I bought myself a cut 40 just after Xmas and have been playing with it on a variety of stuff from 2mm to 1/2" mild steel , some stainless and some ally sheet. In total I've done maybe 12 ft of cut, mostly on thinner stuff, plus a few piercing cuts on 10-12mm steel plate. The inner tip now has about a 3mm deep pit in it where the hafnium pellet lives (IIRC), the outer is scuffed up, but otherwise seems OK. I was wondering how to tell when the tip is on the way out (apart from it stops cutting) and what sort of life expectancy people had for the consumables. Its got a new style (type 51 iirc) torch.
- Thread starter Big Pete
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gordon stephenson
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My Hypertherm powermac 45 consumables last quite a long time, But as far as I know most electrodes are considered to be worn when they are pitted down about 1.6mm, and the nozzles need replacing when the orifice is becoming over size or wearing oval, As long as yours is still cutting ok and the kerf has not become too wide they may be OK to continue using, I don't know if the pitted electrode giving a bigger arc gap will put any extra strain on anything on the circuit board,
chunkolini
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Danny that explains the vague green I occasionally see in the arc when plasma cutting, I figure the tip is gone but it is nice to know why.
Lawnmowerboy
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The cut40 bits are cheap as chips, Google 'ebay shopriver'
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235pcs-LG...665?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27c8720331
Oh here you go
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235pcs-LG...665?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27c8720331
Oh here you go
steve.h
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I find it helps to keep the amps to a minimum as much as possible, another way to help the consumables last it to try and keep the tip about 1-1.5mm off the piece your cutting, I havnt tried them yet but you can get the little wire clips that help keep the tip the right height from the metal.
I buy my consumables from plasmapart, they are not as cheep as the chinese seller but some of the tips are not the best quality from china, I think p`part either specify a better quality or they sort good from bad.
I dont think the cheaper chinese plasma cutter consumables will ever last as long as the higher quality machines and torches, they are more refined and better quality and are more consumable friendly, the cheaper chinese ones are rougher and harder on the tips etc.
thats my thoughts anyway...
(I have no connection to plasma part, just a happy customer)
I buy my consumables from plasmapart, they are not as cheep as the chinese seller but some of the tips are not the best quality from china, I think p`part either specify a better quality or they sort good from bad.
I dont think the cheaper chinese plasma cutter consumables will ever last as long as the higher quality machines and torches, they are more refined and better quality and are more consumable friendly, the cheaper chinese ones are rougher and harder on the tips etc.
thats my thoughts anyway...
(I have no connection to plasma part, just a happy customer)
gordon stephenson
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Slimjim, Are you sure that only Lincoln parts will fit?, When I had a Lincoln plasma cutter PC40, It used the same consumables as the Cebora 70 which were much cheaper.
steve.h
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the cheap chines machines us the pt31 torch, obviously it is far more crude and basic compared to the high end machines but a pack of 10 tips from above supplier is £3.50, £3.75 for 10 electrodes. So I guess the fact they dont last as long isnt so bad as they are cheap enough to start with.
gordon stephenson
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Try checking out http://www.plasmapart.com to see if you can identify your torch, I think Lincoln used the Trafimet on the PC 40, or even ring them they may be able to assist you,
Reduce the moisture content of your compressed air. When you think you've done it, do it some more.
Don't pierce vertically when not edge-starting.
Use the correct stand-off distance if yours is not a drag-cut type torch.
If your machine has sufficient range, ensure you use the correct torch consumables for the correct amperage setting and material thickness.
Avoid false starts, no earth starts, mid-air starts etc.
That'll save you hundreds of pounds.
Al
Don't pierce vertically when not edge-starting.
Use the correct stand-off distance if yours is not a drag-cut type torch.
If your machine has sufficient range, ensure you use the correct torch consumables for the correct amperage setting and material thickness.
Avoid false starts, no earth starts, mid-air starts etc.
That'll save you hundreds of pounds.
