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Machine Peripherals

Spindle (3Hp Colombo Spindle)

Using the 3Hp Colombo spindle setup with the Dyna4000 control unit is very simple. The computer speaks with the Dyna4000 control unit which in turn speaks with the white variable frequency drive (VFD) which controls the movement of the spindle and converts the 220V power input into 3-phase which the spindle needs to function.

The 3Hp Colombo spindles are very powerful and are capable of achieving 24,000 RPMS. This finely designed piece of equipment has long lasting but replaceable Italian precision bearings and a flow of air cycling through it to keep the spindle cool while in operation. In coordination with the over-engineered DynaCNC Light Industrial table, this pair is the equivalence of profit and precision.

VFD Wiring

In correspondence with being programmed properly, it is important that the VFD is properly wired. Although the VFD leaves the assembly facility pre-wired, sometimes the wires can come loose in shipping. When installing the power wires, please check to make sure that your VFD has no loose wires prior to operation.

Note: When you receive your spindle, you will find that the VFD is not entirely hooked up and there is not a plug on the end of the cable. DynaCNC by law is not allowed to provide you with these hookups. These hookups are the responsibility of the owner to have performed by a licensed electrician using the VFD’s manual as a guide.

Proper wiring of the VFD we can provide is as follows:

|Black #6 |M14 |

|Black #5 |DCM |

|Orange and White |DCM |

|Brown and White |DCM |

|Orange |Reverse |

|Brown |Forward |

|Red (D4K Cable) |AVI |

|Black (D4K Cable) |ACM |

|Small Switch (to right) |Sync |

VFD Programming

When properly programmed via the VFD, MACH3 can take control over the spindle and allows you to control the speed of the spindle and the direction in which the spindle turns (MCodes M3 and M4).

It is highly recommended that unless you have knowledge of programming VFDs that you send the VFD in to Dynamic plastic or EPIK Ltd. to be reprogrammed. The programming parameters are as follows:

Total Reset: 00-02 =10

|00-04 |07 |

|00-05 |60 |

|01-00 |400 |

|01-01 |300 |

|01-02 |220 |

|02-00 |01 |

|02-01 |01 |

|02-02 |02 |

|02-05 |01 |

|04-07 |20 |

|06-06 |00 |

|07-00 |91 |

Setting Up Your System to Run the Spindle

When running your spindle, it is essential for the Dyna4000 control unit to be in spindle mode and for the MACH3 to use the spindle .xml profile. Without these two things, the spindle will not work.

Spindle Mode

The Dyna4000 control unit is currently set up for two modes outside of 110V relays, they are THC and Spindle functions. Within the Setup mode of the Dyna4000 control unit, the operator has the choice of choosing which output configuration he or she wishes to use. Again, either THC or Spindle is suitable for use of the router, but when using the spindle this setting MUST be set to SPINDLE.

To reach this mode:

1. Press MENU with your left thumb and INC/DEC with your right thumb until you come to the screen stating “PRESS MENU AND ALT TO CHANGE GROUPS”

2. Once at this screen, HOLD MENU and ALT until the screen changes

3. Using INC/DEC, change the choice until the mode of choice states “PRESS ALT TO SWITCH TO SETUP”

4. Press ALT

5. Once in SETUP mode, press MENU with your left thumb and INC/DEC with your right thumb until you come to the screen stating OUTPUT CONFIG

6. Release all buttons and use INC/DEC to change this option to SPINDLE

7. Press MENU with your left thumb and INC/DEC with your right thumb until you come to the screen stating “PRESS MENU AND ALT TO CHANGE GROUPS”

8. Once at this screen, HOLD MENU and ALT until the screen changes

9. Using INC/DEC, change the choice until the mode of choice states “PRESS ALT TO SWITCH TO RUN”

10. Press ALT

11. At this time you can go to MACH3 and hit RESET to get the charge pump. If your spindle is configured properly and powered on, you will now be able to use your spindle

Note: While you are in the setup mode, please check to make sure that the Spindle Configuration is set to Spindle Config 2 on screen 43; for details, please refer to the DL200 manual.

