Interesting issue. Plasma won't cut through in one direction.

[Deezl Smoke]

Of 9 holes, these 3 had an issue with the Y axis, but only while traveling one direction. The torch for whatever reason, just did not cut through. Nothing under the 10ga sheet to cause it. No apparent issue with thc, nor did travel speed make any noticeable changes. No messages. Just for a short section on the same axis, in the same direction, the torch missed cutting through.
No big deal, just showing for learning purposes, and wondering what might cause something like this? Powermax 105 running 45 amp fine cut in 10ga A36. The rust has never bothered this setup before. The fine cut is an awesome system. The ground lead is attached to the plate. I'm thinking maybe the nozzle has a burr or something that did affect the thc only while running either with or against the position of the burr, or dross hanging onto the shield?

(the camera seems to make the holes look oval. They are not)

20230530_131005_resized.jpg (157.84 KiB) Viewed 5706 times

[adbuch]

I have heard of these sorts of things happening with brand new FineCuts where they can fail to cut completely thru the material at various locations along the cut path (almost like the cut height is set too high). The recommendation for new FineCuts is to set the cut height to around 0.075" for the first several hundred pierces, then drop back to the book setting of 0.060".

David

[Deezl Smoke]

That does make some sense even to my novice knowledge base as the fine cut nozzle and shield are so shallow. I'll have a look to compare the standard 45 amp tool set to the fine cut settings. I wonder if the air pressure is different as well.
Another thing I'll try to remember to do, is remove the nozzle and electrode trying to keep it oriented as it rests on the torch and see if I can find a "leakage" trail between the nozzle and electrode. Even though I am using the OE brand electrodes and nozzles, I have from time to time noticed a black trail where the electrode meets the nozzle. That has happened with any amp components.
Maybe the torch has an issue keeping the electrode tight against the nozzle?

[adbuch]

Some folks might suggest replacing O-rings as well.
David

[acourtjester]

The black trails you talk about can be caused by air that is not clean. If you have an older compressor you may be getting oil in the air.

[tnbndr]

acourtjester is on the mark. Black trails indicate air pollution of some sort. Oil or water.
I have never tried fine cut and never plan to as I cut everything with my HP45 set at 45 amps with standard nozzle and electrode and have no issues.
I drop my cutouts on the welding table or floor and 90% of any dross pops off. The rest I hit with an AVOS wheel on my grinder and cleans right up.

[weldguy]

I'm with these guys on the contaminated air leaving carbon deposits inside your nozzle, if you can get that cleaned up it will help. Often when you see it not cut through in a certain direction like what you see it's because your plasma stream is not perfectly constrained and in most cases this is because the orifice in the nozzle is no longer perfectly round. With the orifice no longer round the air stream is disrupted and does not constrain the arc like it should and the arc is no longer coming out perfectly perpendicular to the plate and in that certain cut direction it can no longer cut through. I bet if you were to loosen the retaining cap and rotate the nozzle 180 degrees, tighten the cap back down and cut another circle that uncut section would be on the other side of the circle which would confirm the orifice is out of round and causing your issue. Most common cause I see for orifice out of round is contaminated air.

[Jason@bc]

Thanks for posting this, I have been trying to figure out what why this was happening, I have had the same issue while cutting 1/2'' plate, not cutting all the way through on some spots but otherwise a clean cut.

[Deezl Smoke]

Update with pictures.
Another piece of 10ga, still using same fine cut nozzle and electrode. On the same axis going the same direction, it made the same faulty cut.

same Y axis fault.jpg (171.54 KiB) Viewed 5556 times

So I removed the nozzle and electrode and hopefully this picture will show well enough, the carbon trail on the electrode and inside the tip.

The electrodes I'm using for the lighter stuff.

20230601_184011.jpg (80.9 KiB) Viewed 5556 times

I used the same electrode, but swapped out the fine cut nozzle for the standard 45 amp and ran a new post process.

20230601_184723.jpg (158.59 KiB) Viewed 5556 times

You can see the higher pressure and different settings make a wider kerf using the standard 45 amp

45amp standard larger kerf.jpg (175.1 KiB) Viewed 5556 times

After the cut, I removed the nozzle and electrode, forgot to take a picture, but the cabon trail was gone from the electrode and the nozzle was fine inside.

[adbuch]

So are you saying that it cuts fine with standard (non-FineCut) consumables? Have you checked the depth of the Hafnium on your FineCut electrode to make sure it is still serviceable? I believe the wear limit is 0.040" (approx. 1mm). If you have been cutting with a worn out electrode then that may be part of your problem.

