saved these in Corel as AC2004. I don't know why 04, I just did. The letter was a capital L with circles cut out of the middle for the lights to go through. I then imported them into Sheetcam and ran the post processor. The straight lines were perfect with no issues. The little circles on the other hand... If you were looking at a clock. It ran smooth from 6 oclock up to 3 oclock node and smooth from 3 to 12 oclock node and smooth on around to the 9 oclock node. Then it started the little segments and just making little tiny cuts until it got back to the 6oclock start point. I would guess there were 8 litte nodes from 9 to 6 and this was only a 7/8" hole. It did this on every hole, exactly the same. Circles created on the same day, in the same program, in the same manner, and were converted totally different. ????
Problem#3
I run a 4x8 Burntable. I know. That is a different topic for a different time. Onto the problem. I run a Hypertherm Powermax 65 on my table and an Iron Horse 80 gallon, 7hp compressor. Oh yeah the problem. I have the standard regulator drier and a motor gard filter unit as well as the very expensive and tiny filter in the Hypertherm itself. So when I started cutting the "L" the machine went over and went down to start the cut. The arc fired and it went to cut height. After about 1 second the torch went off. They Hypertherm showed a 0-21 code which is lost gas supply but the air is still blowing. My compressor was still not on. With the code still showing, the machine continued the movement, just without an arc. It picked up the torch and went to the next circle. The torch went down and cut the circle perfectly, except the aforementioned little tiny cuts between 9 and 6. It picked up went to the next circle, down, arc, cut height, 1 second later the torch shuts off. Same for the last two circles. So the torch went up and over to the spot for the long cut. All the way around a 12" x 9 inch "L". Somewhere around 40" total. It cut perfect all the way around without any of the lost air OR low gas warnings. I do sometimes get a low gas code but the compressor usually kicks on and the code clears itself in about 5 seconds. ??????? Can sheetcam do some weird thing to cause the torch to turn off and on. If the torch turned off because of no gas code but I turned it on manually in Mach 3 it would stay on for the rest of the cut. Even if the error code was still displayed.
Problem#4
Ok so not really a problem, just a little more confusion. I closed the gcode on the "L" and started one for the "H" very similar issues. The "F" was the same as the other two. I then loaded the gcode for some regular letters. These were 14" letters without any holes or anything fancy, just a plain jane, arial font. There were six letters total. Hit the cycle start and it cut every single letter without any air problems whatsoever. These were consecutive cuts, no rest in between. Again these files were all created and converted within an hour or so of each other. Sheetcam did a really good job of converting these except for the "C" and "B". It added tons of nodes to the "C" and only a half ton of nodes to the inside cutouts for the "B".
Problem#5
I cannot figure out any way to adjust the height of the torch after it starts cutting. Burntable, Sheetcam, Mach 3. I know, I know THC but that too is for another topic and discussion. I am currently not using the THC.
Problem#6
I am quite certain I forgot something that would be pertinent to good answers.
Problem#7
I don't really like it when someone rights a novel on a post. I thought it would be good to give as much information as possible. Please forgive me.

Further information: Today I was cutting 20 gauge cold rolled with genuine Hypertherm consumables. Finecut set at 20amps and 200 ipms with the Hypertherm specs for cut height. I know the speed might seem slow but it works pretty well for the setup I have and the things I cut. I attached two of the files that I used for all these shenanigans. I tried to attach the .tap files from Sheetcam but it said invalid extension. I would like to show the files after the post processor was ran and how they looked before cutting if someone can tell me how to do that.

Finally, if you got this far I really appreciate your time and responses. I try to just figure things out myself and then I know how to do it forever. Some of these problems have been happening for over a year and I finally decided to see if someone could help. Please ask any questions.

Kevin

[jimcolt]

If the plasma displays a 0-21 that indicates a low inlet air pressure....could be a momentary low that is created by a flow restriction in your air system. As I always suggest...install an air pressure gauge hard plumbed directly on the air inlet of the plasma and monitor it when the air is flowing at the torch. If....especially at the beginning of a cut...the gauge shows a pressure below 90 psi....then you need to take a good look at your air line plumbing. Every fitting creates restrictions, every filter creates restrictions, the ID of the air hose is restrictive and the length of the air hose is restrictive. Something will be causing a momentary pressure drop. The inlet pressure must always be between 90 and 135 psi, measured at the inlet (not back at the compressor) and with air flowing at the torch.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[acourtjester]

HI
here is what I found downloading you "L" and importing it into Inkscape and adding circles created in Inkscape to it.
Your circles have a flat top and the Inkscape added circle remain in a round form when saved wither in DFX or SVG format.
the attached images are from SheetCam each seems to be a unbroken cut action.

marquuel 12 inch.jpg (18.6 KiB) Viewed 2050 times

marquuel 12 inchA.jpg (22.41 KiB) Viewed 2050 times

[littlefatbuddy]

Jim, I finally bought the stuff a few minutes ago to put the air gauge in at the back of the machine. I will test that today as I still have a lot of cutting to do. Any idea why it would stop cutting on one circle and then cut the next one with no problems and the 0-21 code is still displayed?

jester, Do you have any idea why it flat topped my circles? Is it a Sheetcam issue. When I draw the circles I hold down the ctrl button to maintain a true circle. I didn't have an issue with it cutting flat tops. It actually cut really good in that area.

