Hypertherm Howermax45 problems?

[tm america]

I Have been running a longevity forcecut 50i for about 4 years on my machine and figured i would spend the money and upgrade to a powermax 45..Well here's where the problems start..So i get it all installed.. Set it up using the recommended settings. and wow horrible cuts.. Lots of dross and problems even blowing all the way thru the piece..So i go over everything supply voltage good.Air pressure and volume good.I have 4 water separators and a auto water drain on the compressor.Still not seeing the problem?I try every possible feed rate still doesn't wanna give me full cut thru..So next i try maxing out the air pressure.. ok better cuts but still doesn't cut all the way thru .I have tried running the torch height at everything from dragging the torch to about 3/16 off the work piece.. Wont give me full cut thru.It seems real inconsistant. on thin stuff like 1/8 and thinner i get bad results on small holes and lots of dross.on thicker metal like 3/16-1/4 it wont cut all the way thru and yet again my holes are way off any hole smaller than 1/2 come out horribly tappered. but slots of the same size are cutting to big....I have tried ever offset.feedrate and torch height but still not luck..Right now i have my setting between 120psi and 125psi and running a feedrate between 60 and 72ipm.torch voltage at 118-120 for 1/4 inch mild steel running lead ins and lead outs but it still won't give me full drop out and i am getting a ton of dross..this is with new 45 amp consumables..And what kills me is apples to apples i wasnt having any of these issues with the longevity cutter. running the same hook ups and similar settings..I'm trying to make this work any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?

[tm america]

I will take some pics soon .. give me a minute to get them posted..

[I Lean]

Are you using the correct mechanized shield? If you're using the shield for hand cutting, it has the standoff built in so you're essentially cutting way too high all the time.

That's about all I can think of to start with...I have none of these problems with my PM45.

[tm america]

I have a machine torch .The unit came with it.. The shield that it has is #220673 ..If the torch height was to high my torch volts would be high as well?

[WyoGreen]

I've been sitting here reading your post and trying to figure out what's going on. I have a Powermax 45 also, and it works great with the machine torch on my CNC machine. Anytime I have had a screwed up cut, it's been because I messed up and used the wrong cutting parameters. It sounds like your torch is either too high, or you're cutting too fast. Another thought, is your amperage knob on your 45 set all the way up to 45 amps? I know that's not much help, but it's all I got right now. I'll have to think on it a bit more. Maybe a bit more information on your system will help us figure it out.

Steve

[WyoGreen]

Just had another thought. Make sure the switch that changes from gouging to cutting is in the right spot. That tends to screw things up too. (don't ask how I know that)

Steve

[muzza]

Another suggestion as my PM 45 cuts fantastic and has done a heap of cutting so it seems odd.

When you get a PM45 new you get a set gouging nozzle and electrode too, you haven't by chance got them fitted have you?
Murray

[tm america]

Ok i think i got it figured out .First i think i got a bad batch of steel.I noticed the one piece had rusted more than the others in my stock .. so i am thinking it was more or less conductive then the other sheets.. as they are all sitting in the same environment and only one sheet rusted. Which was making it do alot of crazy things second somehow my settings were messing up in mach3 but were showing correct when i would look at the.. so i drew up a test piece 6 inch by 6 inch with different size circles,stars,slots,arrows,and hexagons so i could have something easy to measure and see where the problem is..Once i did that i was able to see why the edges weren't lining up and giving me full drop out .I had to restart the computer.and do a fixture save in mach3..Now it seems to be doing pretty good .My guess is something backfeed the computer when i switch the cutters..still seem to get more under cut on small circles than i did with the other cutter but i can work with that.I'm ussually a freak when it comes to diagnois.this was throwing me off cuz everything showed the right settings but what it was running were different that what they were set at

[tm america]

I made a few more changes to my settings and tool paths.i switched to arcs for the lead in and lead out .this really helps the undercut in small circles.and helped getting full drop out of cut parts..Only problem i got now is i am using torchmate cad for design and do my tool paths and it will only let me make tool diameter changes in .01 increments.so my finished parts are slightly off on some due to the offset not truly matching half the width of the kerf.But it is not that bad somewhere between .005 and .008 in most cases.So i guess i can take back the swear words that were coming out of my mouth the last day or so.. I was cutting a bunch of 1/4 inch thick alternator brackets out.They are pretty intricate .I was running them at 65 ipm and getting really good results.

[tnttrikes]

isn't it great to be part of something where everyone helps everyone .

thank you to all those here that are willing to share their knowledge and experience with others