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1. On non isolated inputs go straight through to PC parallel port then this is connected to PC Ground The 5 Pullup Source is a voltage that provides power for just one thing to turn on the TORCH ON circuit It needs a voltage that shares the same common gnd as the active low signal for firing the torch IN MOST CASES THAT IS THE PC Ground and the signal to fire the torch is from the PC port The voltage then can be provided by the PC itself from a power tap on the PC supply a USB port or from a small external power supply The bias input and the input for firing the torch is not connected to anything else inside the LCTHC The signal to fire the torch MUST be active low meaning it goes Low when the torch needs to fire The Output Common and the Input 5 bias DO NOT SHARE THE SAME Grounds The Output Pullup is provided for instances where the LCTHC is driving inputs on a BoB that use an isolated supply See the following sections of hookup instructions for using it with a non isolated everything shares the same ground and an isolated inputs do not use PC Ground PAGE 29 INITIAL SETUP SECTION III EXISTING BOB INTERFACE ISOLATED INPUTS Unless you are using the UBOB card from us has 9 optoisolated inputs on one port or the PMDX 125 card in MUX INPUT Mode only then you are limited to 4 inputs besides the required E Stop for ALL signals If you use the recommended Floating Tor
2. PAGE 20 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE 2ND PARALLEL PORT INSTALL OPTIONAL Engine Configuration Ports amp Pins Port Setup and Axis Selection Motor Outputs Input Signals Output Signals Encoder MPG s Spindle Setup Mill Options Engine Configuration Ports amp Pins Port Setup and Axis Selection Motor Outputs Input Signals Output Signals Encoder MPG s Spindle Setup Mill Optior Pin Number Active Low Sample Inputs and output when using a 2nd Parallel Port card PORT2 as the LCTHC interface You can use any of the Input pins available PAGE 21 Screw Terminal inputs are OO 6 0000000000000009 8 Zo sx ui Sa OOo0o0o0oo0000000000Q KA located on back of LCTHC module o E o o O O ORO 30000 5 OQom B ARC COM OK OUT Torch fire signal from PC MACH _ THC DOWN Signal FROM LCTHC THC UP Signal Output FROM LCTHC Pullup Output Common ARC OK From u LCTHC TORCH 9 NEG 12V Bias wallplug at POS 12VDC Bias wallplug N sll NOTE Bias voltage MUST 2 a be floating NEG is NOT TORCH ON LED connected to PC logic ground Turns on when the TEST LED TORCH
3. TORCH FIRE Bias 2A N VOLTS 5 to 12 POS 12VDC Bias wallplug cis ac a A TRSH COOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Torch fire signal OAO N from PC MACH Ol TORCH THC DOWN sa nA C E aa Om Rear View THC UP Signal To BoB input l Output Input Common Pullup 5 BOB or PC READ the boxabove es Oi ARC OK From oO r ARG SLOODODDOOOOOOO0000 ee O 1S NEG 12V Bias wallplug OQ S soon3e oHT OH oooom PAGE 28 9 e9 To G540 Interface Card go OPTION 0o e Aa 1000000000000000016 RE Torch TO Bin f 1 us O U3 PC 5 l I Pcono 12VDC Bias Encoder WALLPLUG gis Q O 0000000000000000 U10 a _ TEST 2 of__fo 8 yas BOO00 12VDC OOOOm rt THC SENSOR O O 5 pullup source See notes below on this signal _ O000000000000000t aie On ae ON signal from wO oD OHT N qu Aal rF OODDODDOOOOOOOOOO OUTPUT COMMON Com ro 2 Must be connected to the common S l i oooh return for the inputs on the BoB Ht BOO0O0O On a Isolated BoB that is the INPUT DQVSt gopyae oHT O GND or INPUT COM i
4. 12V Bias wallplug N Input Common of POS 12VDC Bias wallplug eee Be eje o 00 oO m REV 8 NOTES The input TORCH FIRE signal is now separate from the Output circuit The input requires a power source on INPUT pin4 5 to 12 VDC that has the same common gnd as the signal that fires the torch pin3 in most cases that will be 5 from the PC PAGE 23 FIRING THE TORCH FROM A RELAY ON A BoB Screw Terminal inputs are located on back of LCTHC TORCH ON LED Turns on when the TORCH FIRE signal IS active Taking this line to PCGND will turn on the INPUT OPTO RELAY CONTROLLED BY SOFTWARE Output 5 From PC PC 5 or from BoB GND From PC PCGND or from BoB NC NO RELAY with NO and Common contacts NC not used This may be on your BoB Most parallel ports will not sink the current required to turn on the input direct PAGE 24 DRIVING THE TORCH ON from a buffered source Some BoB s may offer an output that has sufficient drive 10 to 15ma to turn on the TORCH ON Taking the line from low to high will turn on the OPTO DO NOT TRY TO DRIVE THIS DIRECTLY OFF A PARALLEL PORT Pin TORCH ON LED Turns on when the TORCH FIRE signal IS active Taking this line to 5 will a on the
5. FEATURE LIST LCTHC Compact Digital Torch Height Module FEATURES Compact size Entire unit fits into a 3 2 X 5 0 panel space Less than 1 deep Single rotary encoder switch with detents sets digital presets Each click 1 volt Increase decrease values based on direction of rotation Push Switch on rotary selector allows selection of menus and functions Functions include ON OFF of TIP SAVER and tip saver setting Advance Self test allows complete testing of the module Internal precision voltage reference tests volts calibration High speed processor and 10 bit A to D make for quick response Processor retains settings even after power down Settings can be changed while unit is cutting Can be used with any BOB that has 3 inputs open Can be used directly with 2nd parallel port if needed MACH XML included for PORT2 operation Comes with THC Sensor card and 25 ft cable for remote ON OFF of torch and picking up Tip Volts and Arc OK Ships with wall plug 12v bias supply Optional surface mount plastic case available Sept 10 Works with virtually all plasma units including HF start and CD start units Optional low cost Current Transformer for use with any plasma unit that does not have dedicated ARC OK aka OK to Move Arc XFR etc signals Accurate and fast Tracks within one volt Front Panel readout of inputs and output status Clear concise hookup setup and testing instructions 60 days
6. INPUT OPTO GND From PC PCGND or from BoB 1 5 From PC Buffereer iUt BoB The input can also be driven from another power source 5 to 12VDC the important thing is that the TORCH neg MUST reference the same common as the voltage on TORCH ON Switching either one will trigger the TORCN ON event and turn on the front panel TORCH ON LED PAGE 25 SCHEMATIC OF LCTHC Input Output circuits TorchOn Pin numbers do not match the board THC UP Use signal Names to match to the inputs R22 Internal OPTO INPUT to fire the torch THC UP wh uD ia PS2501 4 TorchOn ARC OK Torch ON RJ45 to G540 PAGE 26 THC SENSOR CArd Mounts at the plasmin RJ45 to DB9 Adapter OBSOLETE THC SENSOR REV 15 THC SENSOR CARD IS NOW REV 17 and does not have the DB9 and does not need the RJ45 to DBY Refer to page 42 for hookup information on the REV17 card included in your kit PAGE 27 LCTHC SIGNAL NAME CONNECTS TO RECOMMENDED PIN orch Fire Signal POS Output1 Port 1 pin 17 HC Down Signal THC Down Port 1 pin 12 THC Up Port 1 pin 13 orch Fire Signal NEG INPUT Common Port 1 pin 18 THC ON Port 1 pin 11 Hooking your LCTHC to the recommended PORT 1 pins above will match up to the LCTHC MACH Profile provided on the Support CD See the other LCTHC hookup pages for connections to the PC 5 or to a G540 using the CandCNC G540 Interface Card O
7. INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE MACH SCREEN CONTROLS FOR LCTHC OPERATION CONT THC Corrections THC limits These two settings set the limits of excursion in absolute distance the Z can move DURING A CUT with THC on The MAX is the maximum distance the Z can raise above Zero top of material before it will not lift any higher The default is 1 Note this control does not automatically scale the Units so if you are running in metric mm mode you need to set this in mm 25mm 1 inch The MIN is the lowest the Z can go during a cut It needs to be somewhat negative since a warp in the material down will need negative Z numbers to allow it to follow With the advent of the TIP SAVER in the LCTHC the need for having a tight MIN number to keep the torch from diving down into a void or if it moves off the edge of the material is not essential If you run with the TIP SAVER on you can leave the MIN value to the default 1 setting SLOW DOWN ANTI DIVE Anti Dive Button Turns ON OFF the software Anti dive The trigger point where it locks downward movement is a percentage of the running velocity XY combined and is set in the Anti dive DRO numbers to the right of the button This control is legacy and while it can be used with the LCTHC the TIP SAVER will do a better job The Anti Dlve is set so that if the average velocity of XY drops BELOW the PERCENTAGE set in the DRO Z will not move further down The concept is that as motion slows do
8. PC needs to be the fastest one with 2G of RAM to have a shot at making it work We do not currently support Vista or Windows 7 so PLEASE don t call and ask for support for MACH from us if you are running anything but WIN2000 or XP any level A NOTE ABOUT HARDWARE PC THAT YOU NEED TO RUN MACH 1 Not all hardware is compatible with MACH3 regardless of how fast the PC is It s rare that a PC rated over 1 8GHZ won t run MACH but not unheard of Usually the problems show up as jerky motor movements bad motion in running code and other control problems Things like Inputs and Outputs and not getting any motor movement is NOT typically a MACH PC issue If in doubt about the ability of the PC run DriverTest exe With MACH not running located in the MACHS folder 2 The minimum computer recommended is a 1 GHZ processor with 256MRam We find that a 1 8 or 2 4 GHZ with 512M RAM tends to work better especially if the MB has on board video The higher you can run the core freq in MACH the more Steps per Second you can get and the smoother the pulse train of those steps There are also Windows processes that can effect the timing in MACH Never run realtime virus protection or other tray programs not needed for basic Windows functions ad will be pie ler ion Cfg s View Wizards Operator PlugIn Control Help A MDI Alt2 ToolPath and Offsets ARS Settings Alt6 Diagnostics Alt 7 Mil gt G15 G3 G17 G40 G21 G90 G94 G54 G49 G99 G64 G97 0 9
