DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

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enzed
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DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by enzed »

Whilst doing a CNC cut on a 1.6 mm (16 gauge) mild steel sheet with a Powermax 45 and machine torch, the torch suddenly made 3 or 4 fairly loud popping sounds, then appeared to loose arc and the entire process came to a stop. I unscrewed the consumables from the torch and was shocked to see what had happened - see attached photo. The electrode is pitted to a depth of 1.6 mm (0.063") and the nozzle is slotted on one side. The shield does not appear to have been seriously damaged, except that one of the small side holes is blocked and I cannot prick it open with a thin pin.

What can be the cause of this serious damage? Moisture in the air perhaps?

enzed
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SegoMan DeSigns
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by SegoMan DeSigns »

More than likely it is moisture or oil in the air, I live in a dry climate so I get very little moisture and use a motor guard filter right at the plazma unit itself. The air tank has an auto drain valve on it also.

BTW I see no pic..
enzed
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by enzed »

Hi SegoMan DeSigns,

Sorry about the no pic, I did attach it but it seems to have fallen off somewhere, I'll try again.
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by enzed »

This is the third attempt at sending the photo. I have cropped it and converted it into a Powerpoint document which has reduced its size as it was apparently too large (2.03 MB instead of 2 MB, now 1.47 MB).

enzed
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damaged consumables.pptx
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lockeyone
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by lockeyone »

Try this, I just used Win10 snipping tool
Attachments
pic.JPG
pic.JPG (48.05 KiB) Viewed 538 times
Table 4'x4', BladeRunner EtherCut 620 LINUX w/CommandCNC
Hypertherm 65 CPC/RS485 Machine torch 2016
BobCad router 50"x50" MACH3 2kw spindle 2003
Shoptask Eldorado cnc MACH3, 1999
Epilog Mini 24 60watt, 2013
Vectric Aspire CoralDraw x6 SheetCam
weldguy
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by weldguy »

Oh ya, without a doubt you have oil and moisture in your air supply, had the same problem when I started.

Picked up one of these http://plasmaspider.com/shop/dryer_sharpe6760.html and installed it just before my plasma with a new un-contanimated air line and my cut quality went through the ROOF and my consumables last 5-10 times longer.

If you don't get that resolved it will cost you a lot to repair your 45 and torch lead once it full of that oil and water.
enzed
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by enzed »

Thank you lockeyone, I will do so in future.

And thank you also weldguy, for your feedback and advice. I do not think that I also have oil in the air supply, though I may be wrong. I do have a moisture filter just before the plasma unit and when I purge it, I do not feel any oil on my hand, nor do I see any signs of it in the clear plastic inspection bowl. So I guess that it is moisture which still gets through.

I also take note of the great improvement in cut quality and life-span of consumables you have achieved by installing a good quality filter. I certainly do not want to end up in the situation where I must spend more than a good filter would cost me, on repairs to the 45 and/or torch!

Thanks again and best wishes,

enzed
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SegoMan DeSigns
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by SegoMan DeSigns »

Are you getting anything out of the bottom of the air compressor tank?

My system came with one of these plumbed into it:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... r&_sacat=0
enzed
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Re: DESTRUCTION OF NOZZLE AND ELECTRODE

Post by enzed »

Yes I am - water, and sometimes lots of it too, depending on the humidity of the air, and I drain it daily (manually). And this in spite of the water trap/filter at the cutter unit, as well as running the air from the tank through a copper tubing condenser totaling of about 38 feet, and from there to the cutter. This is fitted with stopcocks (faucets) as well, which I also open to drain out any water which condensed in the system. Obviously, this is not good enough, so I will need to attend to the problem, otherwise as 'weldguy' said, it will cost me a lot of money to repair the cutter and torch.

Thank you for the link; I've looked at the items and the they are reasonably priced.
enzed
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