MESA THCAD-2 - couple quick questions

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3 years 10 months ago - 3 years 10 months ago #260302 by Doug @ Design8Studio.com
Hello and thanks for being so awesome. Hope you all had a merry Christmas.

I'm building a CNC plasma based on the LowRider v3 motion control system, guided by a previous build by Kyle (@kd2018 at the V1E forum) which was based on the LowRider v2 motion control system.
 
Kyle had shared an immensely helpful wiring diagram image, which I have copied and tweaked to match my specifics (somewhat).

Where Kyle used MESA THCAD-10 ... mine is THCAD-2. His diagram calls for grounding ("to star ground") from the analog ARC input area of the THCAD-10. See below. However, according to the manual for THCAD-2, the two center connections (other than + and -) are "unused" — do I need to find some way to ground via somewhere else? Or can I ignore that part?
 
Where Kyle used MESA 7i96 mine is 7i96S. I do not know if this requires any changes. See below. ??

Below are Kyle's original diagram and my tweaked version.

KYLE's diagram:



My Diagram:
 
image missing https://design8studio.com/files/Doug-Josephs-design8studio-CNC-Plasma-Wiring-Diagram-updated-2022-12-26-1.jpg
Last edit: 3 years 10 months ago by Doug @ Design8Studio.com. Reason: fixed typos
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3 years 10 months ago #260303 by voltaicsca
From the docs, it looks like the THCAD-10 had integrated resistors, and is doing the voltage dividing on-board, which given the voltages (and likely noise) probably needs a strong power-ground plane to keep noise out of the rest of the circuit. The THCAD-2 requires an external resistor and probably assumes that the HIGH voltage electrical noise will be far enough away from the rest of the board to not need it.

The board has a ground *reference* through the signal ground to the rest of the system, so I'd assume you're ok without wiring to "star" ground.
If you're worried, you can look at the traces from those two center terminals that would have been to ground on the *-10 part, and see what the connect to, and use that to make an informed decision. Generally, though, if the designer says they're unused, they mean it.

I'm new here, btw, so take this with a grain of salt. Maybe PCW will chime in with an authoritative answer.
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3 years 10 months ago #260307 by tommylight
So far i never needed to wire ground to THCAD, and i have installed over 15 of those.
But, i mount THCAD to the back of the plasma source.
If mounting it inside a cabinet, grounding it is a good practice.
The star ground reffers to a single point where all the ground wires bolt inside the cabinet, or a ground rail.
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3 years 10 months ago - 3 years 10 months ago #260316 by rodw
+1 for Tommy.
Initially, I grounded the THCAD HV side but found due to a  mains bond from neutral to ground in the building switchboard was part of our standard wiring in .AU. I found that this introduced a 50 Hz ripple in the torch voltage (from the mains ground) so I don't do it anymore either.
Last edit: 3 years 10 months ago by rodw.
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3 years 10 months ago #260328 by Doug @ Design8Studio.com
Thank you so much

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3 years 10 months ago #260329 by Doug @ Design8Studio.com
Thank you, I appreciate it!

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