[acourtjester]

I just check again when I first posted what I found I had just opened your file in Inkscape and found the flat tops. I now opened your file in SheetCam and they are round. Many here have had problems between different software packages. I am not saying Corel is the problem but if you have the flat tops in the actual cutting it may be that. There are many here that use Corel maybe they will jump in. When I put it in Inkscape and save it there were only 4 nodes per circle since you had voice a problem with node numbers that is why I did it in Inkscape and then saved it with both types of file formats.

[srp]

When I opened your L file in corel x5 one of the nodes had two direction arrow on it. I have not seen that before. On drawing circles try using the the ellipse tool and under the Property Bar choose the open curve option and set the number of degrees to 360. You will only have one node but don't worry about that. Hold your CTRL key and then resize to desired dia. See if that might remove the flats.

[littlefatbuddy]

Ok. I appreciate all the help but I don't want to get to far off subject. I included the picture of my L in sheetcam. I never had flat tops but if you will notice to the bottom and left of the circle that is where all the nodes are and obviously affects the cut quality. It is difficult to see but there are only three other nodes in the entire rest of the circle but a lot in that area. I will try the other method of making a circle in Corel and see if that helps. It is kind of sad but I did not have time to test the air flow today. I just set the next line, reset the Hypertherm, and force the torch back on in Mach 3. It is a pain in the rear but I just had a ton of cutting to do today. Hopefully, tomorrow I can get that done and get answers to the air issue. It does not seem to happen if I am using 45 amp consumables. I did not try that today but over the course of these months I have noticed that to be a trend. How low can you run the amps with 45 consumables? On the bright side I was getting some beautiful cuts today. Thank you for all your help.

[jimcolt]

The 0-21 code should stay on the screen until you cycle the power (in the troubleshooting section of the manual it says "Restore the gas inlet pressure and restart the power supply").

If you watch your gauge with no flow....and keep watching it when air flows at the torch...I'm guessing you will see a large drop in inlet pressure. Maybe at the low part of your compressor cycle it is getting too low (below 85-90 psi), which will cause an 0-21.

Jim Colt

Jim, I finally bought the stuff a few minutes ago to put the air gauge in at the back of the machine. I will test that today as I still have a lot of cutting to do. Any idea why it would stop cutting on one circle and then cut the next one with no problems and the 0-21 code is still displayed?

jester, Do you have any idea why it flat topped my circles? Is it a Sheetcam issue. When I draw the circles I hold down the ctrl button to maintain a true circle. I didn't have an issue with it cutting flat tops. It actually cut really good in that area.

[srp]

Corel issue: Corel does not render to dxf very good. Many think including myself the best file type to save from Corel for use in Sheetcam is a svg(scalable vector graphic). Using the svg format was the only way Sheetcam would break the circles into 4 arc and not be a bunch of short line segments. Many line segments may slow down the cutting speed and affect cut quality. You will normally want your file sizes to be as small as possible - efficient. When I drew the circles in my cad program I only had one arc- a complete circle. That is learning for another time.

If you choose to use svg into sheetcam you may scale your drawing at the time of the import. Be sure it is set to 1:1 for original size.

You might not think you have 71 opportunities to learn but by the time you are finished you will think that was a lowball estimate. Good Luck

[Brand X]

http://www.coreldrawtools.com/standard/index.html

[littlefatbuddy]

Well, air supply review has revealed that upon initial arc on my pressure drops to about 88lbs. It starts around 115lbs. I believe it is sucking the air from the line, enough to fire, drops and shuts off. The compressor kicks on after a bit and then will maintain the pressure for it to continue and cut.
I put the machine back to zero. Raised the torch and changed to 45 amp consumables. I did not change the file, amperage, zero, nothing. Only the consumables. It cut the entire file without one problem. As a matter of fact I did not even reset the Hypertherm that had the 0-12 code displayed. It cut the first two, inch and a half long cuts, the compressor kicked on on the code went away.
So with the 45 amp consumables the gauge dropped and stayed around 80lbs. When the arc came on the pressure would actually increase for just a second to around 90lbs. 0-12code did display but it continued to cut and went all the way through the
file. It isn't a super expensive gauge, but all the factors were the same.
I will take 371 opportunities to learn. It is what drives me to try all sorts of things. Thanks for everyone's help. Keep it coming, please.
The investigation continues.........

