Plasma cutter confusion

[TonyWilk]

I've got a MAO's Electric, branded 'Highweld', TIG/Plasma cutter.
Zero info on the plasma cutter in the "manual", but after reading a few posts here (and reducing one tip to slag ) I've happily diced up some 3mm stainless and it seems to work just fine.

Then, after reading several other posts on here, I got a bit confused... should the tip be in constant contact with the piece you are cutting ?

Since my torch has one connection to (-)/air, a 2-pin connection for the switch and the return (+) clipped on the piece, I guess it has to be in contact to work.

In practice that seems the case... have I got it right or am I missing something ?

Yours,
Tony Wilk

I believe the torch is an "SG-51" type with bits that look like this:

 

[shenion]

Depends on the tip.

I have "Castle" tips on mine. They have grooves across the tip, the orifice is recessed. That type of tip can be dragged across the work.

I have other tips that need a gap. Without a gap, the tip will burn if you move too fast and it blows back.

 

[Country Joe]

Im sure on mine (Hypertherm) it says not to drag it along, but to maintain a gap of a couple of mm.
I try to leave a 2mm gap, but if its a straight cut, I run it along the edge of a piece of ply, just to give it a constant distance.
Hope this helps,
CJ

 

[Welderpaul]

Im sure on mine (Hypertherm) it says not to drag it along, but to maintain a gap of a couple of mm.
I try to leave a 2mm gap, but if its a straight cut, I run it along the edge of a piece of ply, just to give it a constant distance.
Hope this helps,
CJ

Ply?

 

[Country Joe]

Ply?

Yeah, and it chars it up a bit too!
But it seems to me when doing straight cuts, its done too quickly to set fire to it properly.(or even at all)
And I only ever seem to have pieces of wood thick enough to make just the right gap.
Enough excuses!
I'll try to find something a bit safer now!
Promise!
CJ

 

[rtbcomp]

I've used plywood as a cutting guide without any problems.

I've got a Clarke 35N, and it says you should leave a gap, you can get a wire guide that clips to the torch to maintain the correct gap.

I find I can run the nozzle on the surface where the surface has a thick coat of paint, if it's bare metal it seems to stick.

Does the thick copper nozzle have any electrical contact to anything?

 

[TonyWilk]

Depends on the tip.

I have "Castle" tips on mine. They have grooves across the tip, the orifice is recessed. That type of tip can be dragged across the work.

Ah... that's good news, sounds like the tips I have:

Yours,
Tony Wilk

 

[Hitch]

They are like the hypertherm outer tips Tony. I nearly always drag them along.
But theres another two inside that again...iirc, havnt used it for sometime.

 

[weldequip]

Plasma Consumables

Quote from Sureweld UK "The far eastern machine torches eat consumables". That was their reply to me when I said perhaps they should be looking to bringing machines in from China instead of the Italian machines
weldequip

 

[Hitch]

Hyperthems eat cheap consumables too we found. Always get the proper jobbies as opposed to parweld ones.

 

[weldequip]

Well that's interseting Hitch... especially at Hypertherms prices
weldequip

 

[Hitch]

Especially noticable on thick Stainless (10mm+)

 

[Wozzaaah]

I have to say, the tips don't seem to last long on my sureweld but then again, I have been cutting longish slots in 8mm flat so it's been working pretty hard. What a difference a new tip makes though, it didn't look too bad but once I changed it and the electrode it zipped through the steel again. My little compressor struggles to supply enough air though, haven't tried it with my new compressor yet. Not sure about the pilot arc restart bit either, if I lose the arc I have to release then depress the trigger to restart it. I'm sure it should restart on it's own. .

 

[weldequip]

Especially noticable on thick Stainless (10mm+)

Understandable on that kinda stuff.
weldequip

 

[weldequip]

I have to say, the tips don't seem to last long on my sureweld

They would do if you gotta off me!
weldequip

 

[Wozzaaah]

They're the ones that came with it! Actually it's only on it's second set to be fair, I thought they'd last a little longer that that though but I was playing around with it for a while cutting things for the sake of it.

 

[Hitch]

Found the same with welder torch tips too Steve, tough gun tips last a lot longer than the parweld ones.

Yet the parweld ones seem fin in parweld torches. On the other hand, i suppose they dont get as much abuse as the toughguns ( I had the tip and shroud glowing bright orange the other day)

 

[Country Joe]

I've always used the Hypertherm consumables too, but they're not castle type ones!
Having said that, I guess Hitch has a bigger cutter. When I cut 12mm, it looks a bit chewed through, but that was solid round bar - not what anyone would usually use.
The torch is a PAC 110 T.
CJ

 

[Hitch]

Think ours is a 1650, theres two inner tips, and a castilated outer that screws on.

 

[snowcat]

My lincoln was far worse than the hypertherm, that thing would eat a tip everytime I used it.