9. The 1 sec default works for most cutting You may need to increase the number for piercing thicker material Since the LCTHC delay is also running you can elect to set this at O off if you want PAGE 16 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE MACH SCREEN CONTROLS FOR LCTHC OPERATION CONT THC RATE this setting is critical to proper operation of the Z running with the LCTHC The THC Rate is the PERCENTAGE of the normal Z velocity set in your motor tuning that the Z runs at while cutting with THC ON The reason for this setting is the inherent nature of motor physics The faster you run a motor the lower the acceleration rate from 0 to max velocity If you exceed the combination the motor will stall lose steps or ona servo fault the drive During THC control of the Z the moves are typically very short and very quick and often in rapidly changing directions There is no time to apply a normal acceleration curve to the moves To keep the motor from stalling from what is essentially virtually instant acceleration you must move the max velocity down The number is dependant on the final drive type and configuration Leadscrew type Z drives need higher RPM but have the torque to do quick acceleration so a number in the 30 range is normal Since the velocity determines the basic response curve of the Z it defines the basic loop response of the THC how fast it responds to move commands The final drive ratio is part of equation Too slow and the
10. UP arrow is on on the LCTHC the UP LED should be on If the DOWN arrow is on the DOWN LED should be on During self test the UP and DOWN state is controlled by the rotary encoder setting see Self Test section These screen LED s confirm the presence of signal at the port inputs Under Test mode the UP or DOWN will flash instead of turning on steady During normal run mode the LED s reflect the actual inputs and often change rapidly from UP to DOWN or from on to off The UP DOWN LED s are important in troubleshooting any LCTHC problems and in testing ARC OK The ARC OK LED shows the status of the signal from the Plasma Cutting through the THC SENSOR card If the ARC reading on the LCD is ON the ARC OK LED in MACH should be on If the THC Button is active in MACH and the ARC OK is NOT on after the torch fires MACH will HOLD MOTION waiting for ARC OK The LCTHC will NOT send UP and DOWN signals With no ARC OK the software and the LCTHC assumes there is not a valid arc and the plasma has misfired or there is no material under the torch ARC OK is vital in doing automated cutting It keeps the machine from moving and starting a cut with no arc If you turn off the THC button in MACH or turn off the TORCH button in MACH the code will start to run If the unit is cutting and loses ARC for more than 1 sec it will stop motion If you are having problems with ARC OK there are procedures to test and correct the problem in the testing section PAGE 15
11. is rapid Most parallel port inputs are high impedance and will not source much current That makes the turn off of the opto output very slow The LCTHC has on board pullups for each opto isolator that will let the opto operate in quick turn off What is required is to have a source of 5 volts into the LCTHC from the same ground source as the output common On a PC with no BOB or one that has no floating input power supply the 5 needs to come from either the PC 5 red wire on any of the PC power supply connectors or an auxiliary 5 volt 50 ma is sufficient power supply with its common GND to the PC GND terminal The diagram shows a red wire color is for illustration only that is 5 V from a source in the PC or with a common ground to the PC GND If you have questions about your specific BoB then please contact your vendor for answers If you bought a BoB off a vendor on EBAY and the documentation is poor or lacking and you get no answer you may need to consider a better quality card Isolated inputs are recommended for noisy environments and you may face intermittent operation of the noise from the table gets back into the logic and control circuits USING A 2nd Parallel PORT card for added inputs with the LCTHC The input to a 2nd parallel port without using another BoB is possible You have to treat the input as a non isolated application and follow the instructions for using a non isolated BoB above You need to provide
12. reading the Arc Gap voltage while cutting Plasma uses constant current cutting When the Current stays constant and you vary the gap either by moving the torch or moving the material UP or DOWN then the voltage will change in proportion to the change in arc gap Much like the altimeter on a plane that measures barometric pressure to determine altitude the Arc voltage indicates the RELATIVE distance from the end tip of the nozzle to the top of the material The change in voltage for a change in height is a small percentage of the overall cutting voltage A 1 change in voltage 100 to 101 volts is equal to several thousands typically 015 or more of arc gap change so the THC must be able to see and act on a small change in a large number of volts Plasma cutting is an electrically noisy process so the sensing circuit must see through the noise and only react to the true DC voltage changes The THC control must take the actual arc voltage and compare it to a preset target and move the Torch Up or Down to try and correct the height based on it s arc voltage The process forms a servo loop where an error signal from a preset is used to physically move the torch Up or Down to correct the error Under normal cutting conditions the voltage stays fairly constant but certain conditions that effect the arc gap voltage can skew the gap volts and case the THC circuit to overreact The feedrate how fast the tip is moving across
13. supply to power the OPTO inputs that does not share a ground with the PC ground In that case the Terminal marked Output Common Com on the LCTHC module should be connected to the COM input on the BoB It will not need a source of 5 pullup The circuit to each input will pull it up 4 a Ni cr y S C v PAGE 30 Typical input 3 terminal connector for Isolated Input card Q O iS Closing all switches turns ON OPTO Opening ANY swtich turns OPTO OFF 12VDC Floating Ipu opon ae to High active high when is off Signal in You can set MACH to trigger on either 12V Common floating GND Signal low or igh i What the circuit looks lik 12VDC Terminal From 12 may not be on all Floating PS Isolated BoB s Normally Closed NC i To parallel OPTO on Port input Card Normally 1 Closed NC pv Normally Closed NC SIGNAL PC GND 12V Common floating GND This is tied to the amen f common terminal on the LCTHC INITIAL SETUP SECTION III EXISTING BOB INTERFACE NON ISOLATED INPUTS If you DO NOT have an isolated BoB or are driving a parallel port card directly The output of the LCTHC is opto isolated so direct port pin drive is possible but you must provide a source to pullup for the output of the isolators on the LCTHC The outputs are essentially open collector They will sink current to the common and the turnon waveform
14. to be able to change out the entire torch head and cable assembly and will have screw terminals or a plug inside to make that operation easier Some machines have different types of special connectors to make changing the torch out easier so you may have to trace back where the wires make attachment to a terminal strip or an internal card If you modify any wiring or circuitry be aware it may void your warranty on the plasma machine PAGE 48 1 The terminals provide a convenient place to do your connections Use crimp on spade or round terminals to attach the wires to the terminal strips Make sure the new wires you install do not touch adjacent metal objects On some machines there may be more than one set of small wires and are used for sensing tip shorts and other conditions To identity the correct pair use an ohmmeter or continuity checker across each pair while you manually push the torch head button When you identify the pair make note of where they attach Use 22 to 18 stranded wire twisted pair to connect between the two screw terminals on the THC Sensor PCB marked Torch Switch to the two switch terminals in the plasma unit There is no polarity NOTE IF your unit has noise filter chokes from the torch switch wires up to its internal logic card it is recommended you place the two wires to the THC Sensor PCB on the other side of the chokes from their torch head connection end closest to the internal logic card If your
15. 88 Y0 8495 RO 2417 O e 0 8700 o a RS Pw hon OLS 8 1 4381 Lo 0 0000 0 0000 Absolute Coordinates rootpatn 0 8638 Y0 9393 RO 3053 0 68107 Y0 9536 RO 3045 15 ArtSoft USA CNC Software Inc Mach3 Setup Welcome Simulate Program Run Run From Here i 0 Welcome to the Mach3 setup program This program will install Mach3 on your system It is strongly recommended that you exit all Windows programs before running this Setup program Click Cancel to quit Setup and then close any programs you have running Click Next to continue with the Setup program WARNING This program is protected by copyright law and international treaties Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program or any portion of it may result in severe civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under g G Codes M Codes History Clear Status Start Install of MACH3 software by clicking on the MachProgram MACH3ver3 042 020 exe file If you already have a version of MACH on the PC you will be prompted to upgrade the version Let it upgrade If you have a version NEWER than 3 042 20 then be aware that while there will probably be no problems we have not tested the custom drivers plug ins with versions after 3 42 020 You will see the screen above when you start the install NOTE LCTHC does not use any custom Plug ins drivers for MACH If you are not running other CandCNC Hard
16. ACH3 LED is flashing 2 Once you have ignition you are close to liftoff Load a test program for the plasma It needs to be a plasma cut file and not a Router like the Roadrunner in the MACH folder If you don t have one drop us a line and we will send you one you can use for this preliminary test to make sure the THC mode is working in MACH 3 Make sure the THC Button in MACH is turned on enabled with THC LED flashing and you have the MAX and MIN limits corrections set to logical numbers Start out with min 250 and max 1 The THC function is disabled in the demo versions of MACH3 Make sure you have your license installed and the Help About screen does not display demo as the user 4 TURN OFF THE PLASMA MACHINE but leave all cables connected Click the RUN button The code should start to scroll the Torch ON led should light and the table movement should stop f should be waiting for the Arc Good signal from the plasma f it does not stop check the polarity of the input for TORCH ON in MACH 3 NOTE IN MACH2 and MACH3 the ARC OKAY ARC GOOD is labeled named on the input pin as THC ON confusing Check the screen LED associated with that input It should be OFF inactive Once you have the Arc Good portion working proceed 5 Establishing a material Zero You need to carefully move the tip to a known reference point above the surface of the material If you do not have a unit with a floating head the safest
