[Billy J.]

thanks for that file Billy, now if I can get Alleykat to powder coat it burnt orange

Did it cut alright for ya?

[cowboys1]

Hey Billy, it cut fine, I need to fine tune my machine, I'm running a different table from you guys, once I resized it to 3 foot wide, and lowered the amps on the torch it cut good. My job also keeps me from playing with my table. I live close to Alleykat, he's been good help, I played with art cam, way easier then the CAD I have, just installed it in my laptop so maybe I can start drawing some stuff.

[Billy J.]

Hey Billy, it cut fine, I need to fine tune my machine, I'm running a different table from you guys, once I resized it to 3 foot wide, and lowered the amps on the torch it cut good. My job also keeps me from playing with my table. I live close to Alleykat, he's been good help, I played with art cam, way easier then the CAD I have, just installed it in my laptop so maybe I can start drawing some stuff.

LOL 3' wow now that's big,glad it worked for ya, lets see it when ya get it coated

[JJs Customs]

Hey Guys,

I have my system up and running but the torch keeps going out when running large projects. (Cutmaster A60 with machine torch)

Is this likely due to an under-sized air compressor? I have a 60 gallon compressor that produces 11.5 scfm @ 90 psi. There is filter at the output of my compressor and a coalescent filter at the input of the A60.

What size compressor are ya'll using?

Thanks,
Dan

What size is your air hose from your compressor to your plasma cutter? Need to have a min of 1/2 line.

I dunno if your question had been figured out yet. I had under sized lines when i first started out. I bout pulled my hair out tryin to figure out my problem. I ended up burning a hole in my hose so i bought a bigger one. Havent had the problem since.

[Granite]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the responses. I'll chalk this one up to a rookie mistake. After a couple of frustrating days I contacted Thermal Dynamics and they got me back on track. Turns out I have plenty of air.....but it was bad air. Even with two filters, moisture was still getting to my torch. I drained my tank, and shortened the hose from 50 feet, (with a lot of coils) to 20 feet.

The machine has been running great the past two days. We'll see what happens when the humidity creeps back up. I'll likely have to upgrade my drying system.

Dan

[Alleykat]

I have my system up and running but the torch keeps going out when running large projects. (Cutmaster A60 with machine torch)

Is this likely due to an under-sized air compressor? I have a 60 gallon compressor that produces 11.5 scfm @ 90 psi. There is filter at the output of my compressor and a coalescent filter at the input of the A60.

I'll chalk this one up to a rookie mistake. After a couple of frustrating days I contacted Thermal Dynamics and they got me back on track. Turns out I have plenty of air.....but it was bad air. Even with two filters, moisture was still getting to my torch. I drained my tank, and shortened the hose from 50 feet, (with a lot of coils) to 20 feet.

The machine has been running great the past two days. We'll see what happens when the humidity creeps back up. I'll likely have to upgrade my drying system.

Dan when you wrote a filter at the output of the compressor did you mean right where the air leaves the compressor? If so thats not a good place for it.The water is still vapor then so most of it passes right thru the trap.

When it gets off back order,get 1 of these.They always sell out super quick!

Compressed Air Dryer - Save on this Compressed Air Dryer

Everyone that has it on the powdercoating forum is REALLY happy with it.I have been meaning to buy 1 too but I keep getting side tracked.I should order 1 now after I finish typing this.By the way look online for coupons because you can usually lower the price a good bit.

[Alleykat]

Anyone cut aluminum yet? I want to but at the same time dont wanna go thru the trial and error on it since its pricier.

I can make mistakes on steel all day and laugh about it,not aluminum or especially stainless!

[Diverdude]

I've cut both, Aluminum is easy, just use the settings from the TD book and a little tweak of speed(just like with steel) and it cuts great. SS on the other hand, the settings cut it out OK but getting a clean edge and keeping the discoloration down have still eluded me. It cuts out OK just takes a lot of clean up.

[Alleykat]

You guys too busy with your real jobs or what?

