ok I have a Plasmacam DHC2 gotta say it is nice for a lot of things but I am not happy with the quality of cut on material any thicker than 3/16 and cutting holes suck. I know the holes are not plasma strong point but ??? I mark them way undersize and then drill them all. Looking to start cutting a lot more brackets and either need to get this thing dialed in find it a new home or convert it to Laser.

I have the hypertherm Power max 1000 and cutting 3/8 i am at about 25 IPM and still cant get a clean cut

My pierce heights are .150 ish and cut height is .108 for 3/8

can someone give me settings that have worked for them on

1/4", 3/8", 1/2" I have not done any bigger than that yet but if ya have them 5/8 and 3/4 would be cool. I do not mind not cutting fast but I need more accuracy and cleaner cuts.

I have the big paper filter on the top of the Hypertherm adn then the canister style where it actuall goes into the machine and of course a glass canister at the compressor with a dedicated line to the plasma unit

also I am going throught 60 amp tips in less than 300 inches of cutting 3/8 is this normal

at a loss here guys need some help or suggestions for a laser system conversion

ill post pics up later if that would help. jsut seems like the hypertherm is loosing power over time and the whole set up is less than 1 yr old

NO one has any suggestions? wow!

I presume you are using the 60 amp nozzle and a machine shield? Arc Voltage Shift will be 1.25
When is the last time you changed the retaining cap? When that wears the consumables get misaligned and causes beveling.

George

First.....start with the recomendations in your Hypertherm Powermax1000 manual for cutting 3/8" steel. Start with the optimal (not the maximum) speed settings.....with a new set of consumables (electrode, nozzle and shield). Hypertherm spent a considerable time designing and testing your system.....the specs in the manual are the best starting point.

From your post....you are cutting with the torch too high....which will cause a severe bevel, and you are cutting too slow....which will cause heavy dross.

Using the 60 Amp shielded consumables (also use the ohmic retaining cap if you have the PlasmaCam DHC2...as this allows for accurate pierce height)...set your cut speed at 34 inches per minute, pierce height at .120", cut height at .060" and pierce delay time at .75 seconds. You will get a nice cut on 3/8" with these specs.....which come right out of the manual. If you do not have the manual for the Hypertherm...it can be downloaded as a .pdf from the www.hypertherm.com website. Attached are some pics of cuts from my PlasmaCam using a Hypertherm plasma.

Jim Colt

thanks guys I tried cutting at the specs listed in the Hypertherm manual but even on the 1/4" and 3/16" it doesnt cut through. I have played with it some and gotten it to improve some. I am sure a large part of it is me and the learning curve but. Like right now I am cutting 1/4" at 27 IPM and the cut is clean with very little (virtually none) Dross maybe a little on the shrot ends but thats it. But according to the manual 27 ipm is way to slow. the pierce heights I have set are .120 and cutting at .08 or .09 and does good but when I first got it I was cutting 1/4 at like 45" just seems liike it is loosing power could I have a capacitor going bad seems like every week or so It needs to be slowed down a bit to maintain the cut quality.

Also Is ther anyway I can set it to just pierce holes for location marking adn then I can drill them. I have tried setting it to cut a small circle like .125" but it still tries to cut a hole.

Thanks for the help guys.