Plasma
Use external up/down control Determines if a separate device is used for torch height control (THC).
Settings for software THC have no effect if external THC is used.
External up/down velocity Determines the velocity value for THC when external THC is used.
External Z down input Input used to signal to the controller that the torch has to move down.
External Z up input Input used to signal to the controller that the torch has to move up.
Z max Maximum Z coordinate that THC operates within.
Z min Minimum Z coordinate that THC operates within.
Control delay Delay between automatic set point measurement and start of THC.
Corner feed rate threshold Minimal feed rate percentage threshold for the THC to be active.
This setting prevents the torch from diving down on corners. Usually, feed rate decreases on corners and arcs. As feed becomes lower, plasma voltage may increase. This normally causes the THC to move the torch lower in order to maintain set point voltage. This setting will cause the THC to disable if the feed rate falls below it.
Plasma analog input Analog input used to calculate plasma voltage.
ADC multiplication factor Multiplication factor that determines the relationship between the input voltage on plasmaAnalogInputPortID and actual arc voltage. It is used to calculate arc voltage.
The adcMulFactor is calculated by dividing the range through 1000, for example for a difference for range between 60 and 200 is 140, so the adcMulFactor would be 140/1000 = 0.14.
ADC offset Offset value that is added to calculated arc voltage.
The adcOffset value is often the actual arc voltage when the analog input value reads zero. If you already have a correct adcMulFactor value, but the calculated arc voltage is not correct (in a linear fashion), then this value can be used to correct it.
Default set point voltage Default voltage value that the THC will maintain during cutting.
KP Up parameter Determines THC speed when moving upwards.
When this value is too low, the Z axis will follow too slow. When too high, the Z axis will oscillate.
KP Down parameter Determines THC speed when moving downwards.
When this value is too low, the Z axis will follow too slow. When too high, the Z axis will oscillate.
KD parameter Differential K factor for the THC control loop.
Adjusting this value makes the dynamic better, but too high values will make the control loop oscillate. Start with low values and increase in very small steps every attempt in order to find a good KD value for your machine.
Deadband Determines voltage difference that has to be exceeded before controlling torch height.
This setting prevents the machine from continuously going up and down when it is not necessary.
This feature works only without external up/down control.
Spike filter time Moving average sampling time that is used to filter the plasma voltage values.
This setting allows to filter out inconsequential voltage spikes and sudden voltage increases when the machine is moving over an area that already has a cut in it. As an example, if the machine is moving with a feed rate of 3000 (50mm / s) in metric units, and the cutting width is 2 mm, then it would take the machine 0.40 sec to cross a cut. In that case, the filter time should be bigger than 0.04 to be able to filter this spike out.
Too high value for the spike filter time will influence the reaction time of the torch height control negatively. This can lead to damage if used inappropriately.
Hole detect voltage threshold Determines voltage difference between set and current voltage that is used as the threshold value for hole detect feature.
Hole detect feature will prevent the Z axis from moving downwards once the material ends or when machine moves over a hole in the material. The torch is considered to be over a hole in the event that voltage difference is higher than holeDetectVoltage for longer than holeDetectTime.
This feature works only without external up/down control.
Hole detect time threshold Determines time threshold for hole detect feature.
Measured voltage value as set point Determines if measured voltage value is to be used as the set point. Voltage is measured at the beginning of a cutting sequence.