Upgraded to 45xp and torch wont fire

[adbuch]

I realize this is an older post, but did you ever find a solution?? I'm in the same boat thinking my cpc cable would work with the hand torch. I made my own cpc cable using 8 conductor 22ga shielded wire, cpc plug and pins. I have pins 3 and 4 going to a mesa 7i96 output and pins 12 and 14 going to the input, along with the other wires ran. I'm wondering what I did wrong. I also tried moving the purple #6 wire from the plug to the #8 hole, yet my torch still won't fire and the 45xp issues the -0 50 fault for the trigger pressed at startup. Moving that wire should bypass that, shouldn't it? Or would I move some wires on my CPC cable to accomplish this instead?

Lucas - the OP has not been active on this forum for over a year - so I doubt you will get a response from him. The cpc cable is for machine torch, not hand torch. For the 45xp with hand torch, you will need to open up your cutter and cut and splice into the purple trigger wire and bring the 2 wires you have spliced in out to your controller. Also place a cable tie around your hand torch trigger to keep it in the closed (fire) position.

Then when your controller issues the fire torch signal, your relay or whatever you are using should close the circuit and fire the torch. I don't know anything about the mesa board. For that information you might consider posting your question in the diy section or in the CNC Plasma Cutters General Forum.

David

[djreiswig]

I'm pretty sure I've posted a picture out of the service manual that shows the connections to change to get the hand torch to work with the CPC. The divider should still work with the hand torch. The issue is just the trigger wiring. It uses different pins in the torch connector. You can jumper 2 pins in the connector with a piece of wire.

[rdj357]

Plasmacam's instructions should translate just fine to others using a dry switch to fire the torch.

Even on new SYNC models, Hypertherm still uses the same color coding. In the harness going to the torch there is a purple wire. If you cut that wire and splice your dry contacts in series (hooking one to each end of the cut purple wire) and then zip tie the trigger of the hand torch, the dry contacts will fire the torch.

[adbuch]

Robert - that's exactly what I was thinking.
David

[LucasWorx]

Thank you. As I said David, I've realized that the CPC cable is for a machine torch, but regardless, there is a way to make it work. I was going by previous posts I had seen saying that I only need to swap the purple #6 wire into the #8 hole on the plug end and zip tie the torch trigger. After reading this though, it seems like I need to splice it in with another wire. I'll try to research a little more and see if I can come up with a solution. Thank you everyone for your help and responding to my inquiry on this old thread.

[adbuch]

Let us know how you make out.
David

[djreiswig]

I don't think you need to cut any wires to use the hand torch with the CPC. Download the service manual and there are schematics in the back. You should be able to see how it treats the machine torch. Just make it think your hand torch is a machine torch. You will have to tie the trigger, though.

[adbuch]

I think the hand torch and machine torch have different connections at the connector from the torch cable to the plasma cutter. The manuals should show these different configurations.
David

[LucasWorx]

I ended up jumping pins 6 and 8 on the plasma cutter side (female end of the torch lead). Now it powers on without the fault and I am able to zip tie the trigger. Thanks again for the help guys. Unfortunately I still can't get my torch to fire through qtplasmac but I think that probably belongs in another forum:/ I'll review my wiring for the 10th time and try to find out what's going on.

[tinspark]

I use the hand torch on my machine and it has never been a problem.
I spent a little bit of time squaring everything up and check it now and then without any real issues.
I did purchase a 2nd hand torch so that I wouldn't have to dismantle the torch from the carriage each time that I wanted to use it. I just use the jumper lead that plasmacam provided to activate the 2nd hand torch. I
It works great for my needs!

[LucasWorx]

I use the hand torch on my machine and it has never been a problem.
I spent a little bit of time squaring everything up and check it now and then without any real issues.
I did purchase a 2nd hand torch so that I wouldn't have to dismantle the torch from the carriage each time that I wanted to use it. I just use the jumper lead that plasmacam provided to activate the 2nd hand torch. I
It works great for my needs!

Are you using it through a CPC port? It turns out that I am still having an issue. I can't get this thing to fire or pulse through plasmac no matter what I do. I know I'm missing something. I just can't seem to figure it out. I have moved the pin, jumped them together, still with no luck. I was going off of these directions:
https://forum.langmuirsystems.com/t/ntk ... ained/1060

I'm wondering if I need to get the #3 and #4 wires from the CPC port and run them to the torch somehow so that the Mesa can turn the torch on, but being a CPC port, I kinda figure that it should already be wired into those inside the machine.

[rdj357]

Do you absolutely have to splice into the purple wire? No, of course there are 20 different ways of doing any one thing most of the time. Is it the easiest way? Absolutely!

Wiring the dry switch in series with the purple wire going to the hand torch connection leaves all safeties intact and gives you a very easy way to get connected. Pins 3 and 4 of the CPC are the trigger circuit. If you were to run a wire from pin 3 to one end of the cut purple wire and a wire from pin 4 to one end of the purple wire, you could use the CPC with a zip tied trigger to run the hand torch.

As has been stated many times in this thread many different ways, the CPC fires the machine torch only because Hypertherm uses a completely different circuit for the machine torch. You can verify all of this by downloading and reading the schematic for your Hypertherm from their website. I just like to keep things simple because I have no idea what each person I speak to in a day’s skill level is with electricity and schematics.

[djreiswig]

I don't think you jumped the correct 2 pins. See this video.

