Because the DASH sensor is optical-based it works great on very clean thin-gauge materials, particularly stainless steel and aluminum. However on heavier gauge hot-rolled steel, which usually comes with quite a few stains and blemishes you may encounter some problems. Cutting 1/4" at 100A my DASH sensor would frequently fail to trigger at the set height, causing the torch to pierce extremely close to the plate. This would cause severe blow-back into the shield cap which could then cause both the nozzle and electrode to blow if the system wasn't stopped immediately and the buildup on the shield cap picked off with a knife. Even then the orifice on the shield cap would be blown out. I assume this wouldn't be as much of a problem with a more rugged torch head as on a HyperTherm unit, but our Kaliburn high definition system is very sensitive to pierce height. |