Plasma

WARNING: When it has been hooked up, do not turn the plasma unit on until MACH3 has loaded. The PC emits very light voltages that can cause the torch to fire unexpectedly until MACH3 has been loaded and given the chance to take over these pulses.

Defining

Plasma cutting is an interesting process. Instead of cutting the material, the immense levels of heat vaporizes the material into a fine powdery dust. Because this dust is produced, it is important to work in a well ventilated area and optimal to use a dust control system (waterbed, air purifier, and/or downdraft system). Please remember as always to wear any applicable safety equipment while using any piece of equipment. When removing pieces of material that have been cut; wear welding gloves to protect yourself from the hot metal and any sharp edges.

Plasma Torch Availability

Currently the Dyna4000 system is configured for use with the Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster and HyperTherm G3 series automated plasma torches equipped with a C5 CNC interface. It is possible to hook the system up to a non-automated unit, although it is not recommended as it can void the torch’s warranty.

WARNING: The Dyna4000 is configured for use with a Thermal Dynamics cutting torch with a CNC interface or HyperTherm G3 series. Using this cable with any other brand of plasma torch may damage both the torch and control box. Prior to hooking up any other torch, please send a trouble ticket to check with technical support if an adapter for your particular brand/model is available.

Hooking Up the Torch Peripheral to the Dyna4000 Control Unit

Hooking up a Thermal Dynamics or HyperTherm G3 series cutting torch with a CNC automated interface is very easy. Simply take the plasma/spindle combo cable and plug the C5 cable into the receiving end of the Dyna4000 control unit. Take the opposite end of the cable and plug it into the plasma torch receptacle.

Note: The green wires are for use with the HyperTherm G3 series and the bundle of wires from the other end are for hooking the system up to the variable frequency drive required for use with a Colombo spindle. Please see the image below to see the pin outs for all of these wires, and the locating of the green wires for the G3 series.

WARNING: Not all plasma units are the same! Some units send out undivided tip volts, and others send out divided tip volts. It is the responsibility of the customer to research the operator’s manual of the torch manufacturer to determine whether their plasma unit emits raw or divided torch volts. The diagram following the wiring diagram explains how to adjust your Dyna4000 control unit appropriately.

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When the machine is functioning as a plasma cutter, it is essential that you have the control box in THC mode when using it as a plasma torch. To do this, you must go to SETUP mode within the controller. To do this, simply press MENU with your left thumb and hold it. Using your other thumb, use INC or DEC to bring up the screen that says to HOLD MENU and ALT to Change Groups. At this point, press and hold MENU and ALT. The screen will change in a few seconds. Once it has, hit INC or DEC to change the mode of operation to SETUP. Pressing the MENU button with your left thumb, use the INC button to scroll to the screen that say OUTPUT CONFIG, by releasing MENU, one can use INC/DEC to change the mode to either THC or SPINDLE.

Placing the Torch on the Z-Axis

When placing your torch in the brackets, it is essential that you suspend the whip from the ceiling or other item in a way that the whip keeps at least 6-8 inches from the motors/motor wiring; failure to do so will cause the high frequency electrical pulses coming from the whip to interfere with the proper movements of the motors.

When tightening the torch down, it is essential to make sure that the floating head can function properly (slide up and down and hit the switch at a point of movement). Over tightening the brackets and/or the design of parts on the torch that do not require extreme tolerances can cause the torch to drag on the Z-axis plate. If necessary, the torch can be shimmed in the groove that allows the teeth of some torches to recess. When tightening the torch down, please be sure to make sure that it is at a true 90degree angle to the bed to extend tip life and improve cutting ability.

The THC System

Defininition

To use the plasma cutting feature of the Dyna4000 series machines, it is essential that you use the Dyna4000 controlled THC system. The following explains the process of the torch height control system when used in correspondence with the D4KATHC.post program used in SheetCAM--- this post processor is necessary when using the THC system. Please see the Setting Up my D4KATHC.post Section at the end of the manual.

