Machine Setup Guide - Trucut CNC Plasma Cutting Machines

SeriesOne Plasma Table Assembly These instructions are primarily intended to assist kit purchasers in the assembly of their machine. If you purchased a complete table, you can skip to step 14. The gantry and controller connect using CPC connectors, are pre‐wired and tested at our shop and are packed on the same pallet. The connectors are different so they cannot be plugged into the wrong locations. SeriesOne and XT owners should check the V‐rollers and rail and make sure the V‐rollers have not jumped off the rails during shipping. Gantry’s are strapped in place to prevent this, but motor freight can be brutal. SeriesOne Complete Machine Owners please note that during shipping, things assembled in our shop may not hold tolerance. Motor freight can be rather rough. After starting the machine and making some test cuts, with the controller and Mach3 on, check the following. Y axis V‐roller backlash…Grab ahold of the bottom of the carriage and tug fore and aft (long side of the table). You should not feel any movement. If you do, it means the V‐rollers are not fully seated on the Y axis rails. Refer to step 7. X and Y axis drive chain backlash…With the machine turned on, tug side to side on the Y carriage and fore and aft on each side of the gantry. Slight movement that returns when you release pressure in normal. If you back and forth movement that does not return when you release pressure (like bumping back and forth movement), check drive chain tension. Refer to step 4. If after adjusting drive chain tension, you still feel a bumping back and forth motion, check the set screws on the drive motor belt pulleys on the axis causing the problem. During a cut, a loose set screw or drive chain will show up as flat sides on a circle. The axis causing the problem can be determined by which side of the circl the flats are on. If the flats are parallel with the short (Y) axis, the problem will be on the X axis. If flats a parallel with the long (X) axis, the problem will be on the Y axis. When you remove the cover to access the drive pulleys, you can usually tell what is loose by watching and tugging on the carriage or gantry. Since XT machines use planetary gearboxes and rack & Pinion drive, they are not as susceptible to the shipping issues mentioned above. 1) Gantry Installation Unpack the gantry assembly and Z lifter. Set the Z lifter aside. Lift the gantry from both sides and carefully place it on the table rails. Make sure the bearings are seated on the rail properly on both sides. 2) Aligning Gantry Side Plates One side of the gantry is welded and the other is bolted. When you set the gantry on the rails, do so with the bolted side frame slightly loose. This will allow it to self‐align with the welded side. Once both sides are seated properly on the rails, tighten the bolts holding the gantry side plate. 3) Install Lower Bearings The lower V‐bearings match the uppers and capture the gantry on the lower side. These bearings should have a slight preload. To preload them, loosen the bearing bolt slightly, put a socket on the nut and push up on the nut pushing the bearing into the rail. This will cock the bolt at a slight angle. Holding upward pressure on the nut, tighten the bolt from the bolt head end. If done properly, there should be a slight preload on the bearings. You should not be able to easily turn the bearing with the gantry sitting stationary. 4) Install X Axis Drive Chain Unpack the X and Y axis drive chains. Roll the gantry to one end of its travel and rollout the drive chain on top of the rail spacer. Snake the drive chain around the idler sprockets and up and over the pinion sprocket. It helps during this operation to loosen the drive belt tensioners and remove the drive belts. Pull the chain through and fasten both ends. NOTE: You can route the chain through the sprockets with the gantry on the bench, then tie the chains up with wire ties. Place the gantry, then cut the wire ties and lay out the chain. To properly tension the chain, grip the flat of the tensioner bolt with needle nose pliers and pull as much slack out as you can by hand. At the same time, runs the nut up until it makes contact, then tighten another full turn. Leave an even amount of thread on each end. We’ll square the gantry next. Install the inner drive housing covers as shown. 5) Adjusting Idler Sprocket Height The idler sprockets on the inside of the gantry need to be set to the correct height. If they are too low, you will notice a roughness in the travel. This is the idler sprockets making contact with the rail spacer. A good way to set the height of the idler sprockets is to loosen the two bolts that holds them in place and place an 1/8” spacer under the idler sprockets, then tighten the bolts. 