Hypertherm Powermax 600 cut issues

[Zephrant]

I'm trying to cut 14 gauge steel, on a PlasmaCAM table. I have the settings as:
Cut speed: 85 ipm
Pierce: 0.29 (changed to .34, with no noticeable difference)
Alternate Pierce: 0.6
Within last cut: 10
Continue after cutting: 0.1
Cutting power: 25 amps

Air is at 72PSI at the Hypertherm. I have an air dryer on the back of the Hypertherm and drain the water from the tank after every pair of flowers.

I replaced the Electrode with a brand-new Hypertherm part before starting today, and the nozzle and shield are in good shape too.

I'm cutting a part that has a 93" outline, and 20" of interior cutting, with a total of 20 pierces.
Here is a good one:


After cutting six of them with no issues at all, I got two in a row like this:


Just those lines in the middle don't pierce and cut. I told the machine to re-cut those lines twice, and they still don't pierce and cut. In the pictures above, the machine starts at the part that is not cut (bottom of the line) and cuts up. There are other lines cut after the miss-cut ones, and the outline is the last part to cut, and they are all fine. It went on to cut another flower, with the exact same issues on those lines, where the rest are all fine.

Settings:


Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

[muzza]

Looks like your too high off the material and too slow.

I don't have a cut chart for a 600 but a PM 45 at 45 amp settings your cut height would be at 0.06 and an initial pierce height of 0.15 with a 0.1 second delay and a cut speed of 280 ipm. With the 600 being an older machine I'd guess the cut speed could be down a bit on the 45 but your pierce and cut heights should be about the same.
If you are wanting to drop your amps to 25 your cut and pierce heights should still be the same but speed reduced to maybe 180 to 200 ipm at a guess.
Murray

[jimcolt]

Here is the cut chart from your Powermax600 operators manual. Make sure you have all of the correct consumable parts in your torch as listed at the top. Pierce height on 14 gauge should be double the cut height....cut height is .06 (1/16") so pierce will be .120 (1/8").

You are cutting too slow, and at the incorrect physical cut height, and with not enough power.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[Zephrant]

Jim- That cut chart does not match the sheet in front of me, that came with the unit.
For 16 gauge steel, it has a current of 20 amps, and 85 IPM. How is it that my sheet says 85ipm, and yours says 385? That's a huge difference...

My book is Operator Manual IM-339, Revision 2, printed October 1999.

This is a drag-tip torch, so my cut height is set by that. Did you mean my pierce height was wrong?

My machine maxes out at 240 ipm or so, and is not good at keeping accuracy at high acceleration. Even at 85 ipm, I can see slop in the cutting, so I'd rather keep the power low and the speed as low as possible too.

I'll make the changes, but can you explain to me why it worked for a while then stopped working? Did I destroy the electrode? All consumables are new or nearly new, direct from the local Hypertherm distributer in town.

Thanks for the help Murry and Jim!

[jimcolt]

Now that I look at it...the manual I have on file clearly has a typo on the speed for 20 amp cutting of 16 gauge steel....385 ipm is way too fast! Mine has the same revision and date as yours. Oh well, I'm sure I downloaded that manual 15 or so years ago...probably before the typo was found and fixed.

If you want to sens a good pic of the electrode and nozzle your were using I could comment on it....without seeing it I could not speculate on what caused it to stop working.

If you are using the shield listed in the cut chart I sent you.....it is not a "drag" shield (there is no part called a tip), it is meant to operate at a .060" standoff. I suspect your machine is a PlasmaCam model 98Z if it has a drag style height control.....if that is the case then you need to use the shield designed for hand cutting, pierce at 1/8", then let it drag during the cut.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Jim- That cut chart does not match the sheet in front of me, that came with the unit.
For 16 gauge steel, it has a current of 20 amps, and 85 IPM. How is it that my sheet says 85ipm, and yours says 385? That's a huge difference...

My book is Operator Manual IM-339, Revision 2, printed October 1999.

This is a drag-tip torch, so my cut height is set by that. Did you mean my pierce height was wrong?

My machine maxes out at 240 ipm or so, and is not good at keeping accuracy at high acceleration. Even at 85 ipm, I can see slop in the cutting, so I'd rather keep the power low and the speed as low as possible too.

I'll make the changes, but can you explain to me why it worked for a while then stopped working? Did I destroy the electrode? All consumables are new or nearly new, direct from the local Hypertherm distributer in town.