17. CH specific functions A note about support for the LCTHC and MACH setup and functions If you bought your license for MACH from us we will support the non THC related setup and running of MACH If you are using our other interface hardware UBOB MP3000 etc you get free support on making that work with MACH and the LCTHC If you bought your Gecko G540 as part of our bundle we will support that If you purchased your license for MACH from another source then you need to look for support from them for doing the setup and tuning of the motors and how to generate and run proper G Code programs for plasma If you are your own design engineer and using hardware and software from various vendors then support gets more fragmented We will support the LCTHC and our MACH profiles and screens We cannot support other vendors hardware products If we sell it and you buy it from us we support it PAGE 17 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE MACH SCREEN CONTROLS FOR LCTHC OPERATION CONT Profiles in MACH Mach uses several elements to turn a PC running Windows into a CNC controller 1 The MACH PULSING Engine A hardware device driver installed as Hardware and shows up in the Device Manager It provides the base level logic and communications and the hooks to the higher level functions It is the heart of the system and uses the PC timer and Windows to generate a high speed pulse train for up to 6 coordinated axises It handle the O for all of the in
18. D CD ROM drives H 6 Floppy disk controllers H Floppy disk drives IDE ATA ATAPI controllers H Keyboards E gt Mach X Pulsing Engines f Mice and other pointing devices 3 Modems Monitors EF Network adapters Y Ports COM amp LPT 7 Communications Port COM1 ow Communications Port COM2 ay ECP Printer Port LPT1 ic 4 2 Sound video and game controllers 9 Storage volumes H System devices Ej 2 Universal Serial Bus controllers I E E3 You will have to setup the COM1 serial port in Windows It should be setup with 9600 baud 8 bits no parity 1 stop bit no Flow control General Port Settings Driver Resources Bits per second eo YS Data bits fe Parity Nowe o id Stop bits hooo Flow control None hd Advanced Restore Defaults Testing We will test the functionality of the com port after we hook up the MP3000 to the computer NOTE COM PORT serial is NOT used with the LCTHC and this section can be ignored PAGE 40 USING THC SENSOR REV17 with CT Current Transformer 1 Connect CT resistor and leads to P9 as shown Wire size can be 18ga or smaller 2 Thread CT over ONE wire of the AC feed 3 Plug in CAT5 from LCTHC front jack to J3 on the THC SENSOR 4 Power up LCTHC and check that green LED on J3 Jack is ON 5 If Trip Point indicator is ON adjust VR2 untils it turns off 6 Fire torch and get arc to metal Adjust VR2 until Trip Point I
19. FIRE signal Comes on whe ISactive POWER Unit is in TEST MODE LED Shows Module Has 12 Power THC SENSOR CABLE UTP PLUGS IN HERE Torch fire t n from PC mo a v a E THC DOWN Signal FROM LCTHC oC THC UP Sig 4 FROMLC HC 3 Bobor PC READ eboxsboe ed ARC OK From A N LCTHC NEG 12V Bias wallplug N POS 12VDC Bias wallplug U3 OOO Ou O EE E u10 HOoooooo0o00000000 a booo O ee 11 11 REV8 LCTHC J7 ON OFF BYPASS PAGE 22 LCTHC SIGNAL NAME CONNECTS TO RECOMMENDED PIN Torch Fire Signal POS Output1 Port 1 pin 17 THC Down Signal THC Down Port 1 pin 12 THC UP Signal THC Up Port 1 pin 13 Torch Fire Signal NEG INPUT Common Port 1 pin 18 ARC OK THC ON Port 1 pin 11 CONNECTOR i oie an Sends signal eae OK THC ON signal REQUIRED for THC 2 OUTPUT COMMON Sied ted ithe INPUT ofthe BOB Common Output Pullup puts tothe PC without a source of See Notes 4 THC Up Sends signal A a UP signal 5 THC Down Sends sional gna REQUIRED for THG 6 Torch Fire M e Opio 7 wentie C ee TORCH FIRE Bias AON VOLTS 5 to 12 Torch fire signal LA N from PC me THC DOWN Sign To BoB Input THC UP Signal A To BoB input Oo UT COMMON BOB or PC READ the box above LCTHC NEG
20. HC THC300 introduced in 2004 The MP1000 was the first digital torch height control under 1000 and the MP3000 raised the bar and lowered the price while offering advanced features found only on units costing 10 to 20 times it s price The MP3000 and the DTHC plug in module offers a modular approach to building a CNC system and is the only product on the market that has a full integrated parallel port breakout board BoB with Port Expander more I O AND the option of a full featured Digital Torch Height Control TARGET MARKET The LCTHC is aimed at the DIY builder that needs a cost effective solution for plasma cutting While it s features are a subset of our DTHC it compares both price wise and by feature with other MACH based THC products It has the essentials for doing professional plasma cutting like our exclusive Tip Saver technology and a high speed fast response processor chip With all of the critical parameters shown on the backlit LCD in real time the operator has control at their fingertip A single rotary encoder with click detents allows tactile as well as visual setup of values Simply roll in your presets and start the job Make minor adjustments as it cuts and it remembers the changes Look over the features and the charts in the following pages and decide if you need the feature rich DTHC stock with all of our MP3000 Plazpak and BladeRunner Dragon Cut packages or the low cost LCTHC PAGE 4 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
21. J14 NEG input terminal To THC SENSOR CARD J15 POS input terminal PAGE 46 Z AA THC SENSOR CARD TESTING Before you make connections to the plasma unit you need to do final testing to confirm proper operation of the THC SENSOR with the LCTHC Module Set the THC SENSOR card on an insulated surface close to the LCTHC and PC Connect the THC SENSOR to the DB9 connector on the LCTHC Module using a 25ft CAT5 Drop cable all wires straight through Load MACH and the LCTHC Profile and make sure you can come out of RESET and that the CP Charge Pump is working Some units require CP to be Active before outputs can be turned on On some products you may have to have the Motor DC on to come out of RESET Click on the TORCH icon on the screen You should see the LED above the TORCH button on MACH turn on and there will be a click on the THC Sensor card and one of the small LED s on the card will light That indicates the TORCH ON relay is working The next check is to confirm the ARC OK circuit is working Push the ARC OK Test Button on the THC SENSOR CARD THE ARC OK LED inl MACH should light If it does you can proceed to the actual hookup of the THC SENSOR card If any of the tests fail make sure you have the cables firmly attached and that they are the correct type All of the cables we ship with any Package Deal are all Extension type cables with all pins straight through All cards are checke
22. Low Cost Torch Height Control Install and Setup Manual Including OPTIONAL G540 Interface Card CandCNC LCTHC poner Revert CONTROL TorchON UP PUSH to SELECT 4 Ears ARCOK DOWN THC SENSOR OUTPUT Active e FULL DIGITAL CONTROL PWR bea ns a USER MANUAL REV 9 9 10 13 Covers REV8 LCTHC and REV2 G540 Interface Card Option Q REV 17 THC SENSOR nt CANDCNC www CandCNC com 903 364 2740 Whitewright Texas Think Plasma PRODUCT DESCRIPTION PACKAGE CONTENTS T following items are included in the LCTHC package OOOURAUOUOUOD Oo Tested calibrated LCTHC Module DB9 to RJ45 Adapter Plug CNC routed Front Panel with laminated decal Soft Touch Knob Front Panel to LCTHC Module mounting Hardware 12V 500ma DC WallPlug Bias supply 120VAC 60Hz THC SENSOR card Rev14 or later 25 ft UTP Cable Product Support CD F Tate 0 LOTHG TORCH HEIGHT CONTROL uP PRODUCT DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION 33 MHZ Built in OPTO Processor Calibration ISOLATED GBA candcnc KORC erm 25 05 SS ss G540 f f aa ze a High Contrast 2X16LCD 2 Activity PWR amp TEST Single Knob Control Indicator LEDs Rotary Encoder HISTORY Born from a long line of successful CNC electronics the Low Cost Torch Height Control LCTHC is the younger brother to our popular Digital Torch Height Control DTHC It s parentage started with the first low cost T
23. MACH has available Starting one is simply a process of selecting it from the list The other is if an ICON has been added to the desktop that starts MACH with a specific profile If you use the CandCNC auto installer it will put an LCTHC start ICon on your desktop NOTE In most circumstances the default MACH Profiles loaded during your setup will not work to run specific hardware Your hardware BoB provider should furnish you with a Profile or give you charts to setup MACH to run their hardware It is beyond the scope of this manual to explain in detail how to setup other vendors hardware to work with MACH In some circumstances if you already have a working and running CNC table then it may be easier to just put in the specific parameters for running the LCTHC Since the LCTHC does not have any custom plug ins or drivers that need to be loaded it will run in most profiles by making a few changes in the Ports amp Pins Input Signals and Output signals PAGE 19 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE MACH PINOUTS To implement THC control through MACH there are four signals required THC ON this is the ARC OK signal INPUT THC UP INPUT THC DOWN INPUT TORCH ON Torch Fire OUTPUT typically mapped to Output1 and activated by TORCH BUTTON in MACH or an MO3 for ON and MO5 for Off in the G code The output selected to fire the torch through output1 is whatever output pin on the parallel port you physically connect to the TORCH ON i
24. R are done using the single knob on the front The knob is on the shaft of a rotary encoder It has a pushbutton switch so pushing straight down engages the momentary switch To use the switch unless instructed otherwise you press the knob briefly and release Rotating the knob clockwise increases values Rotating the knob counterclockwise decreases the values The switch is used to change menu screens and on a screen to select between menu choices For more information and detailed instructions on the display what the numbers mean and how to change settings please see Section VI Operating the LCTHC For using the Self Test the knob switch is pressed and held for 5 secs The TEST LED will light on the front panel and the display will change There are specific tests you can perform to confirm the proper operation of yourLCTHC Please see Section IV and Running the Self Test for details on the display and what it means To exit self test simply press the knob switch briefly and release PAGE 8 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION WHAT THE READOUT SHOWS ON The torch on signal is TIP AKAArc Volts UP DOWN T Indicaors Up or DOWN ARC ARC OK the ARC OK signal is being sent to received volts you want the CHANGING SETTINGS PRIMARY SCREEN Proper Tlp Volts settings are a function of the specific Plasma Cutter you are using They vary based in the tip you are Intial Power Up LOGO screen using the cut current y
