Dynatorch arc failure

Metal Shop
#1

I’m not putting this into the Issues as the issue could be with the setup.

I’ve opened the gcode in the Sheetcam, set the material and do a dry run on the 3/16" aluminum. When I click the lightning bolt, the z axis motor will adjust the torch to where it hits the material and then it backs off slightly. It tries to establish an arc for 5 seconds before it pops up an error message. I’ve tried changing out consumables and moving the position around to no avail. I don’t have much experience on the machine. Is their something I’m overlooking?

Thanks for any suggestions…

#2

What error message is received? Does the Hyperthem have an error on its screen as well?

#3

The error message on the software was, “Arc failed to establish in 5.0 seconds”, “Do you want to try again”? Their was an error light on the Hypertherm. I ended up cycling the power on the Hypertherm and it worked fine. In subsequent runs, I found that turning on the Hypertherm after the software was open (last step), seemed to work repeatedly. I’ll keep refining my setup.

Thanks for the prompt attention!
Joe

#4

This should be your last step. If you change the consumables while the power is on, it (hypertherm)must be power cycled

#5

Is there a way to scale the DXF in SheetCam? Or using Adobe, how do I ensure the dxf graphic size is correct for the dynatorch? I created a simple dxf in adobe in several inches of size, but it imports very large into SheetCam

#6

When you import it gives you the option of setting the scale.make sure it is 1 to 1.

1 Like
#7

You can use measure option in sheetcam to see if it scales right. I must say, Adobe usually has problems from what I’ve seen being imported to sheetcam.

1 Like
#8

This is a good idea. I once cut a piece exported from Solidworks at 3/4 scale. It was close enough that we didn’t notice until trying to fit it, was just like, that seems kinda small.

#9

Check the import settings whenever importing a drawing to sheetcam. Seems like it uses whatever settings the last user had.

I use a program called Qcad to create dxf files, i think they have a free version, paid version is cheap, it can be configured to run from a USB thumbdrive like the one i keep on my keychain. Very convenient.