[ajclay]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions....

I've almost made my mind up to retro fit my my plasma table with a water pan.

I only want to do this retro-fit ONE time, so what does your machine have for a water pan, and/or how would you change it??

The depth of the water, how deep is optimum?? There seems to be machines with water just under plate by a fraction and then there are others that keep the water level down away from material by a couple / three inches.

Jim points out that the water should be down a ways for best cut quality, but how much. I'm sure it's a trade off between smoke/dust collection and cut quality at some point.

So, water level is below the material say...... 3 inches and water depth is say 4-5 inches.... now we have a pan that's about 8 inches deep.

See what I'm saying :-)

Thanks agian....

Aj

[jimcolt]

Lower water equals less splash, but more smoke. The level that affects splash depends on the plasma system......and the nozzle size that is in it.....as different manufacturers and different nozzle sizes have different air flow rates.

Ideally a perfect water table can raise and lower the water.....raise it to about 1" or so over the slats (stainless cuts best submerged) and lower it to at least 3 or 4 inches below the plate....to minimize splash (on the material and moving parts of the table). The raise/lower mechanism is a simple design that has a compartment under the table that holds water.....and with valves and low pressure compressed air the water from the compartment is displaced and pushed up to the slat area.....to lower the water open a valve and let it gravity feed back down into the compartment.

So...it depends on what you have (for plasma) and what you want for convenience and performance.


Jim Colt Hypertherm

Thanks guys for all the suggestions....

I've almost made my mind up to retro fit my my plasma table with a water pan.

I only want to do this retro-fit ONE time, so what does your machine have for a water pan, and/or how would you change it??

The depth of the water, how deep is optimum?? There seems to be machines with water just under plate by a fraction and then there are others that keep the water level down away from material by a couple / three inches.

Jim points out that the water should be down a ways for best cut quality, but how much. I'm sure it's a trade off between smoke/dust collection and cut quality at some point.

So, water level is below the material say...... 3 inches and water depth is say 4-5 inches.... now we have a pan that's about 8 inches deep.

See what I'm saying :-)

Thanks agian....

Aj

[ajclay]

Lower water equals less splash, but more smoke. The level that affects splash depends on the plasma system......and the nozzle size that is in it.....as different manufacturers and different nozzle sizes have different air flow rates.

Ideally a perfect water table can raise and lower the water.....raise it to about 1" or so over the slats (stainless cuts best submerged) and lower it to at least 3 or 4 inches below the plate....to minimize splash (on the material and moving parts of the table).

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Jim,

I've got a Hypertherm 1650. The thin stainless ( .062 ) that I cut turns out great so I probably won't worry about the under water stuff... My torch my not work well under water anyway.

Mainly I just cut steel...

The main thing I want to alleviate is the darn dust. The smoke has dust in it too to some extent. That's some fine powder that seems to float every where no matter on how many fans I put around the machine trying to get it out the shop.

My slats are made of 1/8 x 4 so I'll come up with some pan design to get the water level up to a couple of inchs below the top of slats.

So what you think about the water depth from there... 4 - 5 inches?

That would be doable without completely re-designing my table.

Thanks, Aj

[jimcolt]

4-5 inches is adequate..

Jim

[johndjmix]

You want the water as close to the material as possible...the closer the less smoke. If im cutting one tiny part, i wont even fill it....if im doing 10 mins of cutting ill make sure its full.

I dont normally cut anything even close to the edges of the table so splashing isnt an issue.

As far as the depth of water, really thats up to you. My pan is 4" below the top of the slats and even if i cut with NO water, the flame doesnt touch the pan. So in reality you dont need much to not damage the pan.....but i would say 4" to be safe.

--John

[I Lean]

The top of my slats are 3" above the bottom of my water pan. I usually keep the water level between that and 2" deep, depending on how much has evaporated. It's very noticeable how much more smoke escapes with lower water levels, although it's nowhere near the amount you're used to, I'm sure.

I have a Powermax 45 though, so you have a lot more power available than I do. I wouldn't recommend you make yours as shallow as mine.

[Pruitt1222]

I personal like having as much water as I can get. I am new here and don't know what kinda of machines most are running or table sizes. I have 4" grates and if I cant put 4" of water over top of them I am adding it to the table. You get cutting long SS strips out of thin material and parts are bound to raise up, you need to have enough water to keep the part covered. Plus when cutting thick plate I put the water up 1/4" from the top of the plate. As far as cut quality, (Again I don't know about your machines) It makes no differance for me with or with out water. As long as standoff, shield, and cut gases are right. The only problem I encounter with underwater is firing under 3+ inchs on SS or a 1+ on carbon. If the water level on the plate is less then those amounts its smooth going.

[ajclay]

Your correct on the SS sheet metal parts. I cut some long parts that are about 48in x 4in and they do move around a little. Especially the drop side which is usually only about 1/4 - 1/2 in wide strips. They will raise up an inch or so because of the heat. That's another plus for a water table that I haven't gave much thought to.

I can see now that my table modification is getting closer.

Stainless in another animal to say the least. I've learned a lot over the past year about fabrication using stainless. With .062 and thinner you better not try and weld it using carbon steel settings and procedures.

AJ

[Pruitt1222]

Are most operators on here home hobby operators? I run a fairly larger machine, I cut alot and have built a few tables in my day thats why I chamed in. If your small scale Just ignore my post.

[ajclay]

Are most operators on here home hobby operators? I run a fairly larger machine, I cut alot and have built a few tables in my day thats why I chamed in. If your small scale Just ignore my post.

I know where my place is in the big picture. However a lot do not.

AJ

[Pruitt1222]

I know nothing about low amperage cutting, I struggle to cut .06 plate. I give you guys props for figureing it out with a low budget. I work in a fab shop and logged on here with the hopes of meeting a few operators and readings some cutting data on the same type of machines I operate. I am amazed by some of the builds I have seen on here. Sorry for the highjack jclay