25. There is an on board 5 V regulator that is used to provide power back to the LCTHC card Torch On input J12 jumper should be in place and the 5 LED should be on anytime the external power is active PAGE 36 USING G540 Interface Card with G540 and LCTHC S RE et an zt uw o mee O z es UTP Cable FOREN 0000000000000001 Rear View SOODODOODOODOOOOOOO0O Do not tie the ground on the PC to the COMMON on the LCTHC or the G540 Do not try to use 5 from the PC to supply it for the G540 hookup SUPPLY POS 1 8to 48VDC Common GND 12VDC Bias WALLPLUG This 12VDC shipped with LCTHC a a 12 PAGE 37 MTR DC RN2 LOAD OUT RESNW_IS_4 SIP D3 AUX OUT Za RELAY ON 5 Torch ON LM7805C TO220 U2 1000MFD 24VDC CANDCNC Copyright 2010 2012 All rights reserved Jumper itle G540 InterFace Card Size Document Number Rev A lt Doc gt Saturday August 21 2010 eee tury Al ee a a a PAGE 38 INSTALL and SETUP PRIMARY and or SECONDARY PARALLEL PORTS NOTE USE THIS SECTION ONLY IF YOUR PC DOES NOT HAVE A BUILT IN PARALLEL PORT and or SERIAL PORT OR YOU HAVE PURCHASED THE MPG101B HAND CONTROLLER THAT USES A SECOND PARALLEL PORT Use the same procedure to install a primary PORT1 Parallel Port if your PC does not have one or a second port Do not attempt to us
26. a file with a long straight cut and normal pierce height and initial cut height parameters You should make a cut with the THC Button turned off in MACH with the tip at the right beginning arch gap and watch the TIP VOLTS DRO on the MACH screen Make note of the average volts you see as it cuts It should be close to the recommended volts if you have them in your Plasma units documentation If the voltage is way off from recommended check the current setting on the Plasma unit Check the tip size and for excessive wear Replace consumables if necessary Make sure you have a GOOD Workclamp connection to the Material not just the table or cut grid If the LCTHC software goes into head lock Tip Saver during the test cut open the Tip Saver setup screen and widen the TIP Saver percentage The LCTHC will stop sending UP and DOWN signals if the Fault or TIP SAVER indicators are ON At any time after this initial setup and test the LCTHC stops working correctly go back through first the SELF TEST then the Manual Cut test By watching the indicators while cutting in manual mode you can get a lot of information that will help troubleshoot the problem Once you can get an acceptable cut in Manual Mode with the THC it s time to program in the average volts you noted in while cutting Anytime you have problems with cutting with the LCTHC on go back and make a manual cut and watch the indicators as it cuts It will give you valuable readings that w
27. able that has the full 8 conductors PAGE 35 G540 INTERFACE CARD REV 2 FOLD BACK CARD IMPORTANT Polarity works only with LCTHC REV6 or later units with RU45 Marking on PCB is WRONG for J9 Use 20 this overlay to connect NUNO ARC OKC Disable candeNC INTERFACE REV2 cay N SUPPLY NEG Common GND External Power See Text SUPPLY POS 1 8to 48VDC This Jumper can bel replaced with a Normally Closed Switch to have an External E STOP You can run several in series and have multiple E stop locations on the Machine RJ45 Jack Interconnects to LCTHC RJ45 jack 8 pin UTP cable a b c d 4 Normally Closed swtiches shown First switch a connects to first two screw terminals Last switch last leg connects to last screw terminal in the row heavy wires SpeO 19410 104 s 2g uo9 u d ewJoN OV Advz VOL OF dN In order to run the on board relay AND let the Gecko 540 trigger the TORCH ON input of the LCTHC you MUST have a source of 12VDC voltage The Terminal marked External Power is to be used to hook up a small 12VDC power pak 150 ma or more The power supply must not be one tied to the PC ground or the DC power pak used with the LCTHC Connect the External Supply NEG to the terminal marked GND center terminal and the 12 pos to the terminal marked 12 The 5 input is optional and not needed with the G540
28. ake sure the 15 and 15 LED s are on 5 Do prelimnary test by pusing TEST buttoon on DCP 01 It puts out a simulated 100A signal Adjust VR2 until Trip Led is out 6 Fire torch and get arc to metal Adjust VR2 back down until Trip Point Indicator turns ON 7 Indicator should turn on with valid arc and off when there is no arc to metal 8 ARC OK Test button does not turn on Trip Point Indicator It simulates and ARC OK back to the LCTHC It does not mean the DCP 01 or the Trip Point Circuit is working The Trip Point Circuit is very sensitive and will detect AC current less than 10A of primary current The DCP 01 detects DC or pulsing DC to the cut through the workcalmp and puts out a voltage proportional to the current The addition of the DCP 01 to an LCTHC does BOT give it the ability to dispaly the cut curretn on the LCTHC screen Trip Point Adjust Set SOURCE to trip when Jumper set as torch has valid arc to metal shown 2 3 for using DCP 01 Current Sensor as ARC OK sounos osQ Test Fire TORCH 33 E See previous page for the other connections The DCP 01 is an OPTIONAL Part from CandCNC and is typically used on our upper end DTHC based systems but it can be used on any plasma as an ARC OK signal It slides over the Workclamp Lead and measures the DC current to the cut The LCTHC DOES NOT display Torch AMPS at the LCTHC but the output can be used by the THC SENSOR REV17 fo
29. asma gets starved for metal to cut TIP SAVER prevents the PUSH to SELECT Change value ON OFF or TIP SAVER value head dive at the end of by rotating knob Change parameter selection by a cut seen in most THCs Itis recommended you use the TIP SAVER in most cutting Values much over 4 or 5 do very little for end of cut torch dive You do need to have the SETV value right and the torch cutting propely for the TIP SAVER to work TIP SAVER INDICATON ie on Primary Screen pushing knob switch PAGE 10 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION CHANGING SETTINGS CONT CHANGING SETTINGS MENU SCREEN PUSH to SELECT THC DELAY Setting in seconds Default is 1 0 seconds This value determines the length of time the LCTHC delays sending any UP or DOWN signals It prevents the LCTHC from reacting to the normal voltage spikes generated during the pierce and plunge The timer starts as soon as the TORCH ON goes active so your time should be the total time the whole pierce cycle lasts from the time the torch fires until the MAchine start moving in XY cut starts The THC Delay value in MACH needs to be set to 0 The FAULT delay time it delays reacting to a fault condition is one second LONGER than the THC Delay setting To set the time rotate the knob clockwise to increase in 1 10 sec increments and counterclockwise to decrease Delays of greater than 5 seconds are not recommended Any time the THC DELAY is active the main s
30. ch Holder for Top of material USE WITH SMOOTH sensing auto touch off then that leaves 3 open inputs You need all STEPPER or any USB three for the THC signals You have a couple of choices device with MACH WILL NOT WORK for men THC controls Th Run without Homes or Limits on any other axis but Z for touch off near Be of a inputs using USB ruins OR the realtime feedback of the THC Signals and Combine all the Homes including Z and or Limits in series using causes aia lly closed switches and put them all into one input sili ica normaly p put over dampened response It simply Because MACH runs Homing in a specific sequence and one axis at a DOES NOT WORK time the first switch activation when they are in series any switch in the We do not support string being activated opens the string and shows up as a signal is seen interface through any aie th t parallel by the software as that Home Limits are basically all the same since any ene ai limit that gets tripped causes an E stop event If you are using the G540 and our Optional G540 Interface card for the LCTHC we have specific instructions on wiring the swtiches On that card we have designed the card so up to 6 switches can be wired to it two wires and it puts them in series and into one input on the G540 The other inputs are used for E STOP and the 3 LCTHC signals UP DOWN ARC Ok If your Breakout Board BoB has true opto isolated inputs it will have an isolated DC
31. creen displays a D first line amp L second line indication THC DELAY INDICATON on Primary Screen THC DELAY is a new feature It is a dynamic timer that keeps the torch tip from reacting to the voltage spikes that occur during the pierce and plunge event at the beginning of each cut In the Past we have relied on the THC DELAY value in MACH3 but there appears to be a problem with that setting in MACH that does not lock UP motion so if the voltage is too low at the start then the torch starts climbing out of the cut too soon The value for different thicknesses of material may need to be adjusted if you observe that the torch is diving into the material or pulling out before the cut gets established and horizontal motion has started PAGE 10A PRODUCT DESCRIPTION SELF TEST MODE PUSH to SELECT Selt Test is a quick way to confirm that the LCTHC is functioning properly and that the correct signals are reaching MACH It helps simplify the process of tracking down the source of a problem Any analysis of a problem with plasma cutting should start with running the self test and using it to define the proper NOTE Your TipV reading may vary from the above screen next step Whatever it is the first time you run the self test write it down HERE 7 It should always be within 1 2V of that value TipV shows internal reference voltage in test mode Up is on and flashing b