6) Squaring the Gantry Re‐install the drive belt on one side of the gantry and tighten the belt tensioner. Move the other side of the gantry forward or back by skipping one tooth at a time on the top timing pulley. Skipping one tooth will move the gantry about 1/8”. You can get the gantry very close to square by placing a drywall square against the inside of the table. Drop a straight edge down from one end of the Y axis rail to intersect the drywall square. Move the straight edge to the other side and see if it intersects at the same place on the drywall square. If it doesn’t, get it as close as possible by skipping a tooth on the top timing pulley. Make fine adjustments using the adjustment bolts on the ends of the chain. Final adjustments will be made after the machine is running by cutting a large square. 7) Install the Z lifter Loosen the lower bearings on the Z lifter assembly. Set the top bearings over the Y axis rail. Move the lower bearings up against the rail and snug the bolts temporarily. Tighten the jack bolts on the bearing adjuster just enough to remove and play and apply a slight amount of preload. Over tightening the jack bolts will damage the V bearings. 8) Install Y Axis Drive Chain This is similar to the chain installation on the X axes. Lay the chain out, loosen the idler sprockets and move them up and snake the chain up and over the pinion sprocket. Move the idler sprockets down so there is about 1/8” clearance between the sprocket/chain and the rubber strip on the gantry. Use a spacer such as a metal ruler or a piece of 12GA steel. Lower the sprockets down so they touch the spacer, tighten then pull the spacer out. Fasten the drive chain on both ends as shown. Remove as much slack as you can by hand, run the tensioning nut up until it touches and tighten another full turn. 9) Install Y Axis Cable Carrier The IGUS cable carrier is provided with a divider. Run the gray control cables closest to the gantry and the torch lead on the other side. The divider should separate the two. Open the cable carrier using a small screw driver. Once all cables are routed properly, snap the covers back onto the cable carrier. 10) Wire Z Lifter The gantry is pre‐wired but the Z lifter is disconnected for shipping. Re‐connect the three gray cables in accordance with the Z lifter wiring diagram. 11) Install Torch The SeriesOne torch mount consists of two V shaped saddles and two springs. The springs hold the torch in the saddles. The torch should be placed almost all the way down in the torch mount as shown. If it is not, there is a chance that the Z slide could bottom out before the floating head switch makes contact. If this happens, the Z will make a grinding sound when it bottoms out. Prolonged operation like this can destroy the Z axis drive. With the torch in the proper position, you should be able to see about 1” of clearance under the Z axis slide. 12) Install X Axis Cable Carrier Place the gray control cables in the inner channel of the cable carrier and place the torch lead in the outer channel. Leave enough slack where the torch lead loops down from the Y axis cable carrier to the X axis cable carrier to where there will be no binding or kinking of the torch lead. Place the cable carrier in the carrier track on the table frame and up and over the carrier support. Snap the carrier into the carrier brackets. Adjust the cables and torch lead for length so there is no binding or kinking and wire tie them to the tabs molded into the brackets. 13) Mount the Controller The controller box should be mounted to the rear of the table or to a wall near the table. There is no right or wrong way. If you opt to mopunt to the wall, be sure the green ground going to the bottom of the controller is properly connected to the table frame. It is VERY IMPORTANT that the controller be grounded to the table frame. There are three mounting holes on three corners of the controller box. Kit customers will locate and drill holes according to the prints that were sent to you. Turnkey table customers will mount the controller to the rear of the table using the provided hardware. 14) Connect the PC and Components Connect the PC in accordance with the image below. Actual PC may differ from photo. PC’s are configured for wireless WiFi internet. Connect the PC to your wireless network. DO NOT connect the PC to your network or router using the Ethernet port on the PC. This port is configured through a static IP address to communicate with the machine controller. NOTE: To receive tech support, a good internet connection will be needed. 15) Power Up for the First Time Follow these steps when you power up for the first time. We’ll walk you through a few simple tests to ensure that everything is connected properly. a) Turn on the controller. The controller MUST be turned on before Mach3 is started. b) Turn on the PC and start Mach3. When Mach3 starts, a dialog with a blue progress bar will appear. This means that Mach3 is talking to the motion controller. c) Press the “Reset” button. It should stop flashing and go solid green. If it doesn’t, check that both eStops are released and the machine is not against a hard limit. d) Use the keypad to jog the machine. See the legend below for key functions. If the machine does not jog, make sure that the “Jog On/Off” button is green. Num‐Lock on the keyboard must be ON for jogging to work properly. e) Fire the Torch. Lower the torch to within about 1/8” of some test material. Press the “Torch On” button. The torch should light. If it does not, check that the gray automation cable coming from the controller box is plugged into the plasma unit. After the torch lights, the ArcOK LED should light. f) Lift up on the torch by hand. Physically grab the torch and lift up. The torch will slide on the floating head mount. As you raise the torch, the yellow Contact light should come on. If it does not, there is most likely a wire not connected properly. 