Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Disable THC Temporary

« on: December 01, 2014, 12:18:58 PM »

i disable thc by using a dpdt relay controlled thru an mcode. that will break the connection to your breakout board. i use m8 to turn on the relay which disables the thc. m9 turns off the relay which enables thc signal to the breakout board. create a button for your screen and click on for thc off or on. you can turn off and on in your gcodes. turn off for cutting small holes . works well for me . you can also add a simple joystick to the relay terminals and use it to control height manually with  thc turned off.

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Turning off THC and manually controlling "Z"???

« on: August 07, 2014, 12:19:37 PM »

ii have the thc signals going to a dpdt relay.on the NC side of the relay are the signal wires to the thc. on the NO side are wires from a simple gaming joystick that uses switches. the common go to your breakout board to what ever your inputs are. switch the relay and the joystick will function as the thc. i  switch it with a spare relay on the breakout board. then i have a button on the mach screen to turn off and on. can also turn off thc and turn back on during a gcode run as i have thc off as m8 and thc on as m9.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: THC Setting Issue?

« on: August 05, 2014, 12:22:41 PM »

i cut up to 240 ipm on 12 ga  .100 thick  . sheets are 170x60. your speed of the height controller is set in mach3 as a percentage of the z jog speed. my z jog is set at 200ipm
and is set at 7%. oxy flame cutting is set at 30% as height control is being controlled with a joystick. while you are at it get the feathertouch ohmic contact sensor.

candcnc probably is on vacation.

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: THC Setting Issue?

« on: July 31, 2014, 12:16:28 PM »

i have never regretted the lcthc from  candcnc. basic height controller that just works and not very expensive.

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: About Plasma Sheet Angle

« on: June 06, 2014, 06:28:29 AM »

straighten the sheet.  is that  not the simpler solution?a pry bar will move even the largest plate. recently cut a sheet of 2 1/2
plate 10'x5'. 4600 lbs. setup time less than a minute.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Controlling THC?

« on: April 26, 2014, 06:57:41 AM »

i use the m10 m11 macro to turn off and on the thc with the cutting rules in sheetcam.i use a dpdt relay that allows the thc to be used with a joystick for manual control , ei oxyacet flame cutting or auto for plasma. the thc control is a lcthc from candcnc.added activatesignal(output2) to m10   and deactivatesignal(output2) to m11.no hesitation in the disabling of the thc when cutting even at speeds of 240 ipm. i set up the cutting rules to slow at angles of +45 degrees and .5"
and m10. .25" out of the corner to turn on thc with m11.the relay is stopping signal to mach inputs when turned on.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 randomly pausing

« on: November 14, 2013, 12:33:14 PM »

i have the same problem. have never solved it.   i cut panels 170 x72  with cutouts  holes and slots on the plasma. never has stopped on the inside holes. only when cutting the outer rectangle sections. the cut speed is 200 ipm . the torch will ramp to a stop randomly.

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Stuttering problem with line segments

« on: April 18, 2013, 08:01:10 PM »

try checking plasma mode in the configuration screen. short line segments will tend to slow down the toolpath with plasma mode on short line segmented curves.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Anyone used vLite to cut XP to the essentials for Mach3?

« on: April 09, 2013, 06:34:17 AM »

i am trying a version of xp called xplite . using a 600 mhz  fanless microatx motherboard with 512 ram and onboard video. 4g compact flash for the hard drive.nothing else is installed  except mach3.page filing is disabled. so far is running stable. the driver test readis excellent.  not using the pport. using the smoothstepper.

10

General Mach Discussion / thc delay oem code 177

« on: March 12, 2013, 02:25:06 PM »

 has anyone gotten  oem code 177   to work? i have been trying it out with a dro on my screenset with version 066.  could not get any torch height control delay. have tried version 022 without any success either.