how long should my consumable last??
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how long should my consumable last??
using hypertherm power max 65 machine on my tracker cnc table, I seem to go through electrodes and nozzle very frequently. say if I'm cutting 7" circles out of 3/8 on 65amp, each 7" Circle has 5-10 half inch holes and a 3" hole in the very center, so I'm making anywhere from 8 to 12 pierces per part maybe, I'll put on a new electrode and Nozzle, by the times I've cut 7 pieces it's cutting ugly, put on new electrode and nozzle then cuts fine. so I'm cutting maybe 7 or 8 minutes straight on new parts.
I have a 60 gallon compressor that I drain daily, hooked to a refrigerated dryer, then 25ft of copper coil then to my sharpe dryaire desiccant system. then 15ft to my plasma cart which.has a motor guard. 01 micron toilet paper style filter. when it starts cutting poorly I check my.desiccant system and they're is no visible moisture in the water trap or the oil coalescer.
I tried the aftermarket consumables because I go through so many, they lasted about as long as the hypertherm ones. anyone have a suggestion?
I have a 60 gallon compressor that I drain daily, hooked to a refrigerated dryer, then 25ft of copper coil then to my sharpe dryaire desiccant system. then 15ft to my plasma cart which.has a motor guard. 01 micron toilet paper style filter. when it starts cutting poorly I check my.desiccant system and they're is no visible moisture in the water trap or the oil coalescer.
I tried the aftermarket consumables because I go through so many, they lasted about as long as the hypertherm ones. anyone have a suggestion?
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
You should be able to cut about 300 or so of those circles.....then you may have to change the nozzle (not the electrode). How about posting good pictures (so I can see the nozzle orifice clearly) of a nozzle you have taken out under the above conditions. Also...list the part numbers of what you are using....of the shield, nozzle, electrode, swirl ring. A picture of a take out electrode as well.
Even if you are mixing in one aftermarket part....you stand the chance of ruining all of the consumables. There are huge differences in manufacturing that affect stack up tolerances....remember there are 25,000 degree temperatures inside the torch body.
Make sure your mode switch is in cut mode (not gouge or continuous pilot). Make sure air is clean and dry (no oil, no moisture), make sure the air flow is in auto mode. Make sure you are following the pierce height and pierce delay specs as listed in the cut charts in your operators manual.
Jim Colt Hypertherm
Even if you are mixing in one aftermarket part....you stand the chance of ruining all of the consumables. There are huge differences in manufacturing that affect stack up tolerances....remember there are 25,000 degree temperatures inside the torch body.
Make sure your mode switch is in cut mode (not gouge or continuous pilot). Make sure air is clean and dry (no oil, no moisture), make sure the air flow is in auto mode. Make sure you are following the pierce height and pierce delay specs as listed in the cut charts in your operators manual.
Jim Colt Hypertherm
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
thanks Jim I will get pictures of the used ones I've taken out. they still look almost new to me. I'm using hypertherm 220819 electrodes and 220842 nozzles. I'm not mixing them with aftermarket, I just tried a pack of the aftermarket ones to see if there was any difference.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
here is a picture after about 6 or 7 minutes of cutting with a new electrode and nozzle.
there was no visible moisture in any of the traps in the 3 stage desiccant system. the water seperator and coalesor are bone dry.
there was no visible moisture in any of the traps in the 3 stage desiccant system. the water seperator and coalesor are bone dry.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
That nozzle looks ok to me, when my PM45 ones go they usually blow a chunk out of one side so i get bad taper on one edge.
When you say the cut is ugly, what does it look like??
When you say the cut is ugly, what does it look like??
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
is it possible something else is changing when this happens? those consumables look OK to me. Is height control on track? Cutting in the correct direction i assume?
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
my cuts go from very good quality to edges that have a taper one way or another, holes out of round, the cut edge isn't even straight it's wavy. so I have to pry the cut part up to break it loose from the sheet to even remove it off the table. gets bad enough I have to slow my cut spped way down to even cut through all the way.
I basically throw my consumables away when they still look like pics above. I only use my table maybe an hour a week because it eats so many consumables, some days I loose more than I make with it.
no one can seem to pin point my issue. tracker blamed my air quality, but I literally can't install any more filters or know how to improve it any further.
I basically throw my consumables away when they still look like pics above. I only use my table maybe an hour a week because it eats so many consumables, some days I loose more than I make with it.
no one can seem to pin point my issue. tracker blamed my air quality, but I literally can't install any more filters or know how to improve it any further.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
whenever I pause it while cutting, whether good or bad the cut height is always the same. I follow the guidelines in my hypertherm manual, and have great cuts when it's cutting properly. I was having issues with my power source acting funny but traced it down to my plug in on my outlet needed replaced. it operates fine now, just eats up hundreds of dollars in electrodes and nozzles a month, only using it a few hours a month
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
I don't think its air quality, my system is far less 'complete' thank yours and its generally damp here in the UK and I never see any water in the traps.
My system suffer the exact same fault - great then angled cuts, new parts, great then angled cuts......
I have consumable trackers on my screen and sometimes I get a total of 20-30mins cut time and others only 10mins before failure. Yes I will admit I have tried pattern parts but makes no difference so gone back to genuine. My stuff is mostly 3mm steel but arty cuts so a fair amount of piercing, I have checked the pierce height etc and its always good.
Maybe we only get massive cut times in lab conditions??
My system suffer the exact same fault - great then angled cuts, new parts, great then angled cuts......