The DynaCNC Light industrial systems come with a two part THC system. The first part is referred to as the Initial Torch Height Control, and the second is the Automatic Torch Height Control. Both systems are used in locating the torch adequately from the material in which you are plasma cutting.

Initial Torch Height Control (ITHC)

Setup

The initial torch height control has little setup beyond hooking up two wires and using the floating head that comes with every DynaCNC THC system. Because the initial torch height control system use a home switch (M3/Z), it uses the yellow and black wires and needs to be wired as normally opened.

Function

The initial torch height control locates the material using a switch to find part offset zero. This finding of part zero will be used as the part reference point when the machine begins to load its G-code. This will ensure that you are piercing at an appropriate height.

Automatic Torch Height Control (ATHC)

Setup

The automatic torch height control, when used with the approved DynaCNC torches listed above, requires no setup at all beyond adjusting voltages in MACH3.

Each material has feeds and speeds in which it best cuts. Plasma torch companies generally supply a book with the information regarding speeds and feeds found that work adequately for each different type of material/amperage setting. Use these guides as reference, but feel free to adjust your own cutting as you feel necessary.

Function

The torch measures both volts and amps. To receive a correct voltage reading, it is essential for one to make sure that the electrode and tips are fresh, and that the machine’s amperage settings are correlated to the tip being used. Amps determine the cutting “power” of the machine, and voltage refers to the “power” required to keep the arc going at a set distance. Because metal has some fluctuations in its relative flatness, the voltage required to keep the arc struck will fluctuate as well. The farther the machine torch is from the metal, the more volts it will take for the machine to continue keeping an arc.

By taking measurements of voltage, MACH3, in accordance of the operator’s parameters, will adjust the Z-axis to a height that will keep the torch at the set number of volts. This will allow the torch to keep a steady height above the material as it is cutting the material and adjust to fluctuations within the material.

Using MACH3 to Control the THC

Like everything else in MACH3, DynaCNC has developed a user friendly interface to the ATHC operation. The area shown below is the area in which THC functions are performed. The first screen can be found under the Program Run tab and the second screen can be found under the MDI/Settings tab.

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Reading the arrows from top to bottom to describe each arrow’s relative position, please follow accordingly:

• Torch Height Control Box

o This is where you can adjust the voltage settings of your torch. The higher you make the torch voltage, the further the torch will be from the material; the lower, the closer it will be to the material.

▪ Order of operations for this are as follows:

1. Type the amount of volts you want your cutter to be set at in the Table Value Box--- Be sure to hit enter after typing this in or the number will automatically go back to its original.

2. Hit the XFER button to send the amount in the table value enter box to the Tip Volts Box above

3. Hit the Send to MP1000 button so that the Dyna4000 system will know what voltage to correlate itself to

4. Use the Up and Down arrows in correlation with the Send to MP1000 button to fine tune your voltage settings

• The “light-up” boxes on the screen show you what signals the machine is receiving.

o Up

▪ Lights up when the Z-axis is moving up to achieve the goal voltage

o Down

▪ Lights up when the Z-axis is moving down to achieve the goal voltage

o ARC OK

▪ Lights up once the plasma realizes it has pierced the material

o Torch Active

▪ Lights up when the torch is active and ready to go

o Dwell

▪ Comes up when the Gcode is dwelling or the machine is waiting for the ARC GOOD signal before moving along its cut path

• THC ON Button

o This button must be pressed in and lit up in order for the THC to operate. If this button is not hit, the functions of the ATHC system will not come into play and the machine will run the movements provided in the G-code

• Anti-Dive Button

o The Anti-Dive is a very sophisticated feature of the control. It allows for a temporary shutdown of the THC to allow for compensation of interpolation. In layman’s terms, this simply means that when the machine slows down to a set rate to cut corners, the THC will turn off. This is useful because the slow down of the axes movements increases the heat of the cut and will make a slightly larger kerf. This wider kerf will cause a jump in volts to keep the ARC GOOD and the machine will dive in attempt to compensate for this change. This function is useful in fine contour filled artwork; it is up to the user to determine if they need to use the Anti-Dive or not

• THC Rate

o The THC rate changes the responsiveness of the THC. 30 is an adequate setting and is almost never changed, but can be adjusted at the operators discretion using this bar. Remember, it is essential to hit enter when typing in any value in MACH3.

