Thermally, a tool is a whole. If one zone fails, the part the machine produces is scrap with some probability – and the remaining zones keep heating even though nobody benefits from it any more. The Thermonom therefore offers means of relating a channel fault to the tool instead of leaving it at the channel.
Channels are combined into a group if they belong to the same tool. The group is the reference for three things:
The group assignment appears twice in the channel settings – in the submenu “Info” and in the submenu “Synchronization”. It is the same setting, reachable in both places because it belongs to both.
If this setting is active for a channel, its fault switches off all channels of its group – including those on other assemblies and, with coupled devices, also those on other devices (see Section 9.2.7, “Coupling”).
This is the right setting for zones without which the tool does not deliver usable parts: a manifold, a sprue. For one of thirty-two equivalent valve gate nozzles it usually is not – there it costs more production than the scrap is worth.
NOTE
The setting acts from this channel, not on it. It is therefore set on the channel whose failure is to bring the tool to a standstill – not on those that are to stand still.The reverse case: production is to keep running even though a sensor has failed. Then a neighbouring channel takes the lead – the failed channel follows its output level, multiplied by the follow factor, see Section 6.2, “Operating modes”.
There are two ways of doing this, and they differ in when they take effect:
| Way | Effect |
|---|---|
| Operating mode “Follow” | The channel always follows. For heaters that permanently have no control of their own – for instance a second coil in the same zone. |
| “In case of errors … Follow” | The channel controls normally and only follows once its sensor fails. That is substitution in the narrower sense. |
Only a channel in a thermally similar position is suitable as a substitute: same design, same load, same surroundings. The neighbouring nozzle is a good choice, the manifold is not. How well two zones match is shown by the diagnosis as thermal coupling, see Section 10.2, “Diagnosis”.
WARNING
A substituted channel is no longer monitored: without a measured value there is no temperature limit and no warning band, see Section 6.6, “Temperature monitoring”. Substitution is a measure for finishing a batch that has been started – not a permanent state. Replace the sensor at the next opportunity.The Thermonom times its power output to the zero crossings of the mains voltage, see Section 6.1, “Control loop and output level”. If a phase is missing it therefore notices immediately – and distinguishes two cases:
After a mains failure the device does not resume operation by itself unless this has been set accordingly in the device settings. When resuming it checks for each channel whether it is still hot and in that case skips the softstart – see Section 6.4, “Softstart”.
A residual current – current that flows via the protective earth instead of the return conductor – means insulation damage, usually in a damp or damaged heater. It is measured per controller board, that is as the sum over its six channels; this sum is displayed for each board individually, see Section 9.2.9, “Controller #”. The limit above which it counts as a fault can be set in several steps, see Section 9.2.3, “Basic settings”.
The Thermonom reacts according to whether it can attribute the fault:
NOTICE
Do not “solve” a main contactor dropped for this reason by switching the device off and on again. The cause lies in the installation or in the tool and has to be found before switching on again – see Chapter 13, “Notifications, Warnings and Errors”.Related settings:INF-05, “Groups” · SYN-04, “On error group OFF” · REG-06, “Follow channel” · REG-07, “Follow factor” · TFL-08, “Follow channel” · TFL-09, “Follow factor”