Pierce Point Splatter

[TAP]

Hello Everyone, New member and have a question.

Not sure of what change I made in the settings, but I am now getting little star like splatter at all pierce points,

Most of it will flake right of, some needs to be chipped off.

One more thing, (PW45) should I be running full 45 amps all the time no matter what I am cutting, right now I'm

cutting 16 gauge.

Thanks,
Tim

[TAP]

WOW, not sure if this is a hard question or a stupid question, looks like I'm on my own on this one..

Back to work.

Tim

[mdwalker]

Not a stupid question, sometimes you just have to be patient until the right person sees the question. I'm not sure what is causing your problem but the first things I would check is the pierce height setting, check the nozzle to be sure it doesn't have spatter built up on it, and make sure you have a good nozzle and electrode. Make sure you are getting clean, dry air and at the proper pressure for your machine. Let us know if any of this helps or if you are still having problems and I'm sure somebody can help you. Also post the cutter, table, and cutting software you are using.

Danny

WOW, not sure if this is a hard question or a stupid question, looks like I'm on my own on this one..

Back to work.

Tim

[TAP]

Sorry, one of those days, I apologize..

I'll check that out and I'll give all other info next time I post..

Thanks,
Tim

[Gamelord]

Usually when my tips start to get warn I get a lot more splatter on the top side. I would check your consumables and see if that fixes the issue.

[planetxfred]

What is your pierce height? You may be a bit high.
Fred

[Fountaine]

Your question on power at 45 amp. I started to cut at 30 amp and my fine cutting improved a lot.

The biggest problem was getting a chart showing all the data.

Give it try, run some tests.

Good luck.

[jimcolt]

If your "PW45" is a Hypertherm Powermax45.....then all you need to do is look at the many pages of cut charts in the operators manual. There are specs for cutting thin gauge materials using the 45 amp consumables at 30 amps......there also is another chart showing the use of 30 amp non shielded consumables for thin materials at lower speeds with a finer cut kerf width.

As far as top spatter.....sometimes small metalurgical differences in the material will make the pierce splatter stick. You can spray mig anti spatter spray on the top of the plate just before piercing....often there will be no top spatter when this is used.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Hello Everyone, New member and have a question.

Not sure of what change I made in the settings, but I am now getting little star like splatter at all pierce points,

Most of it will flake right of, some needs to be chipped off.

One more thing, (PW45) should I be running full 45 amps all the time no matter what I am cutting, right now I'm

cutting 16 gauge.

Thanks,
Tim

[TAP]

Sorry, Did mean PowerMax 45...Not at the shop today but will check all this out and see what happens, It's cutting pretty good as of now, I might just be to picky.. but the pierce point is alittle wider than the kerf so will lower that time down a little bit..been laying the parts on some rubber shelf liner and hitting it real quick with a small fine grit belt sander, seems to clean up both sides real fast and they look good.

Thanks,
Tim

[planetxfred]

Try a cup style wire brush on an angle grinder. Wont leave scratches like a belt sander will.
Fred

[beefy]

When I was reading up on getting good hole quality, I came across several mentions of using anti-spatter spray (water based I think). Think it helped to reduce the slag build up which could interfere with the main cut on smaller holes.

Might help with the slag buildup on your pierces.

Keith

[TAP]

Thanks for all info and tips, I appreciate it a lot, I'm sure I'll be back.

Thanks Again,
Tim

[BTA Plasma]

It has been our experience that for a 45 amp consumable your best cut and pierce is at 45 amps. The fine cut for a 45 are really 30 amp consumables unless something changed recently. They run best in our test from 23-30amps. You may find that running a higher or lower air pressure will change your pierce. This is one of those things that is often overlooked. Most folks just look at amperage, pierce height, cut height and tip volts but ignore air pressure.

[TAP]

It has been our experience that for a 45 amp consumable your best cut and pierce is at 45 amps. The fine cut for a 45 are really 30 amp consumables unless something changed recently. They run best in our test from 23-30amps. You may find that running a higher or lower air pressure will change your pierce. This is one of those things that is often overlooked. Most folks just look at amperage, pierce height, cut height and tip volts but ignore air pressure.

BTA plasma, your right, it is easy to overlook the air pressure, I replied to another post asking for part #'s because I get really confused, Would you give me a few #'s that I can check out in the Hypertherm manual, then I think I can figure it out,,

Thanks,
Tim

[jimcolt]

The inlet air pressure should be between 90 and 130 psi on a Powermax45, the secondary air pressure should be set with air flowing (turn the amperage knob ccw to do this) so that the fron panel LED is satisfied. Adjusting lower will cause internal nozzle wear, higher will cause electrode wear and misfiring.

The only two sets of consumables you need are the 45 amp shielded and the 30 amp unshielded. These are listed in the cut charts in the Powermax45 with pictures and part numbers. These sam charts will also have the cut specs, the air pressure, cut height pierc height and cut speeds.


Jim Colt Hypertherm

It has been our experience that for a 45 amp consumable your best cut and pierce is at 45 amps. The fine cut for a 45 are really 30 amp consumables unless something changed recently. They run best in our test from 23-30amps. You may find that running a higher or lower air pressure will change your pierce. This is one of those things that is often overlooked. Most folks just look at amperage, pierce height, cut height and tip volts but ignore air pressure.

BTA plasma, your right, it is easy to overlook the air pressure, I replied to another post asking for part #'s because I get really confused, Would you give me a few #'s that I can check out in the Hypertherm manual, then I think I can figure it out,,

Thanks,
Tim

[TAP]

Thanks for not slapping me silly, My brain clicked and I finally got it..

You should be proud of me, I'm the only person I know of that got straight "F's" in the first grade...

Thanks,
Tim