Thanks for the help Murry and Jim!

[Zephrant]

Thanks Jim- Yes, it's an original 98Z machine.
Here is a shot of the consumables that I just removed from the unit, didn't clean them up a bit:




Looks like the 120828 Shield to me, but I don't have the receipt for it anymore.

Here is a short video of it cutting the first few units, where it was working fine:
http://barraquatic.com/temp/plasmacam-1.mov

Watching that, I see where it pierces at height then moves down as it cuts. On the bad cuts it is not piercing, but it looks like as it brings the shield in to contact with the metal, it finally pierces. Maybe my Z axis is messed up somehow and it is starting too high? Seems odd since it touches-off before every torch-on command, it it's only not cutting on a few specific lines.

[Zephrant]

What I don't understand is why only some lines don't cut, and it's the same ones, each time.

Any ideas?

[Zephrant]

Hey Jim- My machine is still shutdown, until I can figure out why it won't cut right.

Any further ideas?

Thanks-

[Zephrant]

After thinking about this, I'm thinking that the plasma cutter is misbehaving. It's just not piercing all the time.

Is there someplace that would inspect and repair such an old unit? I'm guessing it was purchased in '98, as that is the age of the PlasmaCAM.

[jimcolt]

Misfiring on a Powermax600 can be caused by:

- Overtightened retaining cap (just snug is good)
- aftermarket consumables (non Hypertherm)
- Low inlet pressure
-high cut pressure
- damaged or worn consumables. (replave all parts including swirl ring and retaining cap.
-damaged or missing torch oring.

If you have verified all of the above and are still having misfiring issues, then it is time to contact tech service at Hypertherm. If the unit is determined to need repair they will suggest the best service center location for you.

To me it sounds like a combination of setup parameters and possible consumable related or torch related issues. Without being at your site....it is difficult to help diagnose with the information you have provided so far. In the video you posted....it looks like it is working fine, although the speed looks too slow.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[Zephrant]

Thanks Jim- I've checked everything you have listed except replace the swirl ring and retaining cap. I'll give those a try, and see how it goes.

The cut speed is 85 IPM, as specified in my manual.

[icmplasma85]

Going back to the original post, you said you have 72 psi at the hypertherm? I never saw that this was addressed before so maybe it isnt an issue, but that seems awful low. I know I have to have a minimum of 85-90 psi for my powermax 65 to work and those numbers are in the operator manual.

[jimcolt]

The Powermax45 needs 90 psi at the inlet (not at the compressor) when the air flow is active at the torch. Less than this and cut quality, consumable life and cut speeds will be affected.

Jim Colt

Going back to the original post, you said you have 72 psi at the hypertherm? I never saw that this was addressed before so maybe it isnt an issue, but that seems awful low. I know I have to have a minimum of 85-90 psi for my powermax 65 to work and those numbers are in the operator manual.

[Zephrant]

Thanks Jim- It is 100-120 PSI at the compressor, 72 PSI as measured by the air gauge on the cutter, when the torch is on.

I talked to the local Hypertherm shop (Norco), and they were very helpful. They convinced me that I have an air problem, and after I got back home and checked they were right. My water filter was full of water that I could not see, even though I was draining the compressor every 15 minutes.

So I cleaned that out, re-plumbed and added a better filter. I also got a the parts you suggested, so I'll give it a try this weekend with all new parts, and a better air filter. I'm betting that will solve the problem.

I'll post again after I run a sheet.

[Zephrant]

Well, I thought I had it, but I guess not. The filter I installed is a Motor Guard M-26.
It's setup like this- Compressor, 8' hose to a small water trap filter, the the M-26, then another 8' hose to the Plasma cutter.

I replaced every single part in the torch with brand new parts from Norco. I got though 11 flowers before I started getting the exact same problem in the exact same place of the cuts. I cut one flower at a time, and allow the compressor to fully recover and shut off before the next one. Air pressure at the tank does not get below 95 PSI, and that is at the end of the outside cut (which looks fine). Tank pressure is in the 110 PSI range when the torch miss-fires on the few lines it messes up, which is the middle of the run.

I'm running 16 gauge steel (not 14 like I said earlier, it's .060" thick), at 85 IPM. I started at 20A, but was not burning though all the way at times, so went up to 25A, which worked cleaner.

The Motor Guard filter looked clean- a little moisture in the middle section where the air comes in, but not bad.

So now I'm really stumped.