Cata-Dyne™ Infrared Oven

Operation and Instructional Manual - Control Panel Description

Master Control Strip

The Master Control Strip (MCS) has six large indicator LEDs (Light Emitting  Diode) that are located at the bottom of the panel. They indicate the status of the oven system.  The Power lamp is lit when power is switched on.  To start the oven, the master Power switch must be ON and the Startup Timer (if there is one) must be on.

The Full Heat lamp is lit when the system is applying full heat to the oven.  If the oven is in the preheat cycle, this lamp may be lit if the Full Heat/Standby switch is set to Full Heat but there will be no gas flow until the preheat cycle is complete.  Once the preheat cycle has been completed and the system enters operate mode, this lamp indicates the status of the oven.  During the batch timer cycle, this lamp will be also be lit.

The remaining lamps indicate alarm conditions: Gas Fault, Air Fault, and Conveyor Stopped. The lamps indicate the status of those normally closed inputs. When those external switches open to indicate a problem exists, the lamp is lit and this signal is passed on to the oven controller CPU cards, which take the appropriate action. 

The last lamp, Alarm, is an output from the oven controller (CPU) boards which lights when the oven controller responds to an error condition.  When this lamp is lit, a problem has occurred which has required the controller to shut down at least one zone of the oven system. Specific information regarding the type of alarm condition that has occurred is covered in the second type of displays, which are described below.  The only method of clearing these types of errors is to turn the Power switch to the affected zone(s) off, and restart the affected zone(s).

The Display Card (DC), relates specific alarm and status information for one zone.  The LEDs on the display card are divided into two categories: the larger 12 LEDs provide status and alarm information and the smaller 28 LEDs provide low temperature information.  During normal operation, the three larger LEDs in the left most column represent the operating conditions of a zone: Preheat, Gas On and Standby. The Preheat LED, which is labeled as Preht, is lit when the Preheat contactor is closed and power is flowing to the electric elements. The Gas On LED shows that the main gas valve and the zone gas valve for the  particular zone are energized. The Standby LED, which is labeled as Stdby, shows that the oven is in Standby or low heat mode. The fourth LED in the column is unused at this time. When alarm conditions are encountered, alarm LEDs are lit to indicate the nature of the problem. As the heaters cool down below the critical temperature, their corresponding Low Temperature LEDs will light.  The four Alarm LEDs on the display card and the Alarm LED on Master Control Strip both remain lit to indicate that an alarm condition has caused some zones to be shut down.  Specific causes and remedies for these alarm conditions are covered in the "Alarm Faults” section.

The Low Temperature LEDs are  labeled with the zone number and a letter which corresponds to each heater. A designation of 1A  means that the heater is in zone 1 and heater  is Heater A which is normally near the entrance of the oven. A designation of 3J would indicate a heater in zone 3 and heater J etcetera. Only those LEDs that are labeled represent heaters. The remaining LEDs are used for larger installations.

The Low Temperature LEDs glow red when a heater is cold and turn off when the heater reaches critical temperature. If the oven has been off for several hours and one LED does not glow when the oven is started, it indicates that there is a problem with the corresponding thermocouple. Alternately if all but one heater turn off during a normal preheat cycle, this indicates a heater which is not coming up to temperature or a bad thermocouple.

The temperature controller option will provide either one controller for each zone or one controller for the entire oven. The controller uses a digital PID (Proportional, Integral, Differential) algorithm. The controller monitors a thermocouple wired to the face of one heater. The temperature of the thermocouple is neither air temperature in the oven nor part temperature but it does provide suitable feedback to hold the oven temperature stable. Part temperature is only available by using infrared thermometer or thermal sensors fastened to the part.

Temperature Controller Display

Large red 4-Digit Display – temperature measured in the oven

Smaller green 4-Digit Display – temperature set point

Small square LEDs – See the Omron E5CK  instruction manual

The keypad has 4 keys:

A/M Key                     selects automatic or manual mode

DISPLAY Key     (a circular arrow) moves between levels and modes

DOWN Key                moves down through levels or parameter list

UP Key                       moves up through levels or parameter list

Programming the Temperature Controller

The Omron temperature controllers should arrive programmed but most of the parameters can be changed in the field.

- Set Point

The UP and DOWN keys change the set point.  Holding the arrow keys increments or decrements the display at a rate of one degree per second. After 10 degrees the display will change at a rate of 10 degrees per second.  Pressing the keys repeatedly allows the display to increment by single digits. No other keys are required to program the set point. It should be noted that the process temperature readings will be representative of the oven temperature but not the objects in the oven. Use the readings as a guide only.

With the exception of the set point, all parameters are set within the “Menu” mode. To enter the Menu mode, hold the DISPLAY key down for at least one second. The display shows a message that looks something like “nEnu.” (The messages are not exactly alphabetical because the seven segment displays don’t have diagonal segments). The arrow keys will then select between three levels (level 0,1 or 2) and the three modes (set, expansion and option). Pressing the UP key will move upwards through the modes but when the top of the list is reached, the UP key won’t move any further - use the down key to move down.

