[brinmac]

im getting ready to start building a 4 x 4 plasma table , i already have a thermal dynamics 100xl plasma cutter , works great for hand cutting , plenty of cutting capacity for my needs. my question is , my machine has HF start , will that work ok on cnc plasma table . i see most recommend a pilot arc start but i already have this cutter. do i need to shop around for different machine?

thanks

r brintle

[jimcolt]

Your T-D 100xl has pilot arc start (a pilot arc is an arc that will fire in air, away from metal). Pilot arc start can be achieved with a system designed with a high frequency start circuit (which yours has) or with a blowback stating mechanism.

High frequency start uses a high voltage, high frequency discharge inside the torch to ionize the gas to get the plasma arc started.....blowback torches do not. Generating the high voltage creates electrical noise interference that can and will affect sensitive electronic circuits, and especially personal computers and laptops that were designed to work in non-noisy office environments. It is not recommended to use a high frequency start plasma cutter on machines that use office style computers as the cnc control.....you will spend countless hours trying to isolate electrical noise issues, shielding cables, designing optically isolated I/O circuitry, etc. There are a number of machine builders that have been able to make a high frequency start plasma operate acceptable on high frequency start plasma cutters, however many more have tried.

It would make more sense to sell the high freq. start unit and pick up a blowback start if you plan to use plasma on a cnc machine. This recommendation is from my 38 years experience with plasma cutting.....you (no doubt) will get some responses suggesting it will work fine.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

im getting ready to start building a 4 x 4 plasma table , i already have a thermal dynamics 100xl plasma cutter , works great for hand cutting , plenty of cutting capacity for my needs. my question is , my machine has HF start , will that work ok on cnc plasma table . i see most recommend a pilot arc start but i already have this cutter. do i need to shop around for different machine?

thanks

r brintle