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LESS DROSS DURING FINE FEATURE CUTTING

Q. I am trying to cut out a fairly detailed design on 16 gauge steel but am ending up with a lot of dross. My system also seems to be burning too hot because it is blowing things out.

A. Plasma needs to maintain its speed to cut dross free, so typically if there is dross, all you need to do is increase the speed for it to go away.

It sounds like your machine is not getting up to and maintaining the cut speed, eSpecially when cutting fine details. This is likely because of (1) acceleration rates that are too slow; or (2) drive motors that don't have enough acceleration capability to achieve the necessary speeds during detailed cutting.

The arc "blowing out" is another indication acceleration is sluggish. I don't know enough about your machine, but you may want to revisit motor tuning to see if it's possible to increase acceleration and de-acceleration rates, as well as corner speed rates without impacting the accuracy of your system.

If you cannot make the above changes, then the following tricks may help:

1. Try lowering the water level so less water contacts the material. But be careful, if you go too low there will be more fumes.


2. Get some Mig welding anti-spatter spray (at all welding supply dealers) and spray the bottom side of the material before cutting.


3. Make sure your physical cut height stays within about .060 to .080 inches of the plate. Don't go any higher than that or you'll wind up with more dross. On 16 gauge you can get away with a pierce height of .06". I mention this because it is possible your torch height control is not achieving the correct cut height when cutting small details.

Hopefully, this helps you a bit.

Best Regards, Jim Colt

Hypertherm, Inc. Etna Road, P.O. Box 5010 Hanover, NH 03755 USA

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