• MAX THC

o MAX THC is the maximum height the Z-axis will be allowed to climb in effort to compensate for voltage fluctuations.

• MIN THC

o Minimum THC is the minimum height the Z-axis can fall while reading voltage fluctuations. It is common practice to set this at your cutting height if the material is not very warped and/or has areas below the touch off point. This will keep the THC at the set height and from falling to meet the material.

• Anti Dive%

o Anti Dive % correlates with the anti dive function explained above. This setting allows the operator to change the rate at which the anti dive kicks in. In layman’s terms, this simply means that once the motors slow down to X% to compensate for multi-axis movement, the THC will turn off temporarily until the motors have sped up past X%.

THC Order of Operations

1. The machine will move to its pierce point and touch off the material activating the Z (M3) home switch on the “floating head” carriage. This will make the top of the material at the point of contact your part zero (to set the offset of the switch and set how often the torch will use the initial torch height system, please refer to the section on how to modify the D4KATHC post)

2. Your machine will then move to the pierce height you determined when generating your tool path in SheetCAM

3. The machine will then attempt to pierce the material. In the event that the plasma pierces the material, the torch will generate an ARC good signal which will be sent to both the Dyna4000 control box and MACH3

4. Once MACH3 recognizes that it has a good ARC signal, the machine will drop to the cutting height you set in SheetCAM and then begin to move at the speed you determined when generating the tool path

5. While the machine is moving along its tool path, the Z axis will adjust in such a way to allow the torch to match the torch voltage settings you set in MACH3

6. The machine will continue to cut using this process as determined in the setup of the D4KATHC.post program

For information regarding the setup of your particular plasma torch, please use the manuals that came with the particular peripheral.

Modifying the D4KATHC.post SheetCAM Post

Modifying the D4KATHC post is very simple, and can prove to be effective for different jobs. To edit the D4KATHC post, simply go to the folder that contains the post within your CAD/CAM PC’s hard drive. This file is found at C:\Program Files\SheetCam\Posts. Simply right click the post and select that you wish to open it with notepad. Once you have loaded the post, only one area will be of relevance to you and your cause. BE CAREFUL NOT TO CHANGE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE SECTION WE WILL BE DISCUSSING---FAILURE TO DO SO CAN RESULT IN MACHINE CRASHES. IF YOU ARE UNSURE, SIMPLY DELETE THE FILE, REPLACE IT, AND GO BACK IN TO MAKE YOUR CHANGES.

Scroll down a few lines until you see the section that says:

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The only two things that you will ever need to modify are as follows:

Refdistance

Changing the REF distance from 1 will allow the torch to make more pierces without performing the ITHC function. Although it is highly not recommended, if you know that your material is not very warped, changing this function can prove useful when cutting delicate artwork.

SwitchOffset

The switch offset controls how far the machine will move the Z-axis to offset its part zero. In layman’s terms, this simply means that the distance it takes for the floating head to hit the switch and create a signal needs to be compensated for.

The easiest way to find this distance is to simply slow down the jog, and jog the tip of your torch to the material. Once the tip is just touching, Zero out the DRO and create a part ZERO. Then, slowly jog the Z-axis down until the light next to the Z axis DRO changes showing that the switch has been triggered. Record this value, and insert it in a positive number in place of the 0 that currently the SwitchOffset value.

Router

Using the router with the Dyna4000 control system is the simplest function performed by the Dyna4000 control unit.

