[binfordw]

Hey guys,

I've been happily cutting away with a PM65 for a few years now, but this winter I've started to run into issues- and have been pulling my hair out this weekend trying to finish some jobs.

I thought/think its a moisture issue, but I run a large desiccant filter 2 feet from the machine. I have had no moisture issues since I started using this filter setup years ago. I've tried "purging", running a program that just fires torch over and over without cutting, hoping its condensation in the machine. It seems to help somewhat, but I'm going through nozzles left and right and still having damaged nozzles in short time. Luckily I save all my old consumables, So I can go through and find decent ones to use to help out.

Is there any other possible causes of quickly damaged nozzles I may be overlooking? The parts/programs I'm running are all things I've done for years, 3/16 to 1/4" mild steel, with proper pierce heights and volt settings.


What are good ways to clean out moisture from airlines past my filter? Would purging with nitrogen to clean things out really help? Any ideas besides just purging the machine as mentioned?


Thanks in advance

Ben W

[Simonh1959]

Is it possible that the desiccant needs replacing?
I do not have one but would have thought that it must have a finite life.

[plasmamatt]

I was also thinking along the same lines as Simonh1959. We looked at several expensive desiccant filter and chose not to go with them because of the elements having to be changed out. I talked to a company that sells them and it sounded like it was going to be fairly often and it was fairly expensive to do. We instead went with a refrigerated air dryer that is made by SMC. It was about $700 but it does the trick and there are no elements that need to be changed.

We were running into misfire issues that were caused by contamination buildup on the end of our electrode and down in the inner part of the nozzle. This issue would start at about 300-500 pierces and once it started there wasn't much that could be done to save the consumables. Now that we have started to use the air dryer we are getting 1000-1500 pierces and over 10000 inches of cut on our consumables. It is an amazing difference. We have major moisture issues in our shop and I think a lot of it is actually due to evaporating water coming off of our water table.

[binfordw]

Well the desiccant is dryable- Its the second filter Ive had in 5-6 years, (the first the poly bowl cracked). This one is pretty new- and has new desiccant. I keep a spare container of desiccant dried and ready to switch when its needed (Color changes when saturated)

What I'm not really understanding, is this filter has worked great in the past. I'm wondering if there could be another cause for nozzle damage like this that I'm just blaming it on moisture instead.

I might pick up a N2 tank and try purging with that to clean things out, I just didnt want to go to the trouble/cost if it wasn't even a moisture problem.

[binfordw]

Well I tried adding a large SMC filter I had on hand (from when my first desiccant filter bowl cracked-) right at the back of the machine, and it seems to be cutting fine so far.

I'm still not sure why all of the sudden the desiccant filter started letting moisture past- if thats the case, but it seems much better so far using the 2 filters inline together. Atleast I'll be able to work towards finishing the jobs I need to get done!

Thanks for the help and ideas guys.

[Simonh1959]

Glad you are up & running again.
When I put our HPR 130XD in I opted for a small Compair refrigerant drier like Plasmamatt which cost about £800.00
In addition I also fitted a good pre & post filter to the dryer and to date I have never had any moisture problems.

[binfordw]

Glad you are up & running again.
.

Thanks- me too!

I really hate dealing with issues when I just need to get things done. Still unsure what has happened with my current filter, but adding the secondary filter has seemingly cured my issues. I've cut several sheets of parts on one tip since.

I've kicked around the idea of a cheap refrigerant drier for several years, but still haven't went for it yet. This is actually the first major issue Ive had with the PM65 and moisture- I seemed to have much more trouble when I used a PM45.