burning up tips

Information on plasma cutting nozzles, electrodes, and other consumables.
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Traneman
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burning up tips

Post by Traneman »

What are the main causes of burning up cutting tips fast?
Seems like I go thru tips like crazy.

Thanks
jimcolt
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Re: burning up tips

Post by jimcolt »

Thats a wide open question. Not all plasma systems are the same.....technology in the power supply, gas flow control and torch, as well as manufacturing and design of the consumable parts in the torch have a large impact from system to system. It is relatively common with a high end Hypertherm HPR (high definition class) plasma system to experience as many as 3500 to 6000 starts on a single set of consumables....with as much as 2 miles (yes, over 10,000 feet of material cut) of metal being consumed......and there are other entry level, low cost...as well as older technology plasma systems that will normally provide 100 to 300 starts...and a few hundred feet of cut. To answer your question with any level of accuracy I would need to know what type of plasma system you are using, what material you are cutting, what power level and consumables, and what techniques you are using (piercing, drag cutting, inlet gas pressures and purity, etc.)

In general.....if you know what your system is capable of forconsumable life.....and you are not achieving that level of life....then here is a list of things that affect life. Also......a lot of people refer to consumables as "tips".....some call an electrode a tip, some call a nozzle a tip, and some call the shield a tip.....I will call them electrode, nozzle and shield!

1. Gas purity......especially if you use air as the plasma gas. Moisture in air is the #1 cause of short plasma consumable life as well as poor cut quality. In my 32 years of working with plasma cutting applications...this issue rears its ugly head more than any other....often with the plasma system user not believeing the diagnoses! I have seen torch heads changed, circuit boards changed, whole systems swapped out....when water or other contaminants in the air is to blame. A good air dryer system is an important part of any plasma cutting operation that uses air......just as it is for paint spray applications. Refrigerated dryers are usually the best solution, dessicant dryers workvery well, adsorber filters and coalescing filters work in some applications.
2. Too much power for the consumables or mix/match of consumable parts. Consumables are normally designed to work together as a set....if the torch manufacturer says you need an 80 amp electrode and an 80 amp nozzle...and provides you part numbers for those parts....then that is what should be used for your 80 Amp cutting. If you use a 60 Amp nozzle with an 80 Amp electrode...expect poor performance. If you overpower plasma consumables....putting 50 amps through a nozzle designed for 40...expect good cut quality for a few inches or feet of cut....then increasing ugly cut quality as time goes on. Mixing brands of consumables together can also cause issues due to manufacturers stack up tolerances.
3. Piercing with wrong techniques...or material that is too thick. This kills nozzles and shields on the first pierce in many cases. Piercing needs a good height control (in a mechanized application) and good hand conttrol in order to ensure that molten slag does not destrot the front end parts on the torch...or create a conductive path to the nozzle which damages the nozzle through an effect called "double arcing".
4. Drag cutting.....if you are operating at 40 Amps or more...and are dragging an unshielded torch on the plate...or even touching the plate with the nozzle momentarily....you will have very short nozzle life.
5. If your plasma system has a switchable auto pilot restart function.....only use this function when it is needed. The more the pilot arc operates...the shorter the nozzle life will be. If you cut a lot of expanded metal.....you will have relatively short consumable life! I once spoke with a hand torch operator that was doing some plasma cutting inside a large tank.....it was dark...so the operator regularly fired the pilot arc on the plasma torch as a flashlight.....they complained about short nozzle life!
6.Aftermarket consumables.....no one wants to hear this....but if you want the best consumable life...buy thes parts from the company that designed and manufactured the torch you are using....they may cost more...but 9 times out of 10 they are worth every penny.

Hopefully this will help a bit....if you post with more specifics, maybe we can help more!

Jim Colt Hypertherm
fab-man
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Re: burning up tips

Post by fab-man »

I had the same problem when I first started and found it to be moisture in my air as Jim stated in his post above. I was burning up tips sometimes on my first cut. It was a very expensive learning experience. I ended up buying a PCP Group air same as the ones advertised on this site and the problem went away as quick as it started. I also drain my compressor tank once a week and I am amazed at the difference in my operating costs and cut quality.

Fab-Man
Traneman
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Re: burning up tips

Post by Traneman »

Thank you very much for the detailed answere,was not expecting that.
It is great that us newbies can have the help of such knowlegable people.
I have a Thermal Dynamics A-60 and cut 16-14 ga cold rolled on a Torchmate2 table.
Usually cut at 120ipm 40a 75# air pressure 100volts .13 peirce hgt and .13 cut height.But do play around with those settings.

I have noticed that sometimes I get alot longer life out of consumables and sometimes way shorter life.
It is not consistant.

The first step will be an air dryer as suggested.

Thanks again for this forum, it sure makes the learning curve much less.
boodog710
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Re: burning up tips

Post by boodog710 »

I have a Hypertherm 1250 and used to burn a lot of tips. I eliminated most of the moisture in the air supply and it had made all the difference in the world.
Creedo16
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Re: burning up tips

Post by Creedo16 »

I have a Kaliburn Proline 2200 HD, and have noticed that the moisture problem is usually the one, i can tell when I am starting to get moisture, some visible signs are blackening (burning) on the electrode and inside the nozzle. I had to replace a faulty air dryer, but now everything seems to be burning clean again
jayp
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Re: burning up tips

Post by jayp »

I found that cutting air as in running off the steel into open space will reduce tip life dramatically. It's not as bad on my hypertherm, but do it once on the Lincoln or the Miller and the cup and electrode are instant junk
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