Hypertherm 65 cutting problems

[Cool Metal Works]

I am having problems keeping my machine cutting correctly. The major problem I am having is I am running through tips like crazy. My air compressor seams to create a lot of condensation and oil so I installed a new Sharpe Desiccant Plasma Air Dryer sold on this site about 3 months ago. I think it's doing its job but not sure. I can only cut in the early mornings when the temp is below 80 degrees of I have a tun of dross on the bottom edge. I live in Texas west of Fort Worth. I installed the dryer within 2 ft of the Hypertherm machine. I figured this would have been close enough to keep water out. I drain my compressor every day before I use the plasma cutter. Along with running through tips my cuts seam to be cutting sideways like a knife edge. Most of my problems are with 11 gauge metal and when it is cutting from right to left. I am also having spots that are fusing back together as if it's not cutting all the way through. I have run at 60 ipm all the way to 95 ipm and at the height listed in the book for 10 gauge. Nothing seams to be working and I am just shy of selling my Hypertherm. Can someone PLEASE help!!!

[jimcolt]

Different ambient temperatures will not make any noticeable differences in plasma cutting, however they can affect your moisture removal system....which in turn will cause rapid consumable wear and cut quality issues. There is a coalescing type water trap with an auto drain on your Powermax65....do you see signs of water or oil (oil is much worse than water in regards to consumable damage) in the bowl on this unit?

If water/oil is getting to the on board moisture trap...then your dessicant dryer filter may not be adequate to do the job. I recommend:

- Make sure you drain your compressor tank daily...or twice daily. It is best, and worth every penny....to install an automatic drain.
-There should be at least a 20' run of black iron or (better) copper tube between the compressor and the dessicant dryer system. This allows a bit of precooling of the air which helps convert the water mist into larger droplet.
-Make sure there is a drain on your dryer system....if no drain....then you are not removing water.
-Make sure your system has an oil coalescing trap or oil absorbing filter if you suspect oil in your air line.
-In extreme temperature and humidity....you may have to resort to a properly installed refrigerated dryer.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

I am having problems keeping my machine cutting correctly. The major problem I am having is I am running through tips like crazy. My air compressor seams to create a lot of condensation and oil so I installed a new Sharpe Desiccant Plasma Air Dryer sold on this site about 3 months ago. I think it's doing its job but not sure. I can only cut in the early mornings when the temp is below 80 degrees of I have a tun of dross on the bottom edge. I live in Texas west of Fort Worth. I installed the dryer within 2 ft of the Hypertherm machine. I figured this would have been close enough to keep water out. I drain my compressor every day before I use the plasma cutter. Along with running through tips my cuts seam to be cutting sideways like a knife edge. Most of my problems are with 11 gauge metal and when it is cutting from right to left. I am also having spots that are fusing back together as if it's not cutting all the way through. I have run at 60 ipm all the way to 95 ipm and at the height listed in the book for 10 gauge. Nothing seams to be working and I am just shy of selling my Hypertherm. Can someone PLEASE help!!!

[icmplasma85]

[quote="jimcolt"]Different ambient temperatures will not make any noticeable differences in plasma cutting, however they can affect your moisture removal system....which in turn will cause rapid consumable wear and cut quality issues. There is a coalescing type water trap with an auto drain on your Powermax65....do you see signs of water or oil (oil is much worse than water in regards to consumable damage) in the bowl on this unit?

If water/oil is getting to the on board moisture trap...then your dessicant dryer filter may not be adequate to do the job. I recommend:

- Make sure you drain your compressor tank daily...or twice daily. It is best, and worth every penny....to install an automatic drain.
-There should be at least a 20' run of black iron or (better) copper tube between the compressor and the dessicant dryer system. This allows a bit of precooling of the air which helps convert the water mist into larger droplet.
-Make sure there is a drain on your dryer system....if no drain....then you are not removing water.
-Make sure your system has an oil coalescing trap or oil absorbing filter if you suspect oil in your air line.
-In extreme temperature and humidity....you may have to resort to a properly installed refrigerated dryer.

Jim Colt Hypertherm




Jim,

I also have a Powermax 65, and I just recently moved and "reset" up my shop. I bought a little cheapo air dryer that I will soon be replacing ( not happy with it). I am thinking about buying the one off this site and would love feed back from anyone who has bought this particular one.

My question is will water and oil only affect consumable life, or will it affect the torch and unit itself as well? I have never seen so much water and oil coming thru to the torch, but the funny thing is the consumables aren't wearing out as fast as I thought they would and my cut quality is pretty damn good for how much moisture I have. I'm confused to say the least. I don't want to keep fighting myself or have things get worse, so I want to get everything set up properly.

I am in Southern Virginia, where it does get quite humid in the summer. I just want to know that 90% of the time I should be OK if I buy the dessicant air dryer from the plasma spider store. I always account for consumable costs on each project I do, so going through them quickly is not a huge deal, however, the more life you can get is always better.

Thanks,

Mark

[tnbndr]

I am thinking about buying the one off this site and would love feed back from anyone who has bought this particular one

I have the MacAir HX10A that this site sells, I got mine through ebay but none the less they should be the same. Just finished talking to a helpful person at MacAir because mine did not have an auto drain. It had a bowl filter on the air outlet. The instruction manual still talked about the auto drain so I was confused. Turns out when you talk to the people that build them you get good information. MacAir went away from the electric auto drain to remain cost competitive in the market place. This bowl filter come to find out is auto draining but it has a float in the bowl part that drains when the water level gets to a certain height. I could see the water rising in the site glass but it never drained. Well it was just not high enough yet. Also found out that they have not updated their manuals and some got shipped with old manuals. The bowl filter has replaceable elements that are supposed to filter out oil particulets also. So now that I know what is going on and how it works I am ok with it. They also told me I could put an electric drain on the bowl filter but need to remove the float. I may or may not do that. I am posting a pic of the dryer and filter, I added the drain hose.