Troubleshooting

Round Corners/Entry and Exits Do Not Line Up:
Feed Rate is too fast or your wire temperature is too cold, causing the wire to drag through your part.

Kerf Size is Too Large/Parts are Undersized:
Fee rate is too slow or the wire is too high, causing excess material to melt around your wire. Consider adjusting your drawing to accommodate the wire kerf.

Securing Foam in Place:
Most commonly, no clamps are required to hold your foam in place. With your cutting settings correct, there should be little to no friction to move your part. For cutting large foam blocks, their own weight is enough to keep them in place during the cutting operation. A simple flat “spoil board” foam sheet or a very flat wooden board is enough for most users.

Using Thin Sheets:
Proven to be a difficult situation, stacking several sheets together and using utensils such as kebab skewers or clear packing tape in critical locations to hold them together as one unit is a common strategy. Using blocks of foam as “bookends” can also help to hold a foam sheet up while it is being cut. The cross-members making up the bed of these machines is a standard 1.5” T-Slot profile with many accessories available on the consumer market. If your process requires a specific method of holding or clamping your parts in, then we have left it open enough for you to develop your own fixtures.

Motors:
The majority of issues that can occur with the motors of the machine have to do with the cable connection to your Control Box. A loose connection or cable plugged into the wrong motor port can result in reversed movement direction, “stuck”, or unpowered motors. Loose cable connections will sometimes trigger a high-pitch alarm sound to alert the user when the control box is turned on. With the control box turned OFF, unplugging and checking all of your motor connections to be snugly screwed together and fully seated is the fastest way to resolve most motor issues. If problems occurring with your machine are still not resolved with this method, please contact us for assistance in diagnosing the problem. Belts: The belts of your CNC machine are meant to be tensioned at all times. A loose belt can result in a number of problems, ranging from noisy operation to inaccurate cuts in your foam. For tensioning the belts of your machine please follow the directions below. Tensioning Belts: 1. Slightly loosen the locking bolt on the idler using the 3/16” hex for X and Z Axis idlers, or the ½” combo wrench for Y and A axis idlers. 2. Using the 1/4” hex, tighten the tensioning bolt to pull the belt ½ a turn at a time. 3. Lock the Idler back into place with the 3/16” hex or ½” combo wrench. Power Supply: The power supply of your machine is controlled independently from the PC and CNC Controller. Any issues with your hot wire connection or power supply will be isolated to just those parts. Not Heating Wire: Check that your connections for the hotwire are all correct and that the current dials are turned up. Refer to the recommended settings guide for starting voltage settings. Display Reading Zero: Most likely caused by a faulty or incomplete hotwire connection. Check that your connectors are all secured. Alternatively, the power supply may have reverted to its factory safe mode and need to be reset. See the instructions for doing this in the Power Supply section of this manual. Current limiting: Your amperage is limited by your maximum current setting. The current dials on your power supply should be turned all the way clockwise. These control the maximum amperage that can be drawn from your power supply. The current drawn is based on your wire length, diameter, and voltage. You should only need to control the temperature using the voltage dials.

Warning:

The cutting wire will become extremely hot even at low voltages. The hot wire can exceed 2,000 degrees fahrenheit. Keep hands and flammables clear while it is enabled. Always check with the manufacturer of the material you are cutting to make sure there are no health or other safety hazards when cutting their material with hot wire tools. Many types of foam give off toxic fumes and are flammable.
We recommend using the larger diameter wires and increasing the above voltages by 50% or more for Polyethylene and other high-density foams. The increased melting area around your wire should help prevent dragging through particularly dense or sticky material.

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Contact us directly with any questions and a CNC team member will reach out within the next business day.