David

https://www.hypertherm.com/en-US/resour ... -electrode

[Deezl Smoke]

I've never been able to get .040" wear before the powermax codes out. I forget the code number, but it is "end of service life" or something like that. The issue of not cutting through is a more recent thing, but the carbon trail has been going for a while and in most any amp setup. I have a feeling it all started when I changed the retaining cap last. This retaining cap has never really fit as the old ones have. There's a small gap where the top of the cap meets the torch. I have another new one I will swap out and see if that changes.
But yes, to answer the question about the fine cut vs. standard, the not cutting through does seem to be mostly the fine cut. I can't think of any time any other amperage has had the issue, at least not other than something I caused. But the carbon trail is not confined to the fine cut, which is why I'm going to try the retaining cap swap next.

[weldguy]

I still think contamination is your air has something to do with it and you may just need to slow the cut down a little until you can get your air lines and torch lead free from moisture and/or oil which will hang around for a while even after you feed it clean air for a while.

I notice in the top left corner of the square your cutting that the first section did cut fine. I suspect this is because at that point the torch is traveling slower than the set cut speed as it is making a 90degree direction change.Once it accelerates back up to full cut speed on the straight section it is just a little to fast to continue to cut through with a compromised nozzle. Leaking orings in your torch can also cause this as that also changes the air flow characteristics.

Be sure your orings are fresh and lubed, keep your compressor tank drained, and I am curious what you use for air filtration and where it is located in relation to the compressor.

[TJS]

All of the above advice is great.
I never use fine cut. Not sure why you are using fine cut for 10ga. I even use regular 45amp standard for 16ga and lower. Matter of fact not even sure if I have fine cut consumables. Your kerf width is minimal between the two (maybe a few thous in the pics you posted). I am sure the kerf width gets critical when you get into many complex cuts very close to each other. What comes to mind was the tiger sign I cut. I did not use fine cut for that one either and it came out just fine with 45AMP standard consumables. What is your air pressure when cutting AT the plasma unit. I also sometimes clean out the bottom of the cap and the nozzle when I see some shmutz there. I use a mini brass wire wheel that are found in dremel kits. I also make sure the electrode has no shmutz on the tip as well. Make sure your cap does not have any blocked holes. You know those small mini side holes. Hold the cap up to a light and make sure those tiny holes are not blocked.

[djreiswig]

Curious if you are using the swirl ring for the fine cuts. I didn't know there was a different one, but there is. It has less holes and they're smaller.

[adbuch]

Curious if you are using the swirl ring for the fine cuts. I didn't know there was a different one, but there is. It has less holes and they're smaller.

In the past I have used both the FineCut swirl ring and standard swirl ring with FineCut consumables and have not noticed any difference in performance or cut quality.

David

[Deezl Smoke]

Curious if you are using the swirl ring for the fine cuts. I didn't know there was a different one, but there is. It has less holes and they're smaller.

I did not know there was one. The book that came with my rig, a 2019 year model, does'nt show one. Or, at least not that I recall. Now I'll have to check. But there seems to be several new consumable designs out as now I see a 105 amp swirl ring, where my book only shows a 105 nozzle and shield. But my book can be several years before 2019 and they just kept sending the same book as no other changes were made. Dunno.
Now that I have removed the nozzle and electrode, it is unlikely that I can get it to fault again any time soon, at least not predictably. If it does, and I have time, I wish to try a simple loosening of the retaining cap and rotating the nozzle without removing it and see if the fault changes direction.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Here is the latest consumables / parts chart (for new & old systems):

https://www.hypertherm.com/Download?fileId=HYP108928

[Deezl Smoke]

Here is the latest consumables / parts chart (for new & old systems):

https://www.hypertherm.com/Download?fileId=HYP108928

Thank you for that.

[Deezl Smoke]

So here's my filter/dryer setup. Yes, that is a 2x6. It will eventually be replaced with a fabricated support stand, but I wanted to keep the filters at least more level than unsupported.

20230603_062514_resized.jpg (133.03 KiB) Viewed 5393 times

So I changed out the retaining cap this morning. The new one threaded on so much better and the gap between it and the torch is now gone. I ran some 65 amp cutting 1/4, then back to the fine cut to cut some 14 gauge. Completely different sound. I had forgotten that with the other retaining cap, now and then it would make a noise like pinching a balloon while letting the air out. I thought it was perhaps the table water level or some other external cause, but now, I'm thinking it was the retaining cap. The noise and not cutting were related, but not synonymous. It could make the noise, but still cut fine and vice versa. More cut time will tell, but for now, I think I had a bad retaining cap that would'nt allow the nozzle to be tensioned to the electrode correctly.