[littlefatbuddy]

Upon further investigation, with a hospital stay due to pancreatitis in between, the Hypertherm does not ever shut off if I am using anything other than Finecut consumables. I have also noticed that most of the time the torch will shut off about 2 to 3 seconds into a cut or it will shut off right after the initial firing of the arc. Also I have noticed that if I reset the line in Mach 3 to the first of the cut, let the torch fire, then shut it off manually with the button in Mach 3, then let it go down to cut height, start the movement, and then manually turn the torch on with the Mach 3 button it will run the entire cut without shutting down. It doesn't matter if it is two inches long or 4ft long. I do alot of marquee type signs, with the lights in them, which requires me to use a bunch of 3" strips for the "surround" on the letters or the sign. I can set the table to the proper position, manually turn the torch on in Mach 3, manually move the gantry with the keyboard, and cut the entire 8ft of the sheet and the torch never shuts off. I do not create a file for these long cuts in Sheetcam. I just do all of them manually. The torch has never shut off when I am doing these.
For this latest round of tests I ran a hose from the compressor directly to the motor gard. This bypassed the plumbed air system that runs throughout my shop. It also allowed me to bypass several potential spots for restriction. It did not seem to make any difference in how long the torch would stay on before shutting down. It took most of a 50ft hose to get across the shop and around the table.
It seems that the easiest solution would be to just stop using the Finecut and use the others. The problem with that is I cut mostly 20ga. With the 45 amp consumables even turned down to 25 amps it still really blows out the corners and with the continuing problem of conversions in Sheetcam and all the little nodes it really messes up these areas.
So far, the facts I know to this point. 1) I only have this problem with Finecut consumables, 2) If I manually turn the torch on in Mach 3 it does not shut off from the air code.
Any ideas on this???

[tcaudle]

Here is what I suspect . You stated you are using a Burntables 4 X8 and that is a topic for anothe discussion....actually it probrbly needs to be a topic for this discussion.

1. The BT has neither the smooth motion nor the acceleration to cut 20ga metal...period. You need acceleration of around 50 IPS/sec when cutting above 250 IPM . Even on slower speeds you need at least 25IPS/sec. Last BT we saw has 4 IPS/sec accel. That is great for cutting 1/2" material at 35 IPM feeds
2. Unless it has been changed the THC in the BT will not adjust down to the lower voltages required by FineCut. They are a lot more critical on virtually every setting including the ARC GAP (height). Losing arc is oftenan indiaction the arc agp is too high. Its easier to lose arc when you are only cutting at 25 amps.

Thic is my option but cutting thin material with finecut is a process that takes a good machine and fast response THC with precise settings and I think you are fighting a losing battle. Doing that cutting on a well engineered table with plenty of acceleration and a high speed quality THC can be a challenge

You were probably told you needed to practice more. Personally I think the issues are a lot less than 71 and one of them is NOT more practice

[littlefatbuddy]

As to the Burntable, I wish I had done more research on tables. I looked at a few and out of those the Burntable was the best. Obviously, I did not look very hard. The table has been one challenge after another. I don't know if other tables require it but I constantly have to adjust the bearings bolted in place with conduit. I never got the THC to work properly. I spent countless hours on the phone and burned up four sheets of 1/4" making test cuts while talking to them on the phone. I finally decided to bypass the THC and start cutting. Since that time I have made significant progress in my quality of cuts. I didn't say perfect, but acceptable. When Sheetcam doesn't give me way too many nodes on a file it actually cuts decent. I set my cut parameters in Sheetcam. When I would use the THC it would continually rise until I lost the arc. That is not the problem now. I continually get an 0-21 code on the Hypertherm. Loss of gas flow.
Honestly, I have received good customer service from Burntables. They have a new service tech that says he can talk me thru getting the THC to work but I just haven't wanted to mess with it yet. If I have needed something they were responsive and helped me with whatever I have asked. Now having said that, if I had the money I would scrap the BT and start over with good equipment. That isn't an option for me right now. I have watched every single thing about upgrading the BT that is available, but unfortunately lack of funds prevents that as well.
I feel like it is a Hypertherm issue. More specifically a Finecut consumable issue. It ONLY happens with Finecut. The call center helplines for Hypertherm are usually awesome. I have only had one jerk the whole time I have bothered them. When I sent the machine in for repairs it was gone for three months. Yes 3. However, at the end of this 3 months I thought Brian, out of Dallas, went way above and beyond to make sure my machine was right and to get it back to me.
Anyway, I really appreciate the response. When I have the money to upgrade I definitely will. In the meantime, I will continue to drive myself and the other members here crazy.