[Granite]

Dan when you wrote a filter at the output of the compressor did you mean right where the air leaves the compressor? If so thats not a good place for it.The water is still vapor then so most of it passes right thru the trap.

Thanks for the info Alex. My compressor setup is what I already had configured to do sandblasting. (Now I share it with the plasma) We have a filter at the output of the compressor to catch oil/debris. (This is how the sandblast guys told us to do it) And a coalescent filter at the plasma cutter.

For the past three weeks my setup has been running great. I contribute part of this to the unusually low humidity we are having. When I had the earlier problems. The humidity was very high.

Thanks for the Harbor Freight link. Yes, it seems they always have a lot of coupons and sales. I'll definitely add this to my setup.

Dan

[Billy J.]

any of ya'll cleaned out your watertable yet? Talk about nasty lol it was a mess. That's about all i've done with mine lately.

[Granite]

I keep procrastinating....Mine is looking nasty too.

[Diverdude]

used mine once in the last 2 months, cleaned it out, what a mess, that was like trying to stack mud

[Diverdude]

I've run into a small problem a few times I haven't figured out. I can be cutting something out, and the machine will setup for the next cut and the torch will fire but it will not move, it just sits there with an arc going in one spot. It's over metal, it pierces a hole but won't continue the cut. I will have to take the tip apart and change the tip and electrode and rerun it to get it working. The tip can be used or only have half a dozen cuts on it and show no wear on it. It only does this with the THC on, and most times its in the middle of a job after making 5 to 10 successful starts and cuts before it does this. Anybody else had this problem? any ideas. Mach 3 and TD 52

[Granite]

Yes, I am seeing the same issue and have not been able to identify any pattern to it happening.

[Billy J.]

I've run into a small problem a few times I haven't figured out. I can be cutting something out, and the machine will setup for the next cut and the torch will fire but it will not move, it just sits there with an arc going in one spot. It's over metal, it pierces a hole but won't continue the cut. I will have to take the tip apart and change the tip and electrode and rerun it to get it working. The tip can be used or only have half a dozen cuts on it and show no wear on it. It only does this with the THC on, and most times its in the middle of a job after making 5 to 10 successful starts and cuts before it does this. Anybody else had this problem? any ideas. Mach 3 and TD 52

Mine does that also sometimes Dude,haven't figured it out either. I have an idea it's bad air. When it pierces it has a solid plasma arc and then right after it seems the plasma arc is not as strong as it should be,it only happens after i have cut out several other pieces. I don't have the best filter system though. I am going to purchase a refrigerated dryer and see if that's the problem.

[Granite]

Mine does that also sometimes Dude,haven't figured it out either. I have an idea it's bad air. When it pierces it has a solid plasma arc and then right after it seems the plasma arc is not as strong as it should be,it only happens after i have cut out several other pieces. I don't have the best filter system though. I am going to purchase a refrigerated dryer and see if that's the problem.

Yes, I am guessing bad air as well. I'm not clear on the data link between the Plasma cutter communication with the computer. But if there is logic in the plasma cutter electronics that tells Mach 3 the pierce was successful and its okay to proceed to the next line of code, then bad air is the likely culprit.

Its probably good news that we are all experiencing this. If you watch the code window in Mach3, when the motors stop, the last line of code executed is the M command to pierce. I originally thought this meant we had a software glitch. But now I believe the software is fine. We all need to work on our air filtering and I bet we'll eliminate the problem.

[Alleykat]

If bad air is a possible culprit,why would it do the whole cut with the THC off though? Still same air.

[Billy J.]

Well I broke down and bought a refrigerated air dryer{looks like HF model} found it on ebay Maxhootue i believe thats the name. HF is always on backorder where i'm at. So now we will see if it helps as much as everyone says it will, anything that'll help consumable life and better cut i'm all for it so we will see. Dang toys sure are expensive nowdays lol,oh well i don't go bar hoppin and chase women anymore gotta have something to do lol. He's still got more of em

[Granite]

Keep us posted Billy!