[adbuch]

Do you absolutely have to splice into the purple wire? No, of course there are 20 different ways of doing any one thing most of the time. Is it the easiest way? Absolutely!

Wiring the dry switch in series with the purple wire going to the hand torch connection leaves all safeties intact and gives you a very easy way to get connected. Pins 3 and 4 of the CPC are the trigger circuit. If you were to run a wire from pin 3 to one end of the cut purple wire and a wire from pin 4 to one end of the purple wire, you could use the CPC with a zip tied trigger to run the hand torch.

As has been stated many times in this thread many different ways, the CPC fires the machine torch only because Hypertherm uses a completely different circuit for the machine torch. You can verify all of this by downloading and reading the schematic for your Hypertherm from their website. I just like to keep things simple because I have no idea what each person I speak to in a day’s skill level is with electricity and schematics.

What he said!!
David

[LucasWorx]

Wiring the dry switch in series with the purple wire going to the hand torch connection leaves all safeties intact and gives you a very easy way to get connected. Pins 3 and 4 of the CPC are the trigger circuit. If you were to run a wire from pin 3 to one end of the cut purple wire and a wire from pin 4 to one end of the purple wire, you could use the CPC with a zip tied trigger to run the hand torch.

The dry switch you are talking about (in the handle) is already wired in series with the purple wire, is it not? ... I think I'm picturing what you're talking about though. Just snipping the purple wire and running #3 to one end and #4 to the other so that the controller can close the circuit. I'll probably give this a shot and try to do it as clean as possible so that I can splice them back together later when I have the funds for a machine torch.

and djreiswig, that video is for the older Powermax 45, not for the 45XP. I believe the wiring has changed a little.

[djreiswig]

Have you watched the video I linked?
I hate snipping wires.

[adbuch]

By "dry switch" - I believe Robert is referring to the switch you will add to turn the torch on and off. Not the torch trigger switch.
David

[adbuch]

It is common practice here to splice into the purple trigger wire for remote control. This can be easily reversed. For the Plasmacam controller, they supply a jumper plug that can be installed into the end of the torch control cable (the end that normally plugs into the controller) for manual cutting. I have done it this way with both my 45xp and Powermax 85, as has Doug and many others.
David

[LucasWorx]

Have you watched the video I linked?
I hate snipping wires.

I did. Did you read my last reply? lol. The wiring does look the same for the XP though. I think I tried jumpering those wires as well but I'll give it another shot tomorrow just to make sure. Jumping from the spot they show in the video will not allow the pins to plug in so I will have to come up with a different way.

[djreiswig]

I like to keep things factory. I made a couple of internal mods to my cutter to emulate the on/off slide torch switch on some of the hand torches. I did this so I can remove the cap without shutting off the power supply. I hooked into the start circuit to make it so the torch won't fire with the cap off. Normally if you remove the cap it throws an error that can only be cleared by cycling power. If you don't wait long enough with power off, the amps come back as 0, causing the torch to not fire.
With my mod, I push a button before I remove the cap, and again after I reinstall it.
I bought the mating connectors for the boards and made a short harness to do this mod without cutting a single wire. So I'm able to remove everything and not leave any traces. That's how I like to roll. But if you like snipping wires, have at it.

[djreiswig]

Have you watched the video I linked?
I hate snipping wires.

I did. Did you read my last reply? lol. The wiring does look the same for the XP though. I think I tried jumpering those wires as well but I'll give it another shot tomorrow just to make sure. Jumping from the spot they show in the video will not allow the pins to plug in so I will have to come up with a different way.

I think they use a really fine strand of wire, so maybe that's why they are able to get the connector installed. It's just a signal wire, so no real current. You could also jump it on the board connector inside the unit.
I just bought the machine torch. It was easier.

[LucasWorx]

I think they use a really fine strand of wire, so maybe that's why they are able to get the connector installed. It's just a signal wire, so no real current. You could also jump it on the board connector inside the unit.
I just bought the machine torch. It was easier.

Hmm, yeah I suppose that's true. I would rather make a small harness as well. That's not a bad idea. I have some 4 pin connectors laying around that I could make one with. That would be in regards to pins 3 and 4 though from the CPC port. As far as the jumper though, even if it was a fine strand of wire, those pins engage the outer wall male to the inner wall female with no clearance. I'll see what I can come up with but I think I would have to go from the other side...which is also a PITA.

[LucasWorx]

I know I know, I should just buy the machine torch. Believe me, I know. I get it. lol. I plan to. I just can't right now, even though I'm tempted.

[djreiswig]

The CPC port should already be connected correctly. You just need to make it think your hand torch is really a machine torch. It just comes down to the pin that goes to the trigger (it's really a common since it also goes to the cap switch) needs to be hooked to the pin for the machine torch. The torch connector goes to a flat plug on the circuit board. You could make a jumper inline with that connector and hook the orange and yellow together. You would probably want to remove it when you get the machine torch. Or you can probably just slide a strand of wire into the board connector and short the two terminals there instead of in the torch connector.

[LucasWorx]

I think that's one of the things I tried already, but after zip tying the trigger and turning on the machine, it triggered the 0-51 fault indicating trigger pull at start....which it shouldn't do because it should think it's a machine torch at that point. That's where I kept getting stuck. I'll try it one more time tomorrow and make sure I didn't jump the wrong one but I think I've gone back and forth between the orange, purple and yellow trying to get that result with no success.