I must admit I thought I was going to be on a looser here. I am on a 13 Amp plug/socket as I normally just cut up to 3mm so have the current quite low on the plasma. I had a guess at a current and speed and went for 32 Amps at 300mm per min speed. The plasma would not cut through 8 mm but ended up spaying back out on the surface, it was not far out as the metal melted on the underside and a quick turn up to 35 Amps it started to cut though.
The feed to the garage is from a 20 Amp breaker in the house and goes in to a small consumer unit with a 15 Amp breaker for the sockets and 5 Amp for the lights, so a bit restrictive especially when I also run the compressor as well.
I was using the CNC rig to cut the 8mm doing a few simple test cuts to see how it went.
Now this is where I need to ask a few questions of plasma experts. In trying to find Amps vs speed charts I never came across anything I can use as they all relate to commercial use where power is not a problems and just ramp up the amps for thicker material to keep the speed up, but, one thing I remember reading is the angle of the cut is typically at 20 degrees.
So I took two pictures of two cutting speeds at 35 Amps
This is 300mm per min with a cut angle approx 52 degrees
This is 250mm per min with a cut angle approx 39 degrees
So I would think around 180 to 200mm per min would end up at around the 20 degree cut angle, any dross build-up on the bottom was soon taken off with a hammer.
So questions is the 20degree angle correct as a sign of correct speed for the current?
Also
My plasma says that the rated output voltage is 100 Volts. Rated max Current is 40 Amps, but again reading general information out there, I assumed the cutting voltage to be around 35 Volts depending on arc length, the longer the arc the higher the voltage, so when using the drag tip, I expect to be closer to the 35 Volts, in which case 35 Volts x 35 Amps x 0.85 efficiency and expect around 6.5 Amps draw from the mains mains. So I will have to find an Amp meter to fit in the supply to discover what is happening as I should be popping fuses. Has anyone done this?
Adrian
The feed to the garage is from a 20 Amp breaker in the house and goes in to a small consumer unit with a 15 Amp breaker for the sockets and 5 Amp for the lights, so a bit restrictive especially when I also run the compressor as well.
I was using the CNC rig to cut the 8mm doing a few simple test cuts to see how it went.
Now this is where I need to ask a few questions of plasma experts. In trying to find Amps vs speed charts I never came across anything I can use as they all relate to commercial use where power is not a problems and just ramp up the amps for thicker material to keep the speed up, but, one thing I remember reading is the angle of the cut is typically at 20 degrees.
So I took two pictures of two cutting speeds at 35 Amps
This is 300mm per min with a cut angle approx 52 degrees
This is 250mm per min with a cut angle approx 39 degrees
So I would think around 180 to 200mm per min would end up at around the 20 degree cut angle, any dross build-up on the bottom was soon taken off with a hammer.
So questions is the 20degree angle correct as a sign of correct speed for the current?
Also
My plasma says that the rated output voltage is 100 Volts. Rated max Current is 40 Amps, but again reading general information out there, I assumed the cutting voltage to be around 35 Volts depending on arc length, the longer the arc the higher the voltage, so when using the drag tip, I expect to be closer to the 35 Volts, in which case 35 Volts x 35 Amps x 0.85 efficiency and expect around 6.5 Amps draw from the mains mains. So I will have to find an Amp meter to fit in the supply to discover what is happening as I should be popping fuses. Has anyone done this?
Adrian