Commandthc Serial Protocol - Hypertherm Command THC Instruction Manual

SETUP

CommandTHC serial protocol

Commands can be sent over a serial link to control the function of the torch height control. The interface is 4 wire
RS422 on the MACHINE INTERFACE CABLE (pins (1) RX–, (20) RX+, (2) TX–, (21) TX+).
The serial frame runs at:
Old protocol (041507 control PCB) – 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 2 stop bits, and even parity
New protocol (041706 control PCB) – 19200 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity
All bytes in a serial message are ASCII characters. A message consists of a start of message character (>, 0x3E),
2 byte message ID (all message ID's should be capitalized), variable length data, 2 byte checksum, and end of message
character (<, 0x3C). For example to put the THC into remote mode >RM1D0<. 'RM' is the message ID, '1' is the data
field, and 0xD0 is the checksum (2 hex digits sent as 2 ASCII characters). The response to an accepted command is
(^, 0x5E) and the response to an invalid command is (#, 0x23).
Some of the commands can be queried by using (?, 0x3F) as the data. For example to query the actual arc voltage
>AV?D6<. The response to this query would be >AV100058<, which represents an actual arc voltage of 100.0 volts
with a checksum of 0x58.
Errors can be retrieved over the serial link. There is a discrete output on the machine interface cable (THC Error pins
14,33) which indicates an error has occurred. Using the command >CL8F< errors can be cleared and retrieved.
A typical response might be >ERR-Motor Current Fault46< or if there is no error (^, 0x5E) is returned.
Command listing:
Command
Pierce Delay
Pierce Height Factor
Preflow During IHS
IHS Stall Current
IHS Speed
IHS Test
Nozzle Contact Active
Machine Acceleration
Maintenance Mode
Auto Kerf
Actual Arc Voltage
Automatic Voltage Control AA
Retract
Retract Distance
Remote Mode
IO Rev
RT Rev
Homing Speed
Unit Conversion
Lifter Test
Cut Height
Arc Voltage Setpoint
Step Up
Step Down
Jog Up
Jog Down
Clear Error
Flush Buffers
Error code
3-18
11
ID Data
PD 0 – 9000 (0 to 9.000 seconds)
PH 50 – 300 (50% to 300%)
PF 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on)
SC 1 – 10 (1 = least force)
IV 1 – 10 (1= slowest)
IH 0,1 (0 = run, 1 = test)
NC 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on)
MA 0 – 9000 (0 to 9.000 seconds)
MT No data
AK 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on)
AV ? (query only)
0,1 (0 = manual, 1 = auto)
RE 0,1 (0 = full, 1 = partial)
RH 0 – 8000 (0 to 8.000 inches)
RM 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on)
RI ? (query only)
RR ? (query only)
HS 1 – 10 (1 = slowest)
UN 0,1 (0 = inches, 1 = metric)
LT No data
CH 0 – 1000 (0 to 1.000 inches)
VS 500 – 3000 (50.0 to 300.0 volts) yes
S+ No data
S– No data
J+ No data
J– No data
CL No data
FL No data
EC ? (query only)
Query Notes
yes Delay before motion output
yes Used to set pierce height
yes Improves cycle time
yes Used to set stall force
yes Used to set IHS speed
no Perform IHS test
yes Enable nozzle contact IHS
yes Delay voltage control
no Maintenance mode
yes Disable voltage control in kerf
yes Returned value is 1/10 volts
yes Voltage control or manual
yes Full or partial retract
yes Must be in partial retract
yes Must be ON to use serial link
yes IO revision
yes Real Time revision
yes Home speed
yes Units
no Perform lifter test
yes Used to set cut height
Used to set voltage control
no Move up fixed increment
no Move down fixed increment
no Continuous movement up
no Continuous movement down
no Clear error, send error string
no Reset RX and TX buffers
yes Send error code number
CommandTHC for X-Y Table Instruction Manual