Hypertherm Command THC User Manual

SETUP
3-18 CommandTHC for X-Y Table Instruction Manual
11
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 ID Data Query Notes
Pierce Delay PD 0 – 9000 (0 to 9.000 seconds) yes Delay before motion output
Pierce Height Factor PH 50 – 300 (50% to 300%) yes Used to set pierce height
Preflow During IHS PF 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on) yes Improves cycle time
IHS Stall Current SC 1 – 10 (1 = least force) yes Used to set stall force
IHS Speed IV 1 – 10 (1= slowest) yes Used to set IHS speed
IHS Test IH 0,1 (0 = run, 1 = test) no Perform IHS test
Nozzle Contact Active NC 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on) yes Enable nozzle contact IHS
Machine Acceleration MA 0 – 9000 (0 to 9.000 seconds) yes Delay voltage control
Maintenance Mode MT No data no Maintenance mode
Auto Kerf AK 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on) yes Disable voltage control in kerf
Actual Arc Voltage AV ? (query only) yes Returned value is 1/10 volts
Automatic Voltage Control AA 0,1 (0 = manual, 1 = auto) yes Voltage control or manual
Retract RE 0,1 (0 = full, 1 = partial) yes Full or partial retract
Retract Distance RH 0 – 8000 (0 to 8.000 inches) yes Must be in partial retract
Remote Mode RM 0,1 (0 = off, 1 = on) yes Must be ON to use serial link
IO Rev RI ? (query only) yes IO revision
RT Rev RR ? (query only) yes Real Time revision
Homing Speed HS 1 – 10 (1 = slowest) yes Home speed
Unit Conversion UN 0,1 (0 = inches, 1 = metric) yes Units
Lifter Test LT No data no Perform lifter test
Cut Height CH 0 – 1000 (0 to 1.000 inches) yes Used to set cut height
Arc Voltage Setpoint VS 500 – 3000 (50.0 to 300.0 volts) yes Used to set voltage control
Step Up S+ No data no Move up fixed increment
Step Down S– No data no Move down fixed increment
Jog Up J+ No data no Continuous movement up
Jog Down J– No data no Continuous movement down
Clear Error CL No data no Clear error, send error string
Flush Buffers FL No data no Reset RX and TX buffers
Error code EC ? (query only) yes Send error code number

Hypertherm Command THC Specifications

General

Brand	Hypertherm
Model	Command THC
Category	Cutter
Language	English