32. ction mounted to round posts on the PCB Removing the screw terminals in sections A small screwdriver inserted under the terminals will help start the removal Pull down on the terminal housings PULL to REMOVE Flip the screw terminals over so that the open edge where the wires would normally be inserted slides down over the pins on the G540 PCB as shown Turn them so you can access the screw terminals Slide them down all the way tightly against the PCB and tighen all off the screws terminals PAGE 34 When you have finished tightening all 12 scews you should havea connectors that looks gt like the photo The screw side is down on the posts in the G540 me and tightened The 5 ES small holes towards the TERMINALS AAA YON ie bottom are open Take the G540 Interface Card and match the 12 pins on it to the 12 open holes on the connector you just flipped and re installed Push the card down firmly until the all of the pins are seated and the top edge of the G540 Interface card is in ontact with the G540 Case With the G540 Interface Card installed you can make your connections to the card using the wiring detail on the following pages The RJ45 connector on the edge is used to connect over to the same type connector on the LCTHC No other connects are needed between the two units If the 6ft UTP cable supplied is not long enoung you can use any standard network UTP c
33. d at least twice and most three times before they leave the factory It s unusual for a THC SENSOR to be bad or fail in no load testing If you have checked all of the connections cables and MACH setup and you still cannot get the THC SENSOR to work contact us at 903 364 2740 or via e mail at Tom CandCNC com NOTE Some Larger gt 100A plasma units or older smaller models use various methods to start the initial ARC Most common is HF HIgh Frequency start HF Start presents several challenges It uses the concept that higher frequency waves travel through air and arc easier than DC voltage The HF is normally combined with a higher voltage and it starts an ARC that the plasma uses to ignite the air Once the arc fires if a conductive part is close the arc will transfer to the material The HF start causes a lot of noise and current spikes The other form of High voltage start is the CD Capacitor discharge method It is basically a high current version of an Automotive ignition system Up to 30 000 volts can be generated If the THC Sensor is not protected the high voltage and high frequency can cause component failure on the card or worse in the THC unit and even burn the board The THC Sensor REV12 and up is protected from HF and most High Voltage start circuits The REV 17 card has been introduced to work with any units including units that use both HF and HV The smaller Hypertherm and other modern brand units use a low noise method cal
34. d top of material Jog ON OFF Turns jog control ON OFF Usually left ON at all times CV Feedrate Turns ON OFF CV Feedrate how machine handles curves most cuts are made with CV Feedrate OFF PAGE 14 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE MACH SCREEN CONTROLS FOR LCTHC OPERATION CONT Custom Screen Controls Dwell Shows pause in G code controlled motion Comes on if cose has a G04 P line or if internal delay is active LED only CV Mode Shows if Constant Velocity mode is active normal operation CV should be on CV mode is controlled is General Config settings OUTPUT2 Toggles ON OFF output2 in MACH If present turns on off load connected to 2nd relay out Output1 is used for the Torch on relay on the THC Sensor card and is controlled by the TORCH button TORCH HEIGHT CONTROL Section TORCH ON OFF Toggles output 1 in MACH to turn ON OFF the TORCH Relay LED ON indicates output is active Sends signal to LCTHC module Module controls actual output to TORCH Relay on the THC Senosr card This button should let you turn on the torch manually fire the torch at any time THC ON OFF Turns ON OFF the THC logic in MACH It does not control the LCTHC It simply tells MACH to either listen to and respond to the 3 THC inputs UP DOWN ARC OK or to ignore them Turning OFF the THC Button will allow you to cut Manually UP DOWN LED s Shows the status of the signals into the UP and the DOWN inputs to MACH from the LCTHC If the
35. e two separate parallel port cards of the same type to get two ports For two ports use a Dual Parallel Port card CandCNC stocks low cost parallel and parallel serial PCI expansion cards Make sure the card you install has drivers for the version of Windows you are running Win2000 drivers may or may not work in XP or visa versa When you install the card in your computer and turn it back on it should find the new hardware and when prompted you should use the disk that comes with the port card to install the correct drivers There should be instructions with the card on the proper way to install the drivers After you install the parallel port and Windows recognizes the port s then open the device manager from the Hardware section under Windows Control Panel System and open the Ports icon and find the Port entries Open that and click on the resources tab f PCI Parallel LPT2 Properties 2 xi General Port Settings Driver Resources 3 PCI Parallel LPT2 Resource settings Resource type Setting WW Input Output Range DEOO DEO WO Input Output Range DCOO DCO3 Vv utomat ng ng g Conflicting device list i conflicts Cancel Write down the first number in the Input Output range DE00 in this case above We will have to enter that number in the MACH3 setup procedure later PAGE 39 INSTALL and SETUP PRIMARY and or SECONDARY PARALLEL PORTS ca VIR Urives H Display adapters 23 DV
36. ecause SetV is greater than TipV DOWN is on and flashing because SetV isLess than TipV What it Does What it Means Switches Tip Volts voltage input from THC Internal reference supplies a known DC SENSOR jack to internal precision reference voltage to the TIP VOLTS circuit It confirms Value is displayed in TIPV that all of the internal electronics for reading TipV is functional Switches ARC OK input to internal signal Indicates the internal circuit is reading the ON ARC OK is ON on LCD ARC OK input correctly Also shows if the ARC OK link to MACH is working configured Switches SetV to Test value separate value You will not change the normal value of your from running SetV value SetV value When you return to normal operation the SetV value will be the same as before Compares TipV reference value to test SetV Tests internal electronics for proper operation value higher the DOWN arrow indicator turns with changing values Tests the UP and on and the DOWN ouput to MACH flashes to DOWN actions of the LCTHC and allows test the input in MACH confirmation it s getting to MACH PAGE 11 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION SELF TEST MODE These are some samples of typical screens you will see while cutting If the LCTHC and your Z is working properly you will not see major deviation in the difference between the TipV and SetV IMPORTANT UP Arrow sho
37. free phone support Unlimited free on line forum based support Plug compatable with G540 Gecko motor drive and BOB MACH XML for G540 included Free MACHS Screens for plasma 2 year warranty parts and labor ooo o ooo ooo 2 0 0 0 O O O O O O Changes in REV 8 LCTHC 1 Input Common and Output Common are now separate so the Input torch on can be driven from a different source like the PC from the output signals 2 Interface jack to the THC SENSOR is now an RJ45 and on the PCB and the Front Panel DB9 cable no longer used RJ45 to DBY adapter is included to interface at the THC SENSOR card PWR and TEST Leds are moved to RJ45 jack 3 THC Delay added to firmware Delays all outputs including UP and DOWN so pierce cycle is ignored Delay indicator on LCD added 4 Front Panel enlarged slightly to accomodate RJ45 jack Bottom Moanting holes moved PAGE 5 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION How TORCH HEIGHT WORKS WITH PLASMA Some torches will have more than one set of small wires for other sensors in the head Confirm switch pair with an ohmmeter while operating the switch Plasma Unit power OFF Air and or tip voltage Hi Volts J WANA Workpiece Clamp Good connection to the workpiece with clamp is essential for proper operation of the THC Torch Switch Wires HOW DTHC THC AVC DTHC WORKS Automatic Torch Height Control often called just THC works by
38. he UP and DOWN indicators are working on the LCTHC then on the Screen in MACH Absence of the LCTHC UP and DOWN indicates the LCTHC is not sending the signals and there could be a problem with the model Run a complete SELF TEST If the LCTHC appears normal but the UP and DOWN are not getting to PAGE 54 MACH then the UP and DOWN connections from the LCTHC to the BoB or G540 Interface need to be checked You should be able to disconnect the LCTHC from the BoB inputs and test them manually with a jumper Some better BoB s will have LED indicators on inputs to show when they are active That can help you troubleshoot an input problem Finally the settings in MACH determine all of the pin setup and mappings If you cannot get inputs to go active by manually testing an input short it to it s input common then the problem is past the LCTHC and you need to get assistance on your particular Breakout If you are using a G540 either hardwired or through our G540 Interface Card and YOU BOUGHT THE G540 from US then we will help you through the troubleshooting even though it is past the LCTHC If your G540 was purchased elsewhere please contact the vendor you purchased from GETTING GOOD CUT QUALITY Cut Quality is a function of multiple factors Clean DRY Air supply Sufficient and constant air pressure typically 65 to 80 PSI Good not worn out consummables Accurate Pierce Height on every pierce Initial Height Sensing Proper Cut He
39. hem Any change you make in the configuration of MACH motor tuning Pin assignments screen SET selection etc are all stored in a specific named XML It effects ONLY the XML you are running Making a chnge in one does not alter any of the others IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT that you keep copies of the the XML files on your running MACH PC It can save you hours maybe even days of frustration restoring a setup if you have a PC hardware failure BACK UP YOU XML files in the MACH folder to an external storage source anytime you make any config changes in MACH Since every machine is different the XML s we provide and generic They are setup to run our specific hardware but any thing that involves machine settings Steps per Unit rotaion directions velocity accelertion and special feaures has to be configured by the user To get more detailed directions on the operation of MACH3 please see the MACH manual either on the Support CD or from www MachSupport com PAGE 18 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE SELECTING THE RIGHT PROFILE INMACH Typical ICON setup after installing MACH3 E After installing Mach3 Loader using the LCTHC custom install Maths Plasma LC CandCNc LETHE LCTHC install removes MACH Plasma Icon from Desktop Mach3miill Mach3Turn Starting MACH with a Profile There are two ways to start MACH with a specific profile You can select the MACH Loader Icon and it will open a list of all the profiles that
