Fine Cut Consumables

[Metriccar]

Am I the only one that has this issue? My plasma cutter likes to go through "hissy fits" where it will simply not cut all the way through the metal when I am using Fine Cut consumables. I check the cut height, it is good. I try running with THC on or off, it doesn't make a difference. It will start doing this even when the desiccant is still blue with lots of life left (I thought that was the cause for a while). I will put new consumables in, reset the THC, and it will still do it (sometimes that even makes it worse!). For the life of me I cannot track it down, but I go through a lot of metal trying! Then, eventually it will start working fine again. I really think it's the Hypertherm Powermax65 that is the cause of this. Because if the cut height is right, what fault could it be of the Plasmacam? Unless there is a glitch where it actually begins cutting faster for a while without me realizing it.

And I really don't think it's the metal either.

It's almost as if there are not enough amps going through the machine. It could very well be the wiring where maybe someone down a few bays is doing some heavy electrical usage and I don't know about it.

[acourtjester]

have you check the air filter on the back of the 65??

[urbnsr]

I would check the work clamp and ground system.

HTH
Paul

[Shane Warnick]

I am running a Samson table (the big plasmacam ) with Design Edge, and I have had the same problems. I had to do two things that fixed it. First was, cut height doesn't work for me for shit at 0.060, it won't cut all the way through, goes through periods where it gouges etc, then it will drop back through and cut fine for awhile. It also seems, that on new consumables, it is worse than after they get 1500 inches of cut or so on them. Also, on 14g material, Hot Roll, the book says 220 ipm. Nope says I, nothing but hell.

Sooo, I raised cut height to 0.078, and decreased by 9% or so, and cut at 200 ipm. Dross free, no more worries, cuts awesome all the time, every time.

I have seen more than one post regarding this issue, and have also seen a few posts from Jim Colt where he states it's easy to make a machine cut the thick stuff fairly easy, it's harder to consistently cut thin stuff.

This is what worked for me, I have found a few more tricks related to the ground on the material, and it affects cut height some. I have a 10' long table, and if I ground on the far end, and cut from that end back towards the other end of the table, about halfway down I have to re-zero cut height and adjust the voltage offset to get the height I want. Then, depending on how thin the skeleton is, I sometimes have to do it again on the last 25% of the sheet or so, sometimes not. I have learned to tell how it is cutting by how it sounds.

If you want more detail on the cut height and tweaking the numbers to make them exactly what you want, pm or email me and we can set up a phone call. It's a ten minute explanation to type, about a 3 minute conversation.

FWIW, on the thinner stuff, I think there is some variability in both the steel composition, as well as thickness, and I think that plays hell with it some as well. I have measured cut height till I am blue in the face, it's always dead nuts on. Has to be something with the steel affecting the cut as well. Which makes sense. Take 14g for instance, nominal thickness is 0.078", but if it varies +/- 0.015", that's a 16% INCREASE or DECREASE in material thickness, and if you are just right on the edge of cutting all the way through, 16% is a LOT. Just look at what an increase or decrease in 0.015" in your cut height does to your cut quality on thinner material. Same thing with speed, etc. I think with thicker material, you are using more energy, higher arc density, and are not right on the edge of not cutting all the way, as evidenced by the notches you can put in some slats, especially cutting at 85 amps. I love to bill for cutting 1", but man it's hell on my slats. Also, think what a 16% increase would do if you applied that to thicker material with the nominal settings, probably get close to or the same results. That would make a piece of 1.25' material go up to 1.45", which would be beyond that capabilities of my PM85. Drop the thickness by 16% and you just end up with more dross and a wider kerf, go the other way and you get some shit that won't come out of the plate, and ends up being experience, instead of money in the bank. Food for thought anyways.


Be safe

Shane

[jimcolt]

I agree......I tend to run the physical cut height with the Finecut consumables higher than the book spec of .060". I get best results at about .075' to .080". It always cuts through when I increase the height and I get great results with the Finecuts.

Jim Colt Hypertherm