Is the mounting plate for the machine torch on the XR suppose to move up and down by hand? The torch will move approximately 1 inch up and down by hand. It just seems that it should be held steady by the holder.
It’s a floating Z axis. It should be free to move up and down enough to activate the IHS switch. That is how the Z zero is set for each cut loop. The Z axis drives the torch down until it touches the metal and keeps going until the switch in the Z axis opens and then it reverses direction.
You can watch the Firecontrol screen and see the IHS light turn green when you lift up on the torch.
The assembly is heavy enough that gravity keeps it down during cutting.
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Thank you for the reply. And I understand the operation of the z-axis. I didn’t realize that the z-axis stepping motor needed the slop that is present. I can grab the torch and move the holder and torch at least one inch up from a down position. I suppose the torch needs this slop as it travels over uneven sheetmetal to ensure proper operation. My eyes have been opened. Thanks again.
It’s not for that, at the very beginning of a cut the torch comes down and touches the sheet this way it know the height of the material your are cutting. You can find more info if you read up on IHS
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That’s not what it’s for and it’s not slop in the stepper motor.
The stepper motor is attached to the inner plate by the lead screw and lead nut. There is no play in that assembly.
The torch is mounted to a separate plate that is allowed to float. There is a switch with one contact attached to the torch mount plate and the other contact attached to the lead nut plate.
When the torch is lowered down and touches the plate, that torch mount plate stops. The lead nut plate keeps moving down until the switch, that is connected to both plates, opens. This tells the controller that the torch has touched the plate and reverses the Z axis direction. The torch mount plate then drops back down and closes the switch. This tells the controller to set the Z zero at that spot.
In short, that mount being free to move up and down in the Z direction is by design. You should understand how it works, so you can troubleshoot any problems with it in the future.
Too many users make no effort to understand how they work and have no idea how to fix it when something goes wrong.
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Thank you ds690. This is why I asked the question. As far as where can I go to get a detailed explanation on how something is suppose to operate. I did not see anything written with the description you just gave. Again thanks for the info.
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