11ga steel successful cutting speed seems slow

CrossFire ® PRO
21

Probably is the grounded outlet. Likely causing interference with the voltage reading and the torch is rising. The way to get it to cut is to slow it way down.

All you need to do is run the program with smart voltage on with your current setup. If the live voltage reading is too low, that’s your problem. If it’s in the neighborhood of book specs, it’s something else.

Why does the 1/4 inch cut then? Depends on the file and the length of the cuts. Checking the live voltage will answer this for sure.

2 Likes
22

I like the clamping directly on the material idea.

Also a good idea just make sure the cut Height isprogrammed correctly

23

I am wondering as well if there is a typo in his cut chart. What my machine and his machine cuts is close to my chart. His cut chart has a 90 Ipm difference on 10 ga over mine. Just a thought maybe some others can check their charts.

24

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25

Why is there a 90 Ipm difference between manuals??

26

Yup. That’s the chart I have.

27

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Here’s the OG PowerMax 65 and 85 manual there’s about a 20 i p.m. difference

28

May bad my eyes went to the 12 ga not the 10.

29

Maybe Mic the material out like @brownfox was saying and see where you’re actually sitting on the material chart.

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You can see that there’s a huge tolerance range where the upper end of 11 gauge can be 10 gauge and the lower end of 10 gauge can be 11 gauge.

But 1/8-in (.125) always falls within the 11 gauge tolerance.

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30

It’s .117" thick

31

Just ran some 11ga. Smart Voltage was set at 134, live was hanging around 133.
Hypertherm calls for 128, so that looks good?

I did find an issue, though: when I paused and measured the cut height, it was about .110" I double checked the program and it is calling for .063"

edit: one more observation, not sure what it means, but I was just outside and some old 11ga skeletons caught my eye. They are nearly dross free. The edges on them look much better than the parts that got cut out of them.

32

Is there any chance you are cutting backwards?

33

Inner contours: counterclockwise, cutter offset to the inside
Outer contours: clockwise, cutter offset to the outside

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34

That is a problem. Your torch is rising to reach the target voltage, resulting in a terrible cut. Unplug your computer if you can from the grounded outlet and run the same cut. Use a laptop on battery if you need to for the test.

Manually inputting a target voltage will not help, as THC will try to compensate to reach the voltage by raising the torch.

I’m pretty sure this would be the issue. When I was having this issue, my live voltage was much lower however. I still suspect this as the issue since the torch was raised so much.

3 Likes
35

Yea this is definitely the path to follow, you’re cutting high to reach the correct voltage for cutting. Means there’s an issue involving the THC somewhere.

If you want to prove it for yourself you can turn THC off and run it at the correct cut height manually. You’ll likely see much better cuts with your same other settings.

36

Thanks for the great advice. Due to some jobs I had to get done and then a head cold, I haven’t had time to get back on the plasma. I’ll get back to troubleshooting this weekend.

1 Like