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IndustryArena Forum > CNC Electronics > Stepper Motors / Drives > Using TB6560 For Plasma Cutting.
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
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    39

    Using TB6560 For Plasma Cutting.

    Hi all. My burn table is controlled by the dreaded blue TB6560AHQ, which as of now has given me zero trouble.

    Anyway, my questions are;

    I have a Thermal Dynamics A120 plasma cutter and am wondering if this board is capable of activating the auto on/off of this machine?

    When plasma on/off is in the gcode does it activate anything on this board for this function like maybe the spindle control?

    Or do I just need to look at a better controller to be able to do this?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    684

    Re: Using TB6560 For Plasma Cutting.

    I have a TD A120. Have you got the full automation Interface with divided voltage?

    It seems a shame to have such a high quality machine controlled by such a crappy board. Working to a budget, might I suggest you consider a Mesa 7i96 ethernet board and a Mesa THCAD-10 combined the LinuxCNC Plasmac controller? See: PlasmaC User Guide

    That will set you back $188 for the hardware but you will need stepper controllers. I have had good results with the Longs Motor DM542A https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nema23-Step...YAAOSwduxbk2Zs at about $30 each. I get 21 metres per minute out of them. The beauty of the 7i96 is that it has relays built in. Normally, you'd use a 24 volt (field power) and a 5 volt (logic) power supply. This will give you a high performance system with a fantastic THC built right into LinuxCNC.

    The THCAD is a voltage to frequency converter designed for the harsh plasma environment, It reads the torch voltage and converts it to a frequency which is read by the 7i96 encoder input and we convert the frequency back to a voltage for Linuxcnc to mange the THC. LinuxCNC uses its sophisticated PID based controls and its external offsets feature that offsets the Z axis position based on the torch voltage.
    Rod Webster
    www.vehiclemods.net.au

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
    Posts
    39
    Quote Originally Posted by rodw View Post
    I have a TD A120. Have you got the full automation Interface with divided voltage?

    It seems a shame to have such a high quality machine controlled by such a crappy board. Working to a budget, might I suggest you consider a Mesa 7i96 ethernet board and a Mesa THCAD-10 combined the LinuxCNC Plasmac controller? See: PlasmaC User Guide

    That will set you back $188 for the hardware but you will need stepper controllers. I have had good results with the Longs Motor DM542A https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nema23-Step...YAAOSwduxbk2Zs at about $30 each. I get 21 metres per minute out of them. The beauty of the 7i96 is that it has relays built in. Normally, you'd use a 24 volt (field power) and a 5 volt (logic) power supply. This will give you a high performance system with a fantastic THC built right into LinuxCNC.

    The THCAD is a voltage to frequency converter designed for the harsh plasma environment, It reads the torch voltage and converts it to a frequency which is read by the 7i96 encoder input and we convert the frequency back to a voltage for Linuxcnc to mange the THC. LinuxCNC uses its sophisticated PID based controls and its external offsets feature that offsets the Z axis position based on the torch voltage.
    So the short answer is ‘no’.

    I just got this table running. I’m not about to pull
    It all apart again to upgrade it. This is a ‘proof of concept’ type of thing. I got this table fairly cheap.

    If this table gets used as much as I think it will then my company generally has no issues with spending money on machinery that will be well utilized.

    Seeing as you have some knowledge of the A120 is it possible to jerry rig a switch from the control plug in the back? I’m thinking it’s probably more complicated than that but worth asking.

    Also, my machine will not handle high speed. The steppers move on belts. It moves fast enough for what I need at 100 inch/min between cuts. I can get much more speed by rewiring the motors in parallel but I really have no need so have not done it. This is possibly a future project.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    684

    Re: Using TB6560 For Plasma Cutting.

    Assuming you have a 14 pin circular connector, Pin 3 & 4 are torch on and 12 & 14 are Ok to move. The Automation interface have additional pins for divided voltage (30:1 default) and raw arc voltage (with 100k Ohm resistor on each pin so its not lethal current). Either can be used for THC but I don't have the details to hand. I did ask what you had there.
    Rod Webster
    www.vehiclemods.net.au

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
    Posts
    39
    Quote Originally Posted by rodw View Post
    Assuming you have a 14 pin circular connector, Pin 3 & 4 are torch on and 12 & 14 are Ok to move. The Automation interface have additional pins for divided voltage (30:1 default) and raw arc voltage (with 100k Ohm resistor on each pin so its not lethal current). Either can be used for THC but I don't have the details to hand. I did ask what you had there.
    I currently have nothing but a hand torch for my plasma machine. I was wondering if it was going to be worth my while buying the machine torch. From what you have shown me, at this point it is not worth it.

    We have an Esab plasma machine in one of our other shops, that is used on an optical tracking table, that has a machine torch. That one has a switch rigged to it so that it can be started/stopped by hand. I was hoping that the A120 could do the same.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    684

    Re: Using TB6560 For Plasma Cutting.

    You'd have to experiment. The A120 senses if it has a hand torch or a machine torch installed.I suspect there would need to be some fudged wiring. I had to do that to use a machine torch on my earlier plasma,.
    Rod Webster
    www.vehiclemods.net.au

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