Ohmic cap troubles

[Local302]

I've had nothing but trouble getting the shop's Torchmate 4X4 set up. It has been in the shop nearly a year and we have gotten very little use out of it. We have had to replace our Accumove controller 2 times already. I was finally able to dial everything in and it worked okay for about a week.

I came back Monday morning and the ohmic cap is not sensing anything. I've checked continuity in all the wires, turned the relay on and off. Everything I can think of and I get nothing. Without the ohmic cap I am having a lot of trouble cutting 14 gauge metal as it warps enough to open the breakaways in different spots and I have to stop and restart the job often which leads to very poor cut quality.

Any tips on how to troubleshoot/repair the ohmic cap? This table's got a lot of bells and whistles but it can't carry a tune.

 

[LECS-Chad]

Ohmic is directly related to grounding.

I assume you have your table grounded to a earth ground?

Also if you turn the RELAY ON. jog the head down to the material does it see ohmic? Take a jumper wire from the orange end and go to ground?

 

[Local302]

Was on the phone with customer support for a while. It sounds like the Acucumove box is messed up. So if they send another one, it will be the fourth box I've had with this setup.
Everything's grounded. Got all the continuity where I'm supposed to. I've ran the troubleshooting tests. Pin 2 from on the height control cable from the accumove box to VFC ground is supposed to read 12v DC, mine reads 0. Pin 4 on the VFC box to VFC ground is supposed to read 12v DC, mine reads 0.

Table is well grounded, jumping from orange ohmic cable to ground doesn't illuminate the light. But I do have continuity all through the ohmic cable and get continuity touching the cap to the material and testing the other end of the ohmic wire.


The problem isn't in the cap or in a ground, it seems like its in the box. Which is frustrating, as I've had this box replaced twice already after purchasing a brand new one.

 

[LECS-Chad]

What gauge cable are you using from your independent ground rod to the table? Is it the same size as your plasma work cable? Does it have less than 3ohms?

You stated you are toggling the relay? Do you have the external relay box or the one inside the VFC?

 

[Local302]

10 gauge wire from the table to the independent ground. 0 ohm resistance.
1 ohm resistance from material on the table to the independent ground.

Toggled the relay on through the VMD software. I have the external relay box. Previously I was able to activate the ohmic cap by bypassing the relay box with a jumper wire. That no longer works.

I found out about toggling the Relay on/off through the VMD software after extensive googling. It would be nice if that was mentioned in the owner's manual. Not sure why it keeps turning off if it's so integral to properly running the machine.

 

[LECS-Chad]

10 gauge wire from the table to the independent ground. 0 ohm resistance.
1 ohm resistance from material on the table to the independent ground.

Toggled the relay on through the VMD software. I have the external relay box. Previously I was able to activate the ohmic cap by bypassing the relay box with a jumper wire. That no longer works.

I found out about toggling the Relay on/off through the VMD software after extensive googling. It would be nice if that was mentioned in the owner's manual. Not sure why it keeps turning off if it's so integral to properly running the machine.

The relay only turns on for the IHS sequence or when the machine is running and searching for material.

 

[Local302]

Previously the only way I could get the ohmic cap to show up was by bypassing the relay box. So if it wasn't the relay switch in the program then I have no idea what my original issue was and now I can't get the ohmic cap to light up no matter what.

 

[LECS-Chad]

Previously the only way I could get the ohmic cap to show up was by bypassing the relay box. So if it wasn't the relay switch in the program then I have no idea what my original issue was and now I can't get the ohmic cap to light up no matter what.

If you are turning the relay off/on or bypassing it completely then sounds like something is up with the AM.