16) Calibrating Pierce Height In order for Pierce Height to work properly, the software needs to know the distance that Z travels after it touches and makes contact with the floating head switch. To do this, follow these steps…. a) Check that the floating head switch is connected and working properly by lifting up on the torch so it makes contact with the floating head switch mounted above the floating head slide. When this switch makes contact, the yellow LED labeled Contact should come on. If it doesn’t, do not continue. Automatic referencing will not work. b) Set Pierce Height to .25” and find a piece of ¼” material you can use as a feeler gauge. We use a piece of ¼” cold rolled. c) Jog the torch over some fairly heavy material that will not distort when the torch touches off to it. d) Jog the Z down to about ½” off the material. e) Press Reference Torch on the Mach3 screen. The torch should go down, touch off and come back up to .25”. Use your ¼” feeler gauge to check the torch height. If it is too low, go to the “Settings” screen and increase “Torch Switch Offset”. Torch Switch Offset will always be a negative number and should be ‐0.15 or greater. ‐0.5 to ‐0.7 is usually the range that it ends up. For example, if pierce height is too low and the current Torch Switch Offset is ‐0.5, increase it to ‐0.55 and re‐check. Again, make sure this number is negative with a minus sign (‐) in front of it. After adjusting the Torch Switch Offset, repeat the steps above and re‐check the pierce height. If it is still not right, re‐adjust the Torch Switch Offset and repeat. This is a trial and error process, but the good news is that once it’s done you shouldn’t have to do it again. 17) Making Your First Cut (Dry Run) Put some 1/8” steel on the table, set the plasma to 45A and install a 45A tip. Open the Shape Wizard and select the Circle button. Enter…. ‐Diameter = 3 ‐Kerf Width ‐ .060 ‐Kerf Comp ‐ Inside Return to the “Program Run” screen and set “Plasma Feedrate” to 80. You’ll find this on the right side of the screen. We’ll first make a dry run by pressing the “Dry Run” button. This will run the program with no Z moves and no torch activity. Jog the torch to a suitable starting point. Position the Z about an inch about the material and make sure you have a green light beside the “Inhibit Z” button. Press “Zero All” then “Cycle Start”. The program will run. 18) THC Operation THC operation is fully automatic. There are no complicated arc voltage settings or parameters to remember. The THC handles all of that automatically. All you need to do is specify a cut height and the THC determines and sets the correct parameters for the cut. If you purchased the touch screen remote option, make sure that all buttons on left side are colored dark. Dark is on, light is off. With all buttons on, the THC will be in automatic mode and will need no further operator input . 19) Cut The Part If all looks good and the dry run above went as expected, it’s time to cut the part for real, but first let’s talk about the on screen torch controls. Pierce Height…When the torch references before every cut, it touches off then raises up to the distance set in pierce Height. If the pierce height does not look like what you have entered on the screen, repeat step 16 (calibrating pierce height). Cut Height…After the torch pierces and waits for “Pierce Delay”, it drops to cut height and begins cutting. At this time, the THC will auto‐sync with the plasma and automatically set the proper cutting height parameters. Pierce Delay…Dwell or pierce delay is used to increase the pierce time for heavier materials. You won’t need much delay and in most cases this should be set to zero. For heavy plate, you may need a delay of no more than 1 second. Lower the torch to about ½” or so from the material and, make sure Inhibit Z is turned off and hit Cycle Start. The torch will touch off and rise to Pierce Height then the torch will fire, wait for Dwell, drop to Initial Cut Height and begin cutting. 20) Table Layout Tables are configured during assembly so X0 and Y0 are on the controller end. See the diagram below. If you are assembling a kit and set up the table different than the diagram illustrates, you will have to make modification to the settings in Mach3. We can do that for you on a remote session. See diagram on following page. 21) Machine Grounding Proper Grounding of the machine is essential. A plasma power supply is an electrically noisy piece of equipment. Proper grounding will ensure that the electrical noise and RF emitted by the plasma power supply does not interfere with the CNC electronics. Electrical noise can cause phantom eStop and limit triggers as well as stray pulses to the motor drives causing erratic movement. 