45xp voltage reading or torch compatibility

[solomanb]

Evening all,
I'm having an issue with lack of voltage from the 45 xp for the height control. I have an 85 connected to a hypertherm machine torch that came with the Koike table. It works perfectly. Divider board set on 50:1.
I purchased the 45 xp for marking and my thoughts were I will place them side by side and when I need to mark I will switch the torch and ground and have at it. No didn't quite work out that way. I had no voltage reading for cut height control. Contacted hypertherm tech support they guided me through the voltage check on the cpc port I had no reading . My dealer said take it for service never cut a total of five feet, things happen and did not try marking. They checked it said no problem. It came with a hand torch which I won't use and didn't take when I dropped machine off.
The other reason I chose the 45 xp was torches were interchangeable with the 85. Any literature I have read and what Jim Colt has posted, yes and yes to the questions.
But are they ?
I'm going to pick up the machine pay the bill because nothing is wrong with the machine connect the hand torch and see if I can get a voltage reading from the cpc .
If I do then the torches are not interchangeable which sounds strange .
Anybody else have this happen ?
Solomanb

[tcaudle]

Well, since the voltage readout does not come from the torch it stands to reason its not the torch . The reading is taken inside off the Workclamp and Electrode lines on the main PCB and divided down and filtered by an on-board circuit so what you see at the CPC connector is not tied to a torch. There is a polarity so if it were to be reversed it might not show any volts. The divided voltage in the CPC is on pins 5 and 6 and should be around 3.2 VDC when you fire the torch in the air.

[jimcolt]

You can use either hand or machine torches that are made for the Powermax65, 85, 105 systems on any Powermax45 XP. As Tom said....the torch is not where the arc voltage is read....it comes from the power supply. Did you specifically ask the dealer to check the Powermax unit for arc voltage output? If they did not know to look for that output they may have just fired the unit up and cut metal with it....which it will do just fine even if the arc voltage output on pins 5 and 6 is not there.

If the torch cuts and fires there is arc voltage. If there is no output on pins 5 and 6 on the CPC port when the torch is cutting metal...then there would be either a bad voltage divider board or a bad main control board inside the power supply. Jim Colt Hypertherm

[solomanb]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I asked them to check the voltage on the cpc port. I am going to confirm when I bring it home and hope for his sake there is a reading. I have had an issue with this shop on a previous repair but we worked through it. Being he is the only shop in town I trusted the diagnosis would be completed. I'm very patient but cross me once, cross me twice will not get a third try.
Solomanb

[jimcolt]

To read that the voltage is correct you need to do a test like this:

1. Set up torch for a cut at a fixed speed and fixed cut height in a straight line.
2. Connect a meter to read raw arc voltage directly off the + and - terminals on the Main Power Board. Write the voltage down while cutting the above cut.
3. Index the torch a bit so you are on fresh metal (same height same speed)..cut again, this time with the meter on pins 5 and 6 of the CPC port.
4. Multiply your reading on the CPC by the inverse (inverse of 1/50th is 50) of the voltage divider dip switch setting. (so if you read 2.1 volts, x 50 = 105 volts. The first reading of the raw arc voltage should be within about 5 volts of this reading.

The raw arc voltage is higher when the arc length is longer (which happens with higher torch height, slower cutting speed, thicker metal). The divided arc voltage is simply the raw voltage divided to a safe level for humans and the electronics you are using for height control. If something occurs with the wiring between pins 5 and 6 (shorting these together as an example)....you can damage this output, which requires a board replacement, either the small divider board can fail or the large Power board output can fail (worse case for sure!).

Jim Colt Hypertherm