40. ight Arc Gap Set by Preset value on LCTHC Proper Feedrate for the material thickness and cut current you are using Proper Cut current set on the Plasma cutter for the nozzle and material you are cutting Correct pierce sequence and delay Proper settings of the THC Rate and CV settings in MACH see this manual Good quality plasma cutter 1 2 3 4 5 6 a 8 9 0 _ PAGE 55 LCTHC CASE CUTOUT REV8 Front panle 5 00 2 31 2 37 O O O l O i 8 E al tle aeons seen es eae ae alia i I 1 O 7 O i O i SIZE 1 1 LCTHC FrontPanel REV1 08 06 2010 PAGE 56
41. ill help you troubleshoot the problem Establishing the Preset tip voltage for the cut The LCTHC has the provision to preset the tip voltage and thus the cut gap for the cut prior to running the program While each brand of plasma unit is different the tip volts will typically be in the range of 100 to 150VDC Fine Cut consumables are an exception and operate at lower voltages and smaller gaps You should find a chart of recommended voltages for different materials and tips for your machine A few volts can make a lot of difference If you are in doubt start high and work your way down to the optimum voltage and height to prevent crashing the tip into the material You can adjust the Preset Volts as you cut to raise or lower the arc gap When you get the proper arc gap usually between 060 and 120 inches on most machines then use that as the baseline preset volts If you cannot get the height to change and the Torch Volts during a cut by changing the preset volts then check to make sure no Tip SAVER TS is being displayed or FAULT indicator If neither of these is active on steady then go back to a manual cut and vary the height of the tip to metal distance Tilt the metal slightly You should see a voltage variation in the displayed torch volts as the tip gets closer or further from the material If you do see a change then voltage feedback Torch volts is working provided the numbers are within 10 of the normal voltage See if t
42. l wrap with one wire from the AC line Wires to ARC OKAY screw terminals on THC Sensor Card NOTE SOME LOW CURRENT CUTTIN AY NEED TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE WRAP Grounding practices to reduce noise and increase safety PC w MACH3 MP3000 DTHC Interface Control Box Note THC Sensor Card shielded cable is not connected to any ground in the Control box Do NOT Ground PC or Controllers to Earth Ground Rod Conrollers will reference themselves to power ground through their AC lines mY Controller Cabinet MP3000 and UBOB have built in isolation on all inputs kom the table THCS Card to prevent noise transfer and ground loops ents Or ar Tabel I O Card limits home Aux relay 10 to 4 Ga heavy wire Ground Rod or Metal pole in earth ground srir Ground runs should be less than 10 Grounding plate 10 to 4 Ga heavy wire PAGE 52 FINAL TESTING 1 The MP3000 and UBOB requires that a Charge Pump signal be present So do some other BOB s It is not possible for the machine to start up without the CP being on and active front panel LED ON There is a button to enable the THC in MACHS With the torch head 1 2 to 1 inch above the material manually activate the torch from the MACH3 screen by using the button hotkey Torch On Button IF the torch lights then proceed down the list If it does not double check all of your logic and pin setup in MACH2 Go to the diagnostics page and make sure the output 1 in M
43. led contact arc start The electrode is mounted against a spring that keeps it pushed against the inside of the Nozzle as long as air is not flowing When the unit is triggered the starts a few milliseconds after the current starts to flow in the electrode circuit As the air flows it pulls the electrode away from the nozzle and creates an ARC That is used ionize the air and start the plasma The LCTHC can be used with all types of plasma units The HF units tend to be very noisy and some even have large amounts of RFI The total isolation of the circuit from any low level PC logic including any common ground stops any conducted noise The internal circuits are protected from RFI with proper layout and careful attention to bypass components on all active circuits PAGE 47 Hooking Up Your Plasma Machine to the LCTHC For plasma models not shown on previous pages CAUTION Portions of this install may include opening your plasma cutter machine and attaching wires MAKE SURE THE UNIT IS UNPLUGGED PRIOR TO REMOVING ANY COVER S OR MAKING ANY CONNECTIONS Plasma units have HIGH VOLTAGES present that can be dangerous or lethal IF YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCED WORKING WITH HIGH VOLTAGES DO NOT ATTEMPT TO INSTALL THIS OR ANY OTHER DEVICE INSIDE YOUR PLASMA UNIT YOURSELF SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP In order to control your plasma unit there are three main connections that need to be made to the plasma unit itself All of the following operation
44. nd torch should fire Plasma Unit on FROM HAND TORCH CABLE Connect to Screw terminals J10 1 amp 2 on the THC Sensor Card PAGE 45 HYPERTHERM PowerMAX 45 Connecting THC SENSOR CARD FOR OPERATION WITH MP3000 DTHC and BladeRunner Dragon Cut seris THC SIGNAL NAME s e SENSOR NOTES WIRE Type R REF O U OO Torns RT pnsas PINS 3 amp 4 J10 Screw For use with mechanical J12 Term 1 amp 2 Torch ONLY TORCH TORCH SWITCH ORG amp VIO J10 Screw pelea ciate Maes HAND TORCH wires atJ10 Term 1 amp 2 9 PowerMax J19 amp J21 This is NOT the 50 1 18 22 PVC stranded inside divided voltage at J12 insulted twisted pair min Powermax45 See detailed instructions 600V rated insulation J4 amp J5 ARC P E ARC OK ARC PINS 12 amp 14 OK Switch Dry Contact ouput from t ASAN a d XFR J12 Input PowerMAX no voltage voltage insulate ARC VOLTS RAW TIP VOLTS Drawign not to scale r r ie mn a RE EEN l i o tA L g l CE J a LOCATION OF J19 and J21 io Inside PowerMAX45 OU Uoo aaa mmo on D FRONT 32 a J19 or J18 5l m white wire a ae Ah o oe 1 tS To THC SENSOR CARD
45. ndicator turns ON 7 Indicator should turn on with valid arc and off when there is no arc to metal 8 ARC OK Test button does not turn on Trip Point Indicator It simulates and ARC OK back to the LCTHC It does not mean the CT or the Trip Point Circuit is working The Trip Point Circuit is very sensitive and will detect AC current less than 10A of primary current If you cannot get reliable operation of the CT as a source than either the resistor is not connected or your plasma is a small inverter type that the CT cannot detect Measure the AC volts across the CT with it cuttin If itis less than 2V AC it will not trip the circuit You may have to use another method to get ARC OK Raw Arc Volts Negative Use Plastic or Nylon Standoff here if mounting to metal Raw Arc Volts work Positive Clamp TO TORCH FIRE CIRCUIT Across torch switch pair on hand torch units See instructions for tapping into the Torch Swtich Pair on a plasma with a hand torch CT is OPTIONAL PART Poy purchased separately 15 On Arc Good Arc Xfer signal SS One WIRE of AC Side Mains voltage 1P or 3P any voltage CT transformer can be mounted several feet from the THC SENSOR Card Trip Point Indicator Divided Volts Test Point Divided Volts Test Point _ SOURCE Jumper set as shown 1 2 for using external Current Transfo
46. nput of the LCTHC See the LCTHC hookup details to identify that input Often all that is needed is to use an existing output on your BoB and map it to turn on the torch It does not have to be the same output that turns on your router spindle if you use a mixed mode machine PIN MAPPING CHART when using G540 as Primary PORT interface Note all Homes Limits consolidated wired in series Normally Closed into INPUT1 POS1 and mapped to PORT 1 Use of the same pin numbers as above is MAIN TERMINAL BLOCK G540 recommended even if you do not have the POS SIGNAL Paris Me Parallel Port PIN G540 That way you can ili use the LCTHC Profile 1 INPUT1 Homes Limits PIN 10 input for both types of interface If you are 2 INPUT2 ARC OK PIN 11 input using a PORT 2 for expanded input or a BoB 3 INPUT3 THC DOWN PIN 12 input that requires different pins then you will need 4 INPUT4 THC UP PIN 13 input to adapt the profile to match your BoB 5 Output1 TORCH ON PIN 17 output instructions The pins on a standard parallel port 6 Output2 AUX RELAY PIN 1 output are the same There are designated inputs and 7 VFD GND NC NC outputs The normal outputs for step and dir 8 VFD OUT NC NC on most BoB cards are pins 2 9 but the order 9 VFD 10 NC NC may be different The 10 Disable NC PIN 15 input Fault SE a oe 11 SUPPLY DC Motor NC ine 12 SUPPLY DC Motor NC seed tg ans GNP any signal
47. nstall the Current Transformer and power resistor Just make the connection to the Arc Good terminals Most units provide only relay contacts dry Contacts For that type signal the ARC Good inputs are J4 and J5 on the THC Sensor card Note The term Arc Good is interchangeable with Arc Okay Arc Xfer and OK to MOVE 6 NOTE IT is ESSENTIAL that the chassis of the plasma unit have a good earth ground Refer to the suggested grounding section of the diagrams and provide for a good earth ground close to the table A safety ground back to a breaker panel many feet away may be a good ground for AC frequencies 60hz but poor for higher frequencies like plasma noise Since we are bypassing any high frequency noise to the plasma chassis if it has a poor noise ground it can actually put noise back into the tip volts rather than shunting it away IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS GETTING AN ARC OK 1 On the REV14 THC SENSOR there is a doubler disable jumper In normal operation it is in place and prevents doubling the signal PAGE 50 INSTALLATION OF CURRENT TRANSFORMER Used for plasma units that do not have Arc Good Arc Xfer signal Provided Power Resistor across terminals Wires to ARC OKAY 4 screw terminals on 35 to 100A range Plasma units TH d Ka Pass one conductor from the AC line straight through the center of the Current Transformer Provided Power Resistor across terminals Less than 35A Units Take a ful
48. ons The Digital electronics in the LCTHC measures the Arc Gap voltage thousands of times per second averages it and compares it to a preset Target voltage It then issues a simple logic UP or DOWN command to MACH MACH reads the inputs 6000 times per second It s internal core THC logic looks to see if the THC Button is on If it is and the torch is fired it waits until is gets a valid ARC OK often called different names by different plasma vendors and then will read the UP or DOWN input It is up to MACH then to actually move the motor at a rate that does not cause lost steps or drive faults It is similar to an external jog command but different parameters are used e Arc Gap Arc volts Tip Volts e 1volt change approx 015 change e gt Arc volts gt Arc Gap greater the Arc Gap the greater the Arc Volts e Z moves opposite Arc Volts based on Preset Volts Torch Volts Above Preset LOWERS torch Torch Volts below Preset RAISES torch e Control has window Span Volts where no UP or DOWN occurs prefect cut height Anything inside the Span or from the Preset generates NO change SPAN VOLTS is preset in the LCTHC to one arc volt or 1V Arc Gap Gap Volts E J PAGE 7 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION USING THE FRONT PANEL READOUT AND KNOB D o gt b amp a 0 lt z wily All of the LCTHC cutting settings Preset TIP VOLTS TIP SAVER ON OFF TIP SAVE