I have consumable trackers on my screen and sometimes I get a total of 20-30mins cut time and others only 10mins before failure. Yes I will admit I have tried pattern parts but makes no difference so gone back to genuine. My stuff is mostly 3mm steel but arty cuts so a fair amount of piercing, I have checked the pierce height etc and its always good.
Maybe we only get massive cut times in lab conditions??
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
Do you find genuine last any better than the plasmatech ones Dave?
davek0974 wrote: Yes I will admit I have tried pattern parts but makes no difference so gone back to genuine.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
Slightly yes, but i have not worked out the cost saving/loss yet, too busy burning stuffSeanP wrote:Do you find genuine last any better than the plasmatech ones Dave?
davek0974 wrote: Yes I will admit I have tried pattern parts but makes no difference so gone back to genuine.
They certainly both do not last hours though, I keep an eye on it but don't panic unduly, my prices include enough to cover but obviously its a cost loss if they blow quickly.
- tnbndr
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
I don't cut in a lab and my consumables last what I consider quite a long time. Sometimes longer than I think they should.Maybe we only get massive cut times in lab conditions??
I would like to set up a timer/tracker for consumables in Mach 3 or ??? but have no clue how to do that.
Cutting multiple pierce artwork files I can usually cut about 4-5 4'x8' sheets of 14 gauge to 10 gauge steel before changing.
Dennis
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
The timer/counter was easy, its just a little bit of code added to the M03/M05 macros and two DRO's added to screen, cut time and pierce count, I also added reset buttons.
- acourtjester
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
The Job report in SheetCam give you that info before you actually do the cutting.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
Sounds like a pretty low life to me Dave, sounds like somethings not right.
I can't give you an exact time per part but I have at least one cutter cutting pretty much 6 to 8 hours per day 5 days per week, often much more and I have a standing order with my consumable supplier for 25 nozzles and 10 electrodes per month and when I accumulate too many I get them to not supply that month. I know I did check a long time ago when we were doing a run on some signs I make which average 40 pierces and about 120 cut inches each and we were getting around 80 signs from memory on a nozzle but this was only on 16 gauge.
Murray
I can't give you an exact time per part but I have at least one cutter cutting pretty much 6 to 8 hours per day 5 days per week, often much more and I have a standing order with my consumable supplier for 25 nozzles and 10 electrodes per month and when I accumulate too many I get them to not supply that month. I know I did check a long time ago when we were doing a run on some signs I make which average 40 pierces and about 120 cut inches each and we were getting around 80 signs from memory on a nozzle but this was only on 16 gauge.
Murray
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
if I'm cutting anything 11 ga or thinner they seem to cut much longer. I mostly cut 1/4 and 3/8 plate.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
Thats pretty annoying then, I have no idea what it is.
I have finely checked all the setup, the THC does very accurate IHS, it drops to cut height as fast as possible, tracks well on the cut, the air system has a refrigerated dryer and two traps plus the internal one. Air pressure is very stable.
I have finely checked all the setup, the THC does very accurate IHS, it drops to cut height as fast as possible, tracks well on the cut, the air system has a refrigerated dryer and two traps plus the internal one. Air pressure is very stable.
- acourtjester
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
it drops to cut height as fast as possible
maybe that is to fast, could it be causing ejected metal to damage the tips???
I use a drop speed of F60 between pierce and cut.
maybe that is to fast, could it be causing ejected metal to damage the tips???
I use a drop speed of F60 between pierce and cut.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
Well it only drops after the pierce delay which on my system is a minimum of 0.3s as that is the response time of the control loop.
It was set fast to reduce the hole on open path pierces etc, i think its set at 1300mm/m
It was set fast to reduce the hole on open path pierces etc, i think its set at 1300mm/m
- _Ogre
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
78 pieces, 390 pierces with 1/2'' mild steel on each sheet
i changed nozzles after 2 sheets, 780 pierces
only because i was nervous about the nozzle
not because it was cutting bad
i changed nozzles after 2 sheets, 780 pierces
only because i was nervous about the nozzle
not because it was cutting bad
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laser cross hair for hypertherm torch http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12508
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
I wouldn't get anywhere near that, don't forget my unit is a PM45 though.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
something like that would have taken me probably at least 5 or 6 new electrodes and nozzles to do same thing.
- SeanP
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
If that's a 4' x 8' sheet, I'd get nearly 2 sheets of 12mm with that sort of cutting with the pmax 45, that's with a waterlogged air supply and no dryer, been remedying that this week with redesigned pipework:
Added T piece and riser, pipe continues to drop down leg with drain valve.
Added T piece and riser, pipe continues to drop down leg with drain valve.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
I'm with ledsled71 - I would likely need a new nozzle at least for each sheet, probably more.
No idea why the variation in life, but I have always suffered it I think. Starts off great, then one side always goes bevelled, then if i choose to carry on it gets worse and worse.
No idea why the variation in life, but I have always suffered it I think. Starts off great, then one side always goes bevelled, then if i choose to carry on it gets worse and worse.
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Re: how long should my consumable last??
I made some window security bars up while making similar bracket pieces out of 1/2" MS and kept about 1/2" remaining space between the pieces using almost no lead in to keep it clean. Zero waste on that job.. 65 amp process with .21 pierce height and 1 second pierce delay and wait for pierce to complete before moving...
With a higher pierce height (over book) I am getting close to what Orge is on consumable life on 1/2" MS. The bolt holes will really run up the pierce counts faster than you think.. Book specs on pierce height ate the nozzle's up much quicker......
With a higher pierce height (over book) I am getting close to what Orge is on consumable life on 1/2" MS. The bolt holes will really run up the pierce counts faster than you think.. Book specs on pierce height ate the nozzle's up much quicker......
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