Messages

5051

General Mach Discussion / Re: CNC Router Convert to Plasma Questions

« on: March 14, 2018, 03:54:03 PM »

Hi,
thats not quite correct, THC is a controller function not a Mach function. Mach may not have screens etc set up
but that does not prevent a controller from enacting THC.

Look at Vital Systems Hicon, it has THC with the appropriate screens for pierce height, anti dive parameters etc.

Almost all controllers support Mach3 THC functionality. That wide support is still developing with manufacturers
of Mach4 boards. Sounds like PoKeys is not there yet.

Craig

5052

General Mach Discussion / Re: Dust Collector M9 Not Toggling Off Relay

« on: March 13, 2018, 11:30:24 PM »

Hi,
most 5V relays are pretty small, maybe the contacts are 'welding' themselves together as a result of
the current being drawn through them.

Most people use solid state relays for such applications, they are inclined also to offer better isolation from
the control circuit, you really REALLY don't want 230VAC dissapearing into your BoB!

Craig

5053

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: XHC Mach4 USB motion board warning and info

« on: March 13, 2018, 07:43:08 AM »

Hi,
fair enough.

If I buy something I expect it to work straight away and if it doesn't I expect instant service from the manufacturer. If its good enough for them to take
my money it good enough that the item work as specified. I would not put up with the rubbish you've had to.

Craig

5054

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: tiling - X only very long piece

« on: March 13, 2018, 06:14:45 AM »

Hi,
I transitioned to Mach4 about 18 months ago and my Mach3/VB was always weak, in fact it was to get away from VB that I went to Mach4. From what
I remember though there was the opportunity to read a raw encoder value and have another DRO which held the numerically corrected value. The numerically
corrected value could be displayed on screen and/or mixed/manipulated with other DROs.

I think therefore i),ii) and iii) are all achievable although I'm not going to offer to help with VB, if you wished to do it in Lua I would.

Craig

5055

General Mach Discussion / Re: getting NUMBERS to file not only DRO on screen

« on: March 13, 2018, 03:46:27 AM »

Hi,
yes there is a way, I've done it with Mach4 but feel pretty sure that mach3 has the same capacity. It called a Probe File.

Each time a G31 event is recorded the data is added as a new line in a file. I think  M40 opens the file while M41 closes it.

Craig

5056

General Mach Discussion / Re: CNC Router Convert to Plasma Questions

« on: March 13, 2018, 01:56:09 AM »

Hi,
I repair welding equipment for a living including plasma tables, one of the big ones well over $100,000 second hand. I've seen a few cheap ones,
say $1000US but I've had to become pretty adept at fixing them too.

The cheapest and best THC solution I'm aware of is a motion controller which supports it. Vital Systems Hicon is the one that comes to mind. PoKeys are
very flexible and it may well be that they have THC support also.

The Hicon controller is $600 for the basic unit and probably add another $200 to get THC activated. $800 might sound expensive but in the realm of pro
THC controllers its as cheap as chips.

Craig

5057

General Mach Discussion / Re: CNC Router Convert to Plasma Questions

« on: March 12, 2018, 11:13:04 PM »

Hi,

I assume I'd only need a THC if I were cutting all the time on it and/or warped or multi level parts.

No, thats not correct, THC is the single most important thing that you can do to make a plasma table work
properly. Does the 57CNC board support THC? Note that THC is rightly enacted by the motion controller not Mach,
the communication lag means Mach would be hopelessly behind the eight ball.

If I'm not using A THC is there a specific height I use for all materials that the torch should be from the workpiece?

A couple of mm is common UNTIL THC takes over and thereafter it will maintain whatever height to attain the cutting
voltage you set, 120-130V as a rule.

If you dont have THC then you set a height and hope.

Craig

5058

General Mach Discussion / Re: Missing NcUsbPod.dll

« on: March 12, 2018, 10:18:03 PM »

Hi,
and risk prolonging the agony.

Craig

5059

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Debugging Lua code...

« on: March 12, 2018, 07:11:36 PM »

Hi smurph,
a superb explanation...again. Maybe you should consider a career in software when you grow up...LOL

Craig

5060

General Mach Discussion / Re: Missing NcUsbPod.dll

« on: March 12, 2018, 06:21:08 PM »

Hi,
I stand by:

If you get really sick of trying then investigate
PMDX, Warp9 and CNCdrive products,

Craig