For 110v items pulling less than 8AMPS of initial startup power, simply plug the 110V cord going to the router into an extension cord (can be ran through the folding wire guide---110V does not deliver enough frequency to mess with the power wires) plugged into the CR2 outlet of the Dyna4000 control box.

Machine Limitations

Although your DLI DynaCNC machine is powerful, it has its limitations. It is important to know these limitations prior to programming Gcode. Items marked in bold red are programming limitations you should keep in mind as a programmer. These limitations can vary greatly because of numerous variables related to the manufacturing process it is involved in. However, there are some guidelines to maximum movements capable of being made (G00 limitations) in the best of situations. Failure to keep your machine within these limitations can lead to irregular/unsatisfactory movements. These limitations are listed below:

• Servo Motors

o X axis- 700ipm

▪ Velocity 730ipm

▪ Acceleration 30ipm

o Y axis- 700ipm

▪ Velocity 730ipm

▪ Acceleration 30ipm

o Z axis- 50ipm

▪ Velocity 60ipm

▪ Acceleration 20ipm

• Stepper Motors

o X axis- 325ipm

▪ Velocity 350ipm

▪ Acceleration 20ipm

o Y axis- 325ipm

▪ Velocity 350ipm

▪ Acceleration 20ipm

o Z axis- 30ipm

▪ Velocity 30ipm

▪ Acceleration 20ipm

• Bed Load Capacity

o 2,000lbs per leg

CAD Program to SheetCAM Step-by-Step

The following explains the problem of using drawing software rather than CAD drawings with SheetCAM:

Because ART programs like CorelDraw are not drawn in true vectors, radii can cause problems in the generation of Gcode in SheetCAM. Although the files can be saved in .dxf format from Corel, and numerous raster to vector tools do exist, more than likely your radii will consist of many small straight or arced line movements to form the shape of the radii rather than the true G02/03 I J commands.

Rather than saving your file as a .dxf, please save it as .plt; a HPGL format that will create fewer little lines and result in a smoother circle (HPGL is specifically designed for use with line created artwork). Although you can choose to eliminate a large number of those lines within SheetCAM’s options (especially with less critical modes I.e. plasma), it is still advised that a true CAD with vectors to .dxf format is best suited for SheetCAM. Keep in mind that some CAD programs draw in polylines; make sure that the CAD program you are using has the ability to save in traditional vectoring format.

The only way to check for this is to just try it. It is recommended to download the CAD/ART program’s full powered trial version to check and see if a circle drawn in your package will register as many small lines or a true circular movement.

Note: Even if you have not yet purchased a SheetCAM license, drawing a circle and importing it to SheetCAM will help you determine whether or not SheetCAM can handle the .dxf files you are sending to it. The SheetCAM trial version is not limited as to how long you can use it, but is rather a fully functional program that will only generate 150 lines of Gcode. This is more than enough to show you if SheetCAM will handle your .dxf files.

Step-By-Step

With that said, the following will take you step-by-step through loading a .dxf CAD saved file into SheetCAM.

1. In a Windows based CAD program, you will more than likely be able to perform the following to save your CAD drawing as .dxf

a. Go to the FILE tab at the top of your screen

b. SELECT Save As

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c. Choose your file’s location, chose to save the file as a .dxf

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2. Open SheetCAM (desktop shortcut or in your START menu)

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3. Go to the FILE tab at the top of the SheetCAM screen

4. Select Open Drawing

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5. Select the .dxf drawing you saved based on its location

6. Use SheetCAM to generate your Gcode; this includes choosing a location to save the Gcode created by your Post Processor (D4KATHC.post for plasma; MACH2.post for spindle/router)

7. Check over the Gcode; it is your responsibility to make sure that everything is okay

8. Save the Gcode file to your flash drive

9. Take the flashdrive to your MACH3 enabled PC

10. Load up the correct profile in MACH3

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11. Load the Gcode from your flashdrive based on it’s location

12. You are ready to RUN

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