I’m cutting 3/16 CS at 14 IPM, 25 amps, 90-100 psi, 3 gallons of water in the table. I’m a little concerned, blowing a hole through it would be a big mess.
Crap! …That’s pretty darned alarming! 
I have a serious amount of work planned for 3/16" and some at 1/4" 
What if a square of 1/16 stainless steel plate was dropped in the bottom of the water table (with a cutout over the drain of course), that would of course raise the slats and work 1/16", maybe that would shield and protect the bottom of the water table?
BTW 90 to 100psi seems like a lot though?
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I know right?! The reason I’m running that pressure is from the Hypertherm manual recommending 80-100 for the PowerMax 30XP.
Ahh! Ok on the pressure.
What do you think about the droping of a 1/16 or even 1/32 SS sheet to shield the floor of the watertable?
I think my issue is not enough water. I added another gallon and it seems to be ok now
3 gallons isn’t very much water. I’m usually around 5-6. 14 IPM is pretty slow and the 25A 90-100PSI combination seems out of kilter. What plasma cutter do you have?
def more water. at least about 1/2" from the top of the water pan.
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Good thing I built my under table reservoir very generous with 15gal of storage. 
Keep that water level up to the material. I did the same thing a few months ago, got lazy with the water level and scared up the bottom of my tray pretty bad.
I did something similar yesterday to my new driveway! Cutting the 16 Guage Corten for my pool retaining wall. Got lazy and didn’t put the last piece I needed to cut on the table
I’m sure that will improve your traction in icy weather. Perhaps you should put down some more…
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Go buy some aluminum sheet it can be thin. Drop it into water and you should not have this problem after. Aluminium will displace the heat much better than the ss plus keep water just shy of top of slats. More psi doesn’t always make for better cut try lowering psi and it will also slow consumption on compressor.
3 gallons isn’t enough! I run a reservoir and a pump on mine, and I fill the tray within about a 1/4"-1/2" from the top. It not only keeps the tray safe, but the spray under the torch keeps the material being cut from distorting as much