In this write-up I will show you how I connected the AVHC10 to the CNC Construction Set Plasma system.

I will be referencing terminal blocks and connections outlined in one or more of the following books.

• Volume 3: Basic Electrics

• Volume 3B: Advanced Electrics

• Volume 5: Plasma Table (Everlast)

• Volume 5B: Plasma Table (Hypertherm)

• Volume 6: Heavy Duty Floating Head

Of all the CNC systems I tested, it was the packed the best.

The PriceCNC THC system comes with a printed color manual.

You can download the manual in PDF form as well as the SheetCAM post processor and its documentation.

you can get them here:

PriceCNC AVHC10 Downloads

To install the interface module, I secured a small piece of DIN rail to my accessory pole using a C clamp.

I then attached two DIN rail brackets to the two mounting holes on the bottom of the interface module.

I then slid the interface module onto the DIN rail.

The isolation module was secured to a DIN rail bracket with some double sided tape and attached to my test rail.

Note that

On the interface module The red and black pair provide power to the interface module. I connect the red wire to my 12V terminal block. I connect the black wire to my ground terminal block.

I connect the black and white wire coming from the sensor module to the included terminal block.

I then connect the black and white wire pair to the terminal block as well.

I connect a couple wires to the included terminal block and plug them into the socket shown here.

Note that I am using the - and the + 45XP terminals.

When power is applied to the PriceCNC THC system the interface module will start with the menu screen shown here. Note that since we don’t have any input voltage, the Arc shows a reading of 0.0.

I connected a variable power supply to the arc voltage input and set the voltage to 1.54 volts.

With a voltage input of 1.58 volts, the interface module displays a voltage of 98.7 volts. At first glance this does not look correct as the 1.58 x 50 is 79 not 98.7.

The other two systems are more inline with the 50:1 voltage input and the displayed voltage. Not sure why it is not on this unit.

It is something that I will look into at a later date when I start actual cutting tests.

The AVHC10 will be supplying the “Arc OK” signal to the CNC.

I had originally wired the “Arc OK” signal from the plasma cutter computer interface to the G540. The “Arc OK” signal is connected to the plasma terminal block and have to be removed.

I then connected the green/black pair (Arc OK) to the two terminals on the plasma interface terminal block, as shown here.

I took the two black wires from the blue/black (Up) and the brown/black (Down) pairs and twisted them together and connected them to the ground terminal block shown here.

The blue wire (Up) is connected to port 12 terminal on the G540. The brown wire (Down) is connected to port 13 terminal on the G540.

The yellow wire on the yellow/black (Anti-Dive) is connected to the 48v terminal block shown here.

The black wire on the yellow/black (Anti-Dive) is connected to the output #2 terminal on the G540.

The two divided Arc voltage wires are….

….connected to the divided Arc voltage output (50:1) from the plasma cutter computer port.

I enable output #2 and set it to the following settings.

• Port 1

• Pin 1

Notice that when the G540 activates one of the output signals, it brings it to ground. Because of this you need to enable the Active Low option as well.

The PriceCNC manual has you accessing the output port by using M10 and M11 commands. I also set output #2 to the Flood/Mist control, as shown here.

This will make testing the connections easier.

The inputs are enabled by making the changes shown here.

• THC On: Port=1, Pin=11, Active Low

• THC Up: Port=1, Pin=12, Active Low

• THC Down: Port=1, Pin=13, Active Low

To test the Anit-Dive connection navigate to screen 6 my turning the knob.

From the Mach 3 Diagnostics screen hit the Flood Toggle button.

The two blue LEDs should light to indicate the unit is in Anti-Dive mode.

Go back and toggle the Flood once again and the LEDs should go out.

To test the three Mach3 inputs while on screen 6 push the knob.

With the Up test selected you should see the Torch UP indicator as shown below.

With the ARC_OK test selected you should see the Torch On indicator as shown below.

Note that if you have limit switches installed, you will also get the M4Home indicator as well.

With the Down test selected you should see the Torch Down indicator as shown below.

PriceCNC provides a post processor on their website, but it does require some tweaking.

This is because the UC100 and UC300ETH require dwell times be set in milliseconds. Unfortunately, SheetCAM has a bug where it always outputs dwell times in seconds.

The change shown here will convert the output to miliseconds when the Gcode is generated.

Another change I made was to use a different variable for the floating head offset.

I changed it to “floatOffset” and don’t initialize it in the init function.

This change allows me to set the variables value as part of the operation, as shown here:

If you don’t want to set the floating head offset in your job operations, just follow the instructions given in the included AVHC10 manual.

The manual outlines the procedure to find the correct arc voltage for each material type.

Testing on an old saw blade, I as able to determine that the optimum arc voltage to be 128.6 volts.

Here are a couple videos of me testing the arc voltage.

Here I am testing some 20GA saw blade steel.

Here I am testing 1/8” mild steel.

From the test I not only was able to get the arc voltage but the amount of time from the Arc OK until the voltage stabilized.

Once you determine the cut voltage and do a couple tests, you will want to save your settings into one of the 30 AVHC10 memory slots.

Again the AVHC10 will take you step by step to create some rules that will allow your system to turn on and off the anti-dive signal.

You can create multiple sets of rules for use with thicker or thinner material. The ones in the manual are a good start, but you can also find recommendations on some of the SheetCAM tutorials on Youtube.

This concludes the install, setup, and initial tests for the PriceCNC AVHC10.

So far it is working as expected. I am sure with a little more tuning I can get this system humming along.

I particularly like the ability to ability to save several sets of settings for quick recall as needed.

I also like the hardware Anti-Dive feature.

As I perform more tests and complete a few projects, I will update this entry to let you know how it is performing.

One of the first parts I made using the AVHC10 THC system.