Example - Selecting the Input Sensor

CCI Thermal ovens use a K type thermocouple. This can be selected by as follows:

1. Press and hold the DISPLAY key for 1 sec. to enter the Menu mode (nEnu)

2. Press the UP key 3 times to display Setup mode (Set on green display)

3. Press and hold the DISPLAY key for 1 sec to enter Setup mode

4. The first entry in the list is “input type” (in-t on red display)

5. Press the UP key to select input type 3 (K2 is K type T/C, 0 to 900 deg. F)

    (the input types show up as a number on the green display)

6. Press and hold the DISPLAY key for 1 second to go back to Setup mode

7. Press the DOWN key 3 times to return to level 0

    (Lu-0 on the green display)

8. Press and hold the DISPLAY key for 1 sec. to leave the Menu mode and

    return to normal temperature display.

- PID Parameters

The simplest way to optimize the temperature controller response is to run the Auto Tune option. Auto tune is the first entry on Level 1.  The AT indicator on the front panel will blink while the system is in auto tune.

Percentage Temperature Control

Oven controllers can also use open loop temperature control which does not monitor the oven temperature. The temperature is set with a potentiometer or dial.  The operator manually sets the dial to select temperature.  These potentiometers adjust gas flow between approximately 30% (scale 1 - corresponding to standby status) and 100% (scale 10 - corresponding to full heat status), which roughly corresponds to percentage of total BTU output of the heater.

An oven control system may contain no timers, a Startup timer, a Batch timer or both timers.  The two timers perform two separate tasks and must not be confused.  The Startup timer is used to automatically start and stop the oven system.  It is programmed to turn on the oven system and complete the preheat cycle before product needs to be cured.  It is often programmed to start the oven an hour before the start of the morning shift.  At the end of the working day, the Startup timer may be programmed to shut down the oven system. The Batch timer is manually started to turn the oven system to Full Heat for a preset batch time. After the batch time is completed, the oven returns to standby mode.

The Start-up timer has a three position switch labeled "auto", "on" and "off".  This switch allows for either manual or automatic control of the timer's relay output. In the "on" position, the contacts are closed; in the "off" position, the contacts open; and "auto" position the contacts under the control of the timer's program.  The timer’s output contacts have been wired as a control signal input to the CPU(s) via the MCS.  When the contacts are closed, the CPU(s) will operate normally, obeying the startup and operating procedures.  When the contacts are opened the CPU(s) will not operate; the Power lamp will be on, but the LED displays will not work and the oven system will not operate.  A brief description detailing the basic set up of the timer has been included for your convenience.  For complete programming information, see the Omron Model H5S  Weekly Time Switch Instruction Manual.

Setting the Time

Turn the OUT switch on the front panel to ‘OFF’ to disable the timer outputs.  Set the Mode switch to ‘RUN’.  Begin by programming the correct time and day of the week.  The initial display will have a clock symbol flashing, and will display the current time as dashed lines.  Press the ‘SHIFT’ key to select the correct day of the week.  Then press the ‘SET’ key to accept the day.  Press the 'h' key to set the current hour of the day.  Press the 'm' key to set the current minute. Then press the ‘WRITE' key to finish setting the correct time.  The internal clock begins keeping real time immediately after pressing the ‘WRITE’ key.

Programming the Operate Times

Begin by setting the OUTPUT switch to ‘TIMER’ and the MODE switch to ‘P1'.  You will see the display flashing the up-arrow symbol, indicating you are setting the ON time.  Use the ‘SHIFT’ and ‘SET’ keys to set the day, 'h', and 'm' keys to set the hour and minute for program #1. Press ‘WRITE’ to save the on time and day.  Then use the ‘h’, ‘m’ and ‘WRITE keys to set the off time.  To begin operation, switch the 'OUT' switch on the front panel to 'AUTO'.  If you encounter any problems, or wish to set more complex operations, please refer to the Omron Model H5S  Weekly Time Switch Instruction Manual.

The batch timer is used to apply a set amount of heat to objects inside the oven.  The oven begins in standby mode at relatively low temperature until the Start Timer switch is pressed.  The oven then begins a batch cycle, applying full heat to the objects inside the oven (in accordance with the programming of the zone temperature controller).  The Full Heat lamp will light and the time remaining in the batch cycle will be displayed on the two digit LED batch timer display.  Once the batch timer completes its cycle, the timer display will return to its preset value, the Full Heat lamp will turn off, and the oven will return to standby mode awaiting another batch cycle.

There are two spring loaded toggle switches used to control Batch Timer. The Timer Up/Timer Down switch is used to increment and decrement the two-digit display until the desired batch time is shown. The time will increment (or decrement) one count when the switch is depressed but it will advance on its own if the switch is held in either position. This auto–increment or auto–decrement function is useful when making large changes in the batch time. Batch time is adjustable from 1 minute to 99 minutes. A short time will be required for the thermal transition from Standby to Full Heat modes and this warm up time must be taken into account when programming the batch cycle time.

The batch cycle is started and terminated by pressing to the Start Timer/Cancel Timer switch.  When the switch is moved to the Cancel position, the batch cycle is terminated, the oven goes to standby mode, and the batch time display is reset to its starting value.

Batch Timer Finished Relay

One of the relays on the oven controller board can be programmed to act as a Batch Finished alarm. The default setting will cause the relay to close for 5 seconds at the end of the batch cycle. The relay closure time can be factory programmed from 1 to 63 seconds or it can be set to remain closed until the Cancel Timer switch is depressed.

If you have any further questions, or for further assistance, please contact: