Question for Jim Colt

[elkriverfab]

Mr. Colt,
I have a few questions for you if you have a few minutes.
I upgraded my torch from a hypertherm 380 to a powermax 1000 with hand torch on a plasmacam dhc.

While using the 380 I never had to adjust arc voltage shift because as you know it didn't have different amp consumables. I would just adjust pierce height, material thickness, cut height, cut speed and amps to match whatever material thickness I was cutting.

With the 1000 I now have to adjust accordingly to the different amp consumables and material thickness.

Would you happen to have any arc voltage base line settings for the 40 and 60 amp consumables as well as 40 amp fine cut consumables?

I am using the drag shield with the 40 and 60 amp consumables. But of course not with the fine cut.

I end up cutting a lot of 16 ga. up to 1/4 plate all week and some base lines would be very helpful.

The 1000 does cut the heavier plate so much better than I am used to but that little 380 cut so precise on thinner material.

I know I may not be able to get the fine detail out of the 1000 due to kerf width like I did the 380 but I wanted to ask because the fine cut consumables for the 1000 look to be pretty darn close the the 380 I had (orifice size).

I had used the 380 for over 8 years every day and had it fine tuned. Now I have a different monster to work with.

Any help with this would be great. I went with the powermax 1000 because the 380 never let me down, I am sure I made a good choice.

Thanks!

[jimcolt]

Since the software and the height control functions on the Plasmacam DHC are from Plasmacam I would suggest contacting their tech service to determine the best method for setting the offsets for using different consumable sets. I have the newer DHC2 and the voltage offsets are automatically configured using the ohmic sensing function....unfortunately that technology was not available on the previous DHC model.

I am sure that George or one of the other techs from Plasmacam can provide either baseline settings or (best) the procedure for zeroing the torch which will help you get more accurate with these settings.....critical to best cut quality and consumable life.

The Powermax1000 using the Finecut consumables will cut with similar precision and kerf width as compared to your Powermax380 on materials thinner than 10 gauge.....follow the specs in the Powermax1000 manual for mechanized cutting and you will be right on the mark for best performance. Use the 40 amp shielded consumables for 10 gauge through 3/8" for best quality in these thickness ranges. Use the 60 amp shielded for best speed and piercing up through 5/8".

I suggest posting your question about offset settings in the Plasmacam owners community forum. Go to www.plasmacam.com then click on join owners community (bottom of the page)....there are a few thousand other users that will see your post and likely respond with their best practices. You need your machine serial number to join.

Best regards, Jim Colt

[elkriverfab]

Mr . Colt,
Thanks for your response.
Took a little research and adjusting, found best arc voltage shift settings for all three consumables.

The hypertherm manual recommend settings for speed and torch height was right on.

The HP 1000 is cutting 1/4 plate beautifully with zero clean up and perfect height control through cuts.

Thanks again.

[Largemouthlou]

When you say, no clean up. Do you mean no bottom dross at all?? So far I have had bottom dross on all steel I have cut using the slowest speeds from the hypertherm manual.. Clean top and minimal bevel..

[elkriverfab]

Yes, no bottom dross at all.
Cut three 4x4 sheets of parts today on 1/4 inch plate and the only thing on the bottom if any was a little on some sharp corners. I'm talking like two droplets in the same spot on all the parts that were that same shape. I Imagine if I messed with my corner speed it would clear it up. It would flake off with my fingernail so it wasn't a problem. But yes, no clean up needed.

Now my cut speed was 86 ipm. Not slow to me after using that HP 380 all these years. That was at 12 ipm

I think it was a combination of correct pierce height, speed, good steel and cut height along with my hillbilly homade air dryer. It has been soooo humid lately, hillbilly or not it has been removing water. I posted pictures of it a few years ago. A small refrigerator with plumbing run through it from the freezer down through the refrigerator and out with a water trap on the bottom.

It works great especially when you keep cold gallons of drinking water in it all the time. Really keeps it nice and cold inside and the compressed air comes out cool and dry on the outlet side. Got the idea from here a few years ago and it works. Now of course a real air dryer would be better but for the cost of building it, works great.

But to answer your question, all parts came out very clean and straight edges. That HP 1000 cuts nice. It was a 100 degrees today though so I didn't push it non stop. Did Not make it limit out.
Would cut about ten parts and let it rest, another ten and rest and so on. I feel it helps with the cuts and keeps the equipment happy. I don't know, that's how I always run my equipment, I don't push it when it's hot out. In winter I go non stop but I'm talking low 40's out and everything runs cool all day anyway.

[jimcolt]

When height control is correct (maintaining the correct physical height during steady state cutting), you have the correct pierce height and delay time (this preserves the integrity of the nozzle orifice for consistent cuts), and are running at optimum speeds with a Powermax 1000 system you should be dross free from about 1/8" through 1/2" with the exception of corners, small holes and fine details. These areas require that the cnc machine slows (to maintain cut path accuracy) so cut speed is slow which produces low speed dross.....heat also builds up in these areas of slow speed.

You can cut thinner materials without dross as well with a powermax, but you need a machine that can maintain very high speeds during cornering and fine features. Using the Finecut parts on my Powermax85 I get mostly dross free cuts down to 26 gauge, as the Plasmacam does well up to about 250 to 300 ipm, however when there are fine features or close cut lines dross is to be expected during slower cutting and in areas where heat builds up.

I just did a part on 1/2" plate for a guy this weekend.....6" wide and 6' long, cut at 65 amps with my Powermax85 on a Plasmacam.....not a spot of dross.

Jim

[Largemouthlou]

Guess I have some more work to do on steel cutting.. Using 1250 Hypertherm, all book specs followed. Cut 1/2" with minimal angularity had bottom dross.. I believe all my steel cutting has had some bottom dross. It was fairly easy to clean off. Been cutting some 3/8 to 1/2. top is clean as a whistle sides are smooth.

On the 1/2 I used a 60 amp nozzle, at 141 volts, 29 IPM, everything clean and straight except for the bottom dross??

Thanks gang.

[Shane Warnick]

Lou,

I was thinking the same thing. I have a 1250 and have cut up to 1" with it. I always have a clean top and minimal angularity, and have paused and checked the height on more than one occasion. It's always spot on. I also always have some dross. I have sped up, slowed down, checked the phase of the moon, hell I even rubbed an egg that was blessed by a voodoo witch on the machine. Always have some dross. If I slow down, its is ugly and hard to remove. If I speed up, eventually the corners get ugly and the angularity becomes unacceptable. My samson / plasmacam table is stable at over 250 ipm, and I am using a machine torch. New consumables or not, still have some dross. 18g all the way up to 1", book specs make nice cuts, but again, I always have a little dross. Comes right off, sometimes just dropping it (especially the thick stuff) will pop it off, but it's always still there. I would almost pay someone to come to my shop and show me what I need to change to make it go away. Personally I quit chasing the no dross zone and stick with what makes an awesome cut, and just deal with the dross. Even on a 4x8' sign I can clean it up in less than 10 min so it's not mission critical as far as I am concerned.

Lou, let me know if you find the map to the dross free zone maybe you can send me a copy or show me the way.
Stay Safe
Shane

[jimcolt]

I honestly have not used a 1250 with the original torch for over 3 years, but I have used the 1250 with the Duramax torch, and I have a Powermax85 (Duramax torch also) on my home machine (Plasmacam). It cuts dross free on almost all materials up through 5/8".....there is some dross in corners and some on small holes and fine features. What is there pretty much falls off with handling. I used to have a Powermax1000 (same as the 1250 torch) on my Plasmacam.....I remember it cutting pretty much dross free but had a bit more cut edge angularity as compared to the Duramax. The Duramax torch definitely is a cut quality and consumable life improvement, even on the older systems.

Jim Colt