1. The first step in proper grounding is to drive a ground rod as far into the ground as possible. The ground rod should be driven down to wet earth and should be as close to the machine as possible. 2. Establish a ground point on the table. This is called a star ground. Factory built tables have a ground lug on the rear of the table frame. See the grounding diagram for an idea of where the star ground should be. 3. Connect the Ethernet control cable to the controller and to the PC. 4. Connect a wire from the controller ground stud on the bottom of the controller box to the table star ground. 5. Cut the plasma ground lead roughly in half and strip back the cut ends. Connect each stripped end to the star ground point. This creates a ground from the plasma power supply to the table and also a lead from the table frame to the work. If you don’t want to cut the ground lead, you can unbolt the ground clamp, connect the factory lead to the table frame and make a new lead to go from the table frame to the work clamp. 6. Run a heavy solid copper wire from the star ground to the ground rod you installed in step 1. 4ga or 6ga is adequate. DO NOT route, tie or bundle any wires to the Ethernet control cable. It is tempting
when setting up a machine to tie all wires and cables in a neat and orderly bundle.
The Ethernet control cable carries signals such and estop, limit and motor control
signals. If this cable is positioned in a manner that permits it to pick up electrical
interference, odd behavior may occur.
Route the Ethernet control cable by itself. If it needs to cross other cables, make them
cross perpendicular. If you must run the Ethernet control cable parallel to any other
wires or cables, maintain at least 12” of separation between the two.
DO NOT route the plasma torch lead, power cord, plasma ground or automation
interface cable near the controller box or the Ethernet control cable. If the plasma
torch lead, power cord, ground or automation interface cable needs to be routed in
the vicinity of the controller box, maintain at least 12” of separation between any
other wires or cables.
DO NOT enclose the PC in an unvented enclosure. Any enclosure used must be well
vented. We recommend installing a fan if any type of enclosure is used.
DO NOT route the torch lead in close proximity to the control box, Ethernet control
cable or PC.
Make sure the Ethernet control cable and automation interface cable are not in close
proximity and/or parallel to each other. The automation interface cable carries tip
voltage to the THC. This voltage can translate to interference in the Ethernet control
cable. See the diagram below for proper cable routing when signal cables must be
routed in close proximity to power cables.
The ground from the PC to table frame shown below is optional and only needed
where excessive electrical noise is present. 22) Installing BobCAD We do not install BobCAD on the machine PC. Your BobCAD license only allows activation on one PC and most people prefer to do their CAD work in the office rather than out in the shop on the machine. The download link for BobCAD can be found on our website under Support ‐> Downloads. In some cases, machines ship before we have the license back from BobCAD. Just email or call if the license is not on the included flash drive and I will forward your license. 23) USB Flash Drive Your machine shipped with a USB flash drive. This drive contains all of the files you need to recover from a PC failure. DO NOT lose it or use it for any other purpose. It also contains some sample DXF files. We recommend copying these DXF files to the PC, then putting the flash drive in a safe place. Mach3 and Sheetcam licenses will be in the “Licenses” folder. Your BobCAD license will also be there if we had it when your machine shipped. 24) Technical Support and Training Technical support and training is done via a remote connection. We can remote to your office PC or the machine PC. A high speed internet connection is required for this. Simple issues can be handles over the phone, but anything remotely complex will require an internet connection so we can see what you are seeing. Software training on SheetCAM or BobCAD will also require an internet connection. The various types of internet are dial‐up, DSL (which is basically dial‐up), satellite, cable and 4G cellular. Cable works the best and 4G is a close second. The others are not fast enough for a reliable remote connection. If you don’t have high speed internet, a 4G hotspot is a good option. Most people are within range of 4G cellular service. A 4G hotspot from Verizon Wireless will give you dedicated high speed internet in your shop, home or even out on the road.