No New table as yet. The shop has literally been running at near capacity. Couple that with employee absenteeism. There just aren't enough hours in a day.
Right on the money. As soon as it was completed it was back to work for it and then onto the next project. It has been a busy machine lately. It runs like a champ. smooth on both the high and low ipms. The float head is a nice feature, no more bad pierces. I just did a separate screen for oxy and am much happier with the remote Z control. Much less slag and dross too, that tells me the old system was lagging on accel. and I did not notice it. Straight line was fine but the intricate stuff was a bear to clean, now the book speeds are wire brush clean up and out the door they go. I plan too do a new thread over on the plasma project log forum (It has very little Dynatorch left in it) and give it a run down of the new system and the different components. I should of done it when it was fresh and clean. It has a few miles on it already, I would say it is broke in now. Three little bugs are now gone, vanished. One was the espII would shut down (load fault) if I jogged both X and Y at the same time, Break-in I assume. The other was the torch would attempt to fire while jogging around, again, gone. The third was a jump in feedrate to 300% of the going rate, it to is gone, probably fixed by a new plug-in, but may have been that break-in too.
VERY happy.
Did you take the plunge on a new table yet?
WSS
www.metaltechus.com
No New table as yet. The shop has literally been running at near capacity. Couple that with employee absenteeism. There just aren't enough hours in a day.
If it works.....Don't fix it!
I've read this full thread and I am doing a bit of reading between the lines in it.
How are you getting on with your newest machine WSS ? From what I can make out Mach 3 is the controller that you are using now ?
It is working great. No more downtime or expensive repairs! At the rate I was going, the cost of the retro-fit has paid for itself AND provides better cuts and that darn feedback/stall sensing/consumable trashing THC is gone. The new system still uses we-cim (Dt's strong point) to post. The servos we are using now are nema34 frame as opposed to the nema23, big difference in performance and capabilities. I slowed the top end down to 680ipm as 1K was way too fast anyhow, the torque is amazing. It cuts as good at 4ipm as it does at 150ipm. I did swap over to a Duramax torch and it really straightens out the bevel on small holes to less than a degree on half inch small holes. The consumable life is pretty impressive too. I did 1408 pierces on two sets of 65amp consumables doing 16mm holes in half inch.
To be straight out, the DT (we had) is probably OK if you do a few hours a week cutting (provided you are not losing motors on a regular basis) but it is not in the least an industrial machine. The gantry is good and I like the air preload but the rack is turned the wrong way and constantly needs to be brushed, it is ridged enough though to keep up with the new systems torque and duty cycle. The master side vee bearing apparatus is still tweaked from the original systems desire to not turn the same as the slave, but seems to have found it's groove LOL. When it starts to stick or show other signs of failure, I will re do it a little different but for know it works ok.
WSS
www.metaltechus.com
WSS
Do you need any changes to the post?
Gary, good to hear from you! Merry Christmas. I do need some changes but I am in the mode of "if it is working don't mess with it". I will need to ship out the DTHC board for a firmware flash and upgrade to the latest version of Mach3, Both items that are free but take a "commitment". I should pull it down over Christmas/New Year week as we will be on holiday anyway. I'll keep you posted (no pun intended)
Tommy
www.metaltechus.com
Hi WSS. I'm just doing a bit of browsing here and looking at other alternatives besides the SmartMotors for my Dynatorch in case of future failure.
I hope you don't mind me asking, did you go with http://machmotion.com or http://www.candcnc.com/ as your replacement cnc system ?
Thanks !
We are using the CandCnc stuff. It has been flawless for a year and a a half now. I chose to use the PlazPak4 (5 ready) servo system becuase (at the time) it was the only servo system offered by them. It uses nema34 motors for the X and Y and a stout nema23 for the Z. They now have a nema 23 system that will drop right on your gearboxes. That alone will save you a lot of money and time. Oddly enough, one of the best features of the system is the hand pendant. The only thing it wont do is load the code. The floating head Z also triples the consumable life over the force feedback of the dynatorch. ZERO repair cost so far ZERO is a big thing for us. I am no longer afraid to cut or walk away from the machine fore fear of losing a grand.
Let me know if you need any more info, I would be glad to help.
Tommy
www.metaltechus.com
Just thought I would give an update on the retro fit we did 6 years ago.
At the time Dynatorch was using the animatics servos and refusing to fix the problem. They decided to change to a different system and let the existing Dynatorch table users on their own with no resolution or solution other than buy into the new system. We had already accumulated $2.2k in shipping cost plus over $8k in motor costs. My decision to leave the dynatorch platform was based on a motor I sent directly to animatics for a analysis of the failure. Animatics in no uncertain terms laid the fault on the manufacturer claiming the motor was "backdriven" and reverse voltage applied.
Dynatorch had no solution, mechanical, technical or financial for us or the MANY other users claiming the same issues.
I enlisted the help of Tom Caudle from CandCnc and he steered me to a servo system called the PlazPak4+. I am running said system today. any problems I have encountered have been user error (or stupidity ??) on my part . Zero warranty claims, zero tech support after system was installed. Six years now. I still run the same table everyday.
It just works! It has some odd behaviors, such as being bluetooth intolerant, but cuts the same or better as the day it made it's first cuts. No tuning needed to switch between 10ipm oxy cuts or 180ipm on thin aluminum.
A simple update to our hard working system.
Cheers!
WSS
www.metaltechus.com
Wow WSS, you still using that plasma every day? Someday if you ever decide you might want to upgrade it to a later control system get in touch with me. The controls have evolved and the Software, and hardware are all in their 5th generation. We went to LINUX over a year ago and the current DTHCIV is many times faster and more responsive than the MACH3 version you are running.
Hi WSS,
Give me a call and let me know if I can help with anything.
It's been awhile since we talked and I'm just curious how everything is going
Gary Wittlock
www.metaltechus.com