Originally Posted by
binfordw
Jim,
The voltage varied around 5-8 volts from setpoint, I.E, set at 117, it would drop down to 112 and as high as 123 or so. When cutting cleanly, its usually with 2 volts.
I actually had trouble with it again today, I cut a full .250" x 4x8' sheet of parts fine, I went to cut a couple small parts and had them mess up. Voltage varied, cut wasn't fully pieced everywhere.
I'm not as certain now as to what the issue is. I rechecked the ground clamp, and looked into possible moisture in air problems. When this issue is happening, it does seem a bit like a moisture issue- although the consumables seem to be holding up very well. The cut starts clean most times, then degrades to a rough cut, with failure to fully piece the sheet in small sections along the part.
Air seems dry. I have had no real issues with moisture since I started using the double filter setup. I purged the machine for several minutes.
I removed the Powermax's cover and looked for issues. I did find a curious situation on the high voltage side of the main board.. what appears to be dirt/dust, light in color, in almost arc-like shapes on the traces on board.
I decided to spray board with a electrical contact cleaner, and it appears theres a film/coating on the board that was peeled/washed away by the spray. The "dust/dirt" didnt seem to wash away easily, so I left it alone.
I retried a cut, and things seemed normal again. At this point Im a bit unsure whats going on- just pleased I was able to finish a few jobs today to stay a bit on schedule.