Al
the cut40 electrodes are cheep reason being they only have a littel spec of hafnium so they wear out much quicker
my old saf the electrod was a big chunk of hafnium so it lasted for ages but bloody expensive to chage when they wore out
dry air helps a lot, burning the pilot ark dosent do the nossel much good ( if you have pilot ark. standoff helps nossel life a lot as well
my old saf the electrod was a big chunk of hafnium so it lasted for ages but bloody expensive to chage when they wore out
dry air helps a lot, burning the pilot ark dosent do the nossel much good ( if you have pilot ark. standoff helps nossel life a lot as well
I'm new to plasma cutters so I'm not too surprised, I expected there would be a learning curve. I was hacking up some badly oxidised 3mm ally sheet which was blowing back pretty badly, and the piercing cuts on 10mm were blowing dross all over the place. Both were freehand, which I'm sure doesn't help, when I was set up with a guide things were a lot better. More practice required obviously.
Also, better cleaning would help I think, as I was getting stuttering at times on the more oxidised stuff. Plasma doesn't seem to like restarts.
Also, better cleaning would help I think, as I was getting stuttering at times on the more oxidised stuff. Plasma doesn't seem to like restarts.
Drains
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To add to Al's advice, which is bang on, get your travel speed right - too slow and you're wearing the consumables out but not getting as much cut as you should, and too fast, the arc will spit back and knock bits off the tip.
The mid-air starts thing is one to watch out for. It's great to stand with your finger on the trigger showing how fantastic the torch looks with the pilot arc going, but it kills the consumables very quickly.
The mid-air starts thing is one to watch out for. It's great to stand with your finger on the trigger showing how fantastic the torch looks with the pilot arc going, but it kills the consumables very quickly.
Quite right Drains.
I wonder if you're constantly moving too fast and getting continuous blow-back damaging the electrode?
For piercing, when possible (depending on the shape of what you're cutting) try to start with the torch at an angle to the workpiece, say 45 degrees, and rotate the cut into the stock until the torch is vertical, then start following your cut line. This prevents the initial blow-back from shooting up the hole in the nozzle. Obviously for edge starts this isn't necessary.
Also, you can monitor your cutting technique by trying to watch the angle of the sparks coming from the underside of the cut. If they are falling straight down, you're going slightly too slowly, if they are being deflected significantly in line with your cut, then you're going too fast. You want a small deflection angle away from vertical, there is probably an 'ideal' figure, but I'd guess maybe 15 degrees or so.
I can't comment on stand-off distance for your specific case, hopefully you have a draggable torch and this is irrelevant. Whatever you have, make sure you're doing it right.
Another thing to monitor is your dross development on the reverse side. What is normal / best will depend on your machine. With a good machine you should aim for basically zero dross.
Here is a thread with some pics that might help:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19066
Al.
I wonder if you're constantly moving too fast and getting continuous blow-back damaging the electrode?
For piercing, when possible (depending on the shape of what you're cutting) try to start with the torch at an angle to the workpiece, say 45 degrees, and rotate the cut into the stock until the torch is vertical, then start following your cut line. This prevents the initial blow-back from shooting up the hole in the nozzle. Obviously for edge starts this isn't necessary.
Also, you can monitor your cutting technique by trying to watch the angle of the sparks coming from the underside of the cut. If they are falling straight down, you're going slightly too slowly, if they are being deflected significantly in line with your cut, then you're going too fast. You want a small deflection angle away from vertical, there is probably an 'ideal' figure, but I'd guess maybe 15 degrees or so.
I can't comment on stand-off distance for your specific case, hopefully you have a draggable torch and this is irrelevant. Whatever you have, make sure you're doing it right.
Another thing to monitor is your dross development on the reverse side. What is normal / best will depend on your machine. With a good machine you should aim for basically zero dross.
Here is a thread with some pics that might help:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19066
Al.
Its a drag torch, definetly been going too slow on thin (steel) stuff, 1/8" of dross on 2mm sheet, but got better as I increased the speed. I think I'm probably too slow on heavy stuff (10-12mm). Definetly going to try rocking the torch next time for starts. Consistent speed is still tricky s well.
