There are really three "ranges" of plasma power-supplies (machines) available and the choice depends on how much you intend to use the machine and what thickness you want to cut.
1. Hand torch machines, up to 12mm (1/2"), typical price $500-$2000 2. Pro-sumer, hand or auto, up to 50mm (2") typical price $2000-$5000 3. Commercial, auto only up to 200mm (8"), typical price $5000-$30000 Most machines in the pro-sumer range can be purchased with connectors for CNC installations and 180° machine torches, these will include tip voltage, arc OK and arc ON, some machines will also have Corner Slowdown and/or Amperage. If you have a machine without the ability to provide an Arc OK signal you will need to build a circuit to measure the amperage flow through the leads. Measuring the tip voltage gives you the ability to control Z axis height, this requires a very robust circuit and needs to be completely separated from your computer to avoid interference issues. Commercial machines will typically have their own independent height control system which will operate separately from the motion controller. The cheap/easy t way to get THC working is to buy http://www.candcnc.com/MP1000C.htm and use the Plasma-THC sample config in EMC2 Regards Jarl On Sat, 2008-01-05 at 21:10 +0100, Ing. Milan Ptáček wrote: > For plasma cutting is necessary secure a optional distance between the > torch (cutting nozle) and cutted steel plate. The direction of this movement > is around axis Z. The voltage, which is sourced from plasma source > is voltage between cutted material and electrode (cathode) and he is > variable according the distance between him.(torch and material). > You can secure the optimal torch height by two ways (mechanically or > electonically) > In second case is necessary use a separate unit which control a height > through > torch voltage. > > Meditatively idea: > Take the voltege from plasma source, divide him into 0 - 10 V, convert into > digital value, transfer this value into EMC,use the PID regulation inside > EMC > and relative to the reference voltage controll the Z axis movement. > > Milan > > > > > > -------------------------------------- > Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:29:37 -0600 > From: "John Thornton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Plasma I/O > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII > > On 4 Jan 2008 at 19:21, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Kirk, I don't know about the Miller but the Hypertherm is used a lot for cnc > plasma cutters. The Hypertherm Powermax1250 has 3 I/O built in. > Start Arc, Arc Stable and Arc Voltage. > Start Arc is and input from your controller. > Arc Stable is an output from the plasma torch. > Arc Stable is a 0-300vdc signal. > The Start Arc and Arc Stable are at the machine interface connection. > The Arc Voltage is on the power board. > The Hypertherm manual shows all the connections for hooking up > to your controller. > > As far as the puma IMHO that is much more capability than aplasma cutter > needs. The plasma cutter only needs a couple of inches of Z... Unless you > did a puma style on its side now that would be something for plasma. > > John > > > I looked at the Miller plasma cutters to get a general idea of how > > plasma cutters are configured. Some questions came to mind. Are > > generic manual cutters normally used for DIY CNC rigs or are special > > units needed? The literature for generic units only showed the front > > panel, which only had an adjustment for gas pressure and a pressure > > gauge. Is there typically any I/O on the rear panel? What I/O is > > typically used with EMC? What kind of starting is needed? Would a puma > > style joint system be appropriate? Just curious. > > > > -- > > Kirk Wallace (California, USA > > > > > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1209 - Release Date: 4.1.2008 > 12:05 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft > Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005. > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
