So the crate has arrived ! What do I do next?
Normaly your machine will arrive in a large shipping crate. Carefully pry open the lid which is nailed down using a crowbar.
Once the crate is open, you should unscrew any shipping mounts inside the crate to be able to remove your Heiz CNC platform and accessories.
Important Note! Motor stepper controller must be off for installation. Unplug it and leave it unplugged before starting.
Place the Machine on a suitable workbench. Be carefull not to damage any cables which are tied to the machine.
Free the cables and plug them into the Motor Stepper Controller box. Note: the X axis has 2 motors. There are 2 X ports on the Controller (any of the 2 X motors into any of the 2 X ports)
The rest are clearly marked, Y,Z and ST (emergency stop switch) and the A for a 4th axis if you have one. Always screw the connectors to the plugs to prevent any problems.( lazy here can result in problems later)
Unpack the milling motor and cable supplied. You will notice that the Motor Stepper Controller has also got 2 Plug points for the German style plug. The Milling motor cable plugs in to one of these. (The two plugs have different functions. One is for the mill and Two is for a vacuum/cooling system. I will explain the difference and how to determine it later in this manual).
At this time you should plug it into No1 socket. They both supply 220v via a relay. The 2 lever switches on the front of the Controller can override the relays and be always on 220v. The milling motor filts into the Euroneck holder on the bridge. You will need a 5mm Allen Key to insert and fasten it.
The PC you will use should be nearby. The supplied Parallel cable is connected from the Motor Stepper Controller to the PC. Now power up the PC and install the WinPCNC software. Once the software is installed, insert the USB dongle supplied with Win PCNC into a free USB port on the PC. The found new hardware - security key dialog should come up on the PC.
Now you can start the WinPCNC program for the first time. A drop-down tab will allow you to choose which machine you have purchased. Select the correct model and language from the tabs.
Step back and enjoy the feeling of seeing the Machine ready to go. (the T-Groove bed installation you can do at leisure. I am sure you want to make the machine move first, just to see...)
The milling motor has an On/Off switch. Leave it off for the initial testing phase if you have installed or clamped it on the CNC machine.
Pre-Start Checklist
The PC is on with software installed and started
The parallel cable is connected to the Motor Stepper Controller and the PC
The machine cables are also connected to the Motor Stepper Controller and screwed in
The milling motor is off or not even plugged in.
Start Up
Plug in and switch on the Motor Stepper Controller now.
You should hear a sizzling or hissing noise from the 4 motors on the machine.
If not DON'T PANIC, check that the emergency stop switches are released. They get pressed by accident sometimes. Lightly push and turn the nob left to release or de-activate. Note there are 2 emergency switches, one on the machine and one on the motor stepper controller box.
Now there should be some noise.
In WinPCNC you can now click Move - Reference F8 and see if the machine moves all axis toward the magnetic reference switches in the one corner of the machine.
When the machine is referenced or in the corner, you can now dry-run your first test program.
At This point it is worthy to learn....ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOUR Z-AXIS IS UP BEFORE YOU MOVE THE HEAD TO PREVENT TOOL BREAKING !!
This is where the setting up Tool depths and feed rates and other stuff becomes important for various file formats you intend to run in WinPCNC.
Its easy. Just be patient and learn the steps one by one
Click on File - open file - Arcs
This is a demo HPGL file with a .plt file extension to run on the machine.
You can also open NC, CNC or TAP file extensions in WinPCNC