49. ou have set on the plasma cutter and the type and thickness of the material you are cutting Some Mfg s provide charts for recommended Primary Screen No activity Torch is off settings If you have a Plasma Cutter with no SetV is on last used setting En automated cutting contact the mfg for a recommended stand off distance Arc Gap and you will have to run PUSH to SELECT a series of tests to determine the correct Rotate Knob clockwise to raise the preset value E aa Set Volts preset value 4 N Rotate Knob counter clockwise to lower the Set Volts preset value PRODUCT DESCRIPTION CHANGING SETTINGS CONT _ _ SS eS SS Sa CHANGING SETTINGS MENU SCREEN TIP SAVER is an important feature It is a dynamic Anti Dive that keeps the torch tip from diving down and possibly hitting the material if the cut TIP Saver setting screen menu Access by pushing IR crosses an existing kerf knob switch once from normal run screen Left arrow or void The torch indicates parameter selected Change value diving iS caused when ON OFF or TIP SAVER value by rotating knob AA T Change parameter selection by pushing knob switch plasma has less metal Return to to cut and interpretates that as needing to lower the torch lower the gap voltage This happens at the end of most cuts as the kerf comes back to the start point and the pl
50. puts and outputs It has to be running and synced with the EXE of MACH 2 The MACH EXE executable The MACH exe file interfaces to the MACH Pulsing Engine and goes the screen interface runs Marcos and other things 3 MACH SET Files The set files are screen GUI files to give the operator a specifi look and feel Basically it s the dashboard control for MACH By adding removing screen controls Buttons LED s DRO s it gives the operator input options and action controls Behind the screen objects are features they connect to in MACH and Names actually numbers you can call and even put some code behind The macros for a given screen set are stored in a folder under MACH macros named the same as the profile XML you run and defines what some of the controls do It can be as simple as a single function call to MACH all the way to complex Macros 4 The MACH XML files MACH has one central configuration file The file type is an XML eXtended Markup Language and is the web era version of the older INI file All of the settings and configuration of MACH is stored in named Profiles Each Profile is unique While it has certain defaults it is different for each setup The XML concept makes it easy to have a controller that by simply selecting a new profile more on that further down you can completely change the way it looks and behaves You can easily have a separate Router and Plasma Profile and swithc back and forth between t
51. r generating ARC OK Some smaller inverter type plasma units with no Power Factor Correction may not work with the CT transformer method and the DCP 01 can be used instead PLASMA WORKCLAMP LEAD wire r gt Y Hookups for DCP 01 To RJ11 Jack on THC SENSOR 20 1254 SCS ancdCnN r I CAL TEST Model DCP 01 P Z PLASMA WORKCLAMP LEAD wire PAGE 43 HYPERTHERM PowerMAX 45 Connecting THC SENSOR CARD FOR OPERATION WITH LCTHC TIP VOLTS CONNECTION J19 and J21 are Screw connectors located on the PCB inside the PowerMAX 45 See the location drawing next page Detailed instructions for making these connections are in https www hypertherm com library files Manuals Service 20Manual 20 28SM 29 806110r0 pdf J21 A gt O J UA Use 18 or 20ga insulated Hookup wire Insulation rating to 600V Min Twist wires along the length of the run START SIGNAL DS _ o A J J12 connector located on rear of unit Pos red and neg blk test points to checking divided volts Voltage should be about 1 7th the raw volts with torch fired PAGE 44 CONNECTING HAND TORCH TO THC SENSOR CARD Use ScotchLoc IDC Splices RED to tie Torch Switch output on THC Sensor J10 Screw Terminals Locate Orange and Violet wires at J10 in the PowerMAX box and tap each wire as shown To test short two screw terminals on J10 THC Sensor a
52. response lags behind were the cut actually is and tends to cause the torch to oscillate slowly up and down along a cut Too fast and you can stall the Z motor evidenced by the Z DRO moving and but the motor not or in the case of a low resolution Z drive like rack amp pinion it overshoots and oscillates rapidly up and down Because THC RATE is a percentage of Z max velocity changing the velocity setting in Motor Tuning foe Z effects the response It s recommended you tune the Z to it max velocity for normal run conditions in motor tuning than start with the default 30 setting and if the response appears uneven or ragged Up and Down moves change the THC Rate Up or down in percentage by 5 Some rack amp pinion drives have course resolution This causes two things The smallest distance you can move becomes more than the THC needs to hold the optimum gap and you get overshoot overcorrect in both directions the THC rate must be reduced to filter out the overshoot OTHER SCREEN BUTTONS Leds The other Buttons DRO s Digital ReadOuts and LED s are standard on all MACH screens If you need more information about functions like RUN FEEDHOLD STOP please see the MACH users Manual Running G code and controlling the machine jogging setup feedrate override etc is covered in the MACH Manual The non THC specific controls are not covered in this manual Things like motor tuning setting up homes and limits loading and running a program are MA
53. rmer CT as ARC OK signal Test Fire TORCH 3 Trip Point Adjust Sets sensitivity of ARC OK POWER 12 TORCH ON From LCTHC CAT5 CABLE from LCTHC PAGE 41 HYPERTHERM 1000 1250 1650 a Connecting THC SENSOR CARD FOR OPERATION WITH THCSensor and LCTHC TIP VOLTS CONNECTION J15 and J16 are Slide on connectors located on the PCB A A 7 f xP Use 18 or 20ga insulated Hookup wire A Insulation rating to 400V Min J19 Located inside Cabinet on PC Board Rw as Si YEL ARCXFR K RED To Rear Connector 2 Raw Arc Volts FE Electrode START SIGNAL WHT OOD OOOO Sew NOTE If you have a hand torch it will not fire from J19 or the rear connector You must locate the torch switch wires lane oe normally Violet and Orange to J3 and tap each one to tie to the START Torch Switch a PAGE 42 CONNECTIONS FOR SYSTEMS USING DIGITAL CURRENT PROBE THC SENSOR REV17 card WITH RJ11 connector on DCP 01 1 More detailed install instructions for the DCP 01 can be found in the DCP 01 addendum 2 Thread Workclamp lead on plasma cutter Through the centger of the DCP 01 Use RJ11 phone cord to connect DCP 01 to THC SENSOR RJ11 jack as shown 3 Make other connections on Previous page for Torch On and to the Raw Arc Volts inputs 4 Power up LCTHC and check that green LED on J3 Jack is ON M
54. s workclamp and torch tip to the two Torch Tip terminals Make sure that these wires are routed where they cannot come into contact with hot or moving components 4 If your plasma unit does not have an arc good signal jack do the following Make SURE the cord to the plasma unit is disconnected from any voltage source If you have room inside the unit disconnect one of the AC hot leads prior or following the Main switch and slide the wire through the center of the current sense transformer like a finger through a donut There are two connections on top of the transformer and the large power resistor supplied needs to be connected with one lead on each connection In addition you need to connect a twisted pair wire between the two connections and the terminal on the board marked ARC Good J6 No polarity The transformer is a current transformer and forms its voltage across the power resistor This is an AC vo Itage that we rectify and use to trip the Arc Good circuit relay on the THC Sensor PCB and use the isolated relay contacts to signal the parallel port and MACH2 3 A good way to mount the current transformer inside the unit is to use a plastic cable tie and secure it to a nearby bundle of wires or bracket On some smaller plasmas or ones that will be cutting at below 50A You may need to take more that a single pass through the center of the CT 5 If you have a plasma unit that DOES have an Arc Good signal you do not need to i
55. s are to be done with the power disconnected from your plasma unit You should decide if you want to mount the THC Sensor PCB inside your plasma unit or in a small external box on the outside of the unit You will need access to the DB9 connector on the THC Sensor card so if you mount the card inside it should be so that the DB9 is exposed If you cut a small square in the cover or front panel so that the connector frame will pass through and drill two holes for the connector mounting holes you can use the connector mounting jack screws to hold the board in place If you use an external box you will need to provide holes for the signals listed in the following steps Also there is a trigger level adjustment pot on the front of the card VR1 to adjust the level of current that trips the ARC GOOD If you are using the external CT Transformer to develop an ARC OK signal signal Drill an access hole to be able to adjust that pot External connectors hookup wire and external enclosure are not provided THC SENSOR PCB INSTALL If your plasma unit does not have an external activate remote torch switch you must find the torch activate switch connections Normally the torch handle will have at least one set of small wires coming from the torch head cable and attaching to a screw terminal post inside the box Find the point where the torch cable enters the box and identify any small pair s of wires that travel up the torch head cable Most machines are setup
56. the 5 PC and PC Gnd connections for it to properly work the following pages go through how to use a 2nd parallel port expansion card You CANNOT install two separate Parallel Port Expansion cards in the same PC If your PC has an Expansion Card i e PCI expansion card and NOT a motherboard based parallel port YOU cannot simple add another expansion card You must replace the single port card with a Dual Port version PAGE 31 Power Supply Power Supply POS NEG Common Return PCGND LCTHC TORCH ON THC UP THC DOWN tu amp Be Oe S Se ARC OK Consolidated Homes amp Limits see text e5 P3 PARALLEL PORT STP D825 P2 Dez g E Wiring the LCTHC hardwire to the G540 4 Axis Motor controller and BoB This section assumes you have the G540 hooked up to motors and running with MACH If you do not ou will need to refer to the G540 manual that came with your unit The earlier versions of the G540 before the Charge Pump option was added had a different pinout than the one above Signal names are the same but pin locations changed The Motor Step amp Dir signals are different on the older units so the MACH profile for the LCTHC included on the support CD will need to be modifed to work 1 Use 20 to 24 gauge colored wire Use a different color for each signal Existing connections for the Motor Supply and are not changed 2 If you are using more than one of
57. the existing Inputs for Homes or Limits 9or anything else you will have to rewire and either no use the signals OR consolidate as covered in the first part of this section PAGE 32 Connecting a G540 to an LCTHC without the G540 Interface Card Separate Customer Supplied Wire colors for 5 to 12 V DC power supply illustration only Negative side of this supply is tied to Common Return Power Supply Power Supply POS NEG External Bias Supply for PULLUP Negative of this supply is tied to Common Return Common Return This Jumper g PCGND LCTHC Required on G540 install O 0000O00000000000r TORCH ON a gee OKO ee ole Rear View THC DOWN ojm S0000000000000000 ARC OK NEG 12V Bias wallplu SZ poanse ont Le Consolidated Homes POS 12vbe Bi Opyo FETT amp Limits see text O O p Do not tie the ground on the PC to the COMMON on the LCTHC or the G540 Do milrrale card lt not try to use 5 from the PC to supply it for the G540 hookup E PERENE This 12VDC shipped with kit 12VDC Bias WALLPLUG Use MACH G540 profile shipped with LCTHC to setup pins PAGE 33 PREPING THE G540 FOR THE G540 INTERFACE CARD REV 2 G540 Gecko Drive at Bottom view as shipped 8 SSL form the factory Shows 12 pos screw terminals Terminals are fri
58. the material determines the current density and the Gap Volts A slower feedrate will cause an increase in Gap volts if no THC servo is there to correct With THC engaged the circuit will sense the higher voltage and based on the error created lower the torch to try and correct This condition appears when a CNC machine has to slow it s feedrate to make a sharp turn or to cut small detail The LCTHC has added features that sense a non standard change in arc volts and locks downward movement to prevent head bounce Designated as Tip Saver it can be used to keep the torch from plunging into a void or diving when cutting across existing kerf cuts or coming close to another kerf PAGE 6 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION How TORCH HEIGHT WORKS WITH PLASMA The important thing to remember is that the Arc Volts we refer to it as Tip Volts is a reflection of arc gap and when the gap increases the arc volts increase Conversely when the arc gap decreases so does the arc volts The operation of THC within MACH is important to understand The logic and processing power of the PC is used with MACH to replace most of the expensive external logic and electronics required to have a fully functional Torch Height Control The LCTHC and DTHC do not directly move the Torch up and down The torch is mounted on a conventional Z axis under control of MACH Because of that the table can be used for any 3 axis operation THC being one of those operati
59. uld show up in MACH Screen and Z Torch Fired Tip Voltage is 141VDC your value may vary a eee ARC OK is ON Valid LCTHC is sending an UP signal To MACH to raise Z You can change the SETV value while cutting to fine Torch Fired Tip Voltage is 148VDC your value may vary tune the cut gap ARC OK is ON Valid Normally a volt or TIP SAVER is ACTIVE two is all it takes LCTHC is NOT sending DOWN signal To MACH to lower Z TIP SAVER MAY flash on and off during cutting especially at the end of acut This is normal NOTE Tip Saver must be ON in the settings for this feature to work You MUST have ARC OK for the LCTHC to function Lack of ARC OK will cause the UP and DOWN to NOT function since the LCTHC considers the absence of ARC OK to indicate the torch is not ON PAGE 12 INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE INSTALL FROM CD DOWNLOAD Software Install Instructions If you are installing from the Support CD you can find the MACH3 ver 3 042 020 in the BladeRunner MACH PROG folder as Mach3VersionR3 042 exe If you are installing from a web download you will first have to UNZIP the files you downloaded and place them in a Folder on your PC Name the folder something that you can easily identify later Unzip the files all into that folder MACH3 program BladeRunner Install exe etc While MACH will run under Windows Vista or Windows 7 a lot of other programs you may need won t Vista uses LOT s of resources so your
60. unit has a tip voltage connection point i e like the Hypertherm 1000 series you will need to use their manual and suggestions as to how to connect to the two points and run those wires to the THC Sensor card Just make sure you use wire that has insulation rated for at least 400 V Small signal wire like telephone wire UTP is not rated that high and can arc to nearby components The THC Sensor card is designed to take the full tip voltage and divide and filter it Open circuit full tip voltage can be as high as 300VDC in some machines If your plasma unit does not have a designated tip voltage measurement point you will need to locate a place inside the unit where you can get one wire onto the workclamp lead and another on the heavy lead that connects to the torch electrode a Note some machines like the Hypertherm 380 do not have a single heavy wire to the Torch tip and instead have a set of parallel smaller wires that all terminate into one connector In the case of the 380 the WHITE wires are the tip volts b You can identify both locations by visually tracing the two leads as they come into the box You should find several locations terminal strips that have connections to these two points and you can use those for your sense wire connections Use unshielded stranded twisted wire of 22 to 18 ga rated for at least 400V insulation c Make a connection between the locations you have identified that tie directly to the two lead
61. ware i e UBOB then you don t have to worry about our custom plug ins PAGE 13 AG INSTALLING MACH 3 SOFTWARE MACH SCREEN CONTROLS FOR LCTHC OPERATION TOP MENU BAR regress Run Alt MDI Ah foolPath Alu Offsets Alt5 Settings Ak Diagnostics Al Pendant Edit G Code X 0 000 34 s Close G Code Zero i IQ 4 Y 5 16 7 33 Rewind CulW Y 0 0000 y i ine zero o i rA nl ce From _ Z 1200 4 Y23 5 21 2 Zero THE Single BLK eae Soft Limits REGEN DISPLAY Goo _Last Wizard TOOLPATH MODE FoLLtow Load Material i CONTROLS GO HOME Output SlowDown Anti Dive REE XY save 20 0 Jog ON OFF I THC Delay Sec CV Feedrate 1 MUP HEARC OK THC Rate EE _ 0 0 Z THC speed E DOWN of Z Velocity OverRide Limits E THC CORRECTIONS Limits Program Run ZMax THC 0 00 AltA WPG Axis MEX My Miz ZMin THC _ 0 00 MPG Jog Mode J Shuttle Modell History f Cleat Custom Screen Controls Load Material A defined table position XYZ set in the Load Material section on the SETTINGS TAB Used to move the ganty out of the way to load material Typically back and away from the front 0 0 of the machine GO HOME Moves X and Y to 0 0 and Z to 1 above the material This is NOT a reference Homing move It returns the machine to WORK 0 REF XY Rapids X and Y to 1 inch then slow home move to XY Home switches Z is raised but NOT homed Z home is considere
62. way to reference the head is to place a small block of wood below the head on the top of the material and carefully lower the tip until it just touches the block In MACH3 Enter the thickness of the wood measure with dial micrometer for precision and mark the number on the block into the Z DRO and hit the Enter key to store the value 6 Establishing a material Zero with a floating head and sensor switch If you have a floating head torch holder and sensor switch and the switch is connected to and mapped to the Z Home function in MACH3 then the first step is to determine the switch offset amount of Z overtravel past the top of material to where the switch is tripped a Perform a Reference move on Z using the REF button on the screen next to the Z DRO b The REF move will move the torch down until it trips the Z switch and it backs up a small amount and stops c Without moving Z Zero the Z DRO with the Zero button next to Z d Carefully jog Z up slowly until the torch tip starts to lift off the material Use a piece of paper as a feeler Lower the Jog Rate Diagnositcs tab is necessary to slow the jog e Write down the decimal number in the Z DRO Do the test enough that you get close to the same number several times There is a location in the MACH3 config Homing amp Limits to apply a Home Switch Offset You can enter your To establish that the LCTHC is working and to find the correct Tip Volts setting it s advised you load
63. wn on tight curves feedrate drops the control will keep the torch from diving towards the metal which is the normal tendency with any THC that does not have built in anti dive in hardware It DOES NOT correct any problem unrelated to speed so it will not correct torch diving at the end of a cut of the torch crosses an existing cut or if the torch cuts into a void or off the edge at normal speeds t is recommend you run with this control turned off with the LCTHC If you do use it you will need to monitor the actions Having the software antidive on does not stop the UP or DOWN inputs from the LCTHC it simple tells MACH to ignore any DOWN inputs as long as the speed is below the set percentage so the Z will refuse to go down Start with percentage at 50 or less Always start a cut with it turned off and click it in after motion starts THC DELAY sec This setting default 1 sec is the time MACH delays reading the UP and DOWN inputs after a Torch On event It s there to keep the THC from responding to the spikes and voltage swings during a pierce event If you start to see the torch move down and hit the metal at the end of a pierce and before the XY motion has started you can increase this number NOTE The LCTHC has a preset 1 sec delay from the TORCH ON event where it will delay sending UP DOWN signals It runs concurrently with the THC Delay both active at the same time It also delays any action from the TIP SAVER or internal Fault circuit

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