WARPED/TWISTED MATERIAL

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pdjcutandfab
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WARPED/TWISTED MATERIAL

Post by pdjcutandfab »

1st, let me start by saying that I have learned a ton of stuff from this website, i want to thank everyone who post's both questions and answer's. Now, on to my question. I recenlty purchased a Torchmate 3 system (which includes a Arc Volt Height Control). i seem to have issues when initially setting up the machine for a particular thickness material. when i set the machine up the way I think i should and try to run it most times the torch will short out (I have a Thermal Dynamcis Cutmaster A120). according to the Torchmate manual i should set the "Pierce Height" to the material thickness but that doesn't seem anywhere near a big enough dimension. For example, i'm trying to set the machine to run som 1/16" thick mild steel and i started with the pierce height set to .07", then i went to .12", then i went to .15", the first 2 settings the torch shorted out b/4 it even fired. when i set it to .15" the torch pierced the materail and briefly started to burn but then shorted out. could the issue be warped/twisted materail. does anybody else out there clamp the material that they are cutting to the "slats" on their table. ANY help would be great.

Thanks

Pat Weier
PDJ Cutting and Fabricating
fab-man
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Re: WARPED/TWISTED MATERIAL

Post by fab-man »

I never set my pierce height less than .250", there just doesn't seem to be any reason for it and being too low can damage the tips if the "blowback" prior to piercing sprays all over the tip. Higher pierce heights however are good for thicker materials for the same reason.
The Thermal Dynamics plasma cutters are picky about piercing and have safety circuitry that will not allow the torch to fire if the tip is touching the material. If you are too low you may be experiencing this. I noticed the title of this topic is "WARPED/TWISTED MATERIAL". If your material is warped then when your plasma torch touchs down it is likely pressing the warped material down with it. Then when the torch lifts back up to the pierce height the material bounces back with it and the torch will still be touching the material which trips the safety on the A120 plasma.
I used to cut a lot of thinner aluminum every day and I used to have a real problem with this. I ended up cutting off a broom stick and used it to hold the aluminum down near the torch if the pierce looked like it was going to be a problem. Hope some of this helps...let us know.

Fab-Man
pdjcutandfab
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Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:40 am

Re: WARPED/TWISTED MATERIAL

Post by pdjcutandfab »

Thanks for the info, i will try that this evening. i sent an email to Torchmate tech support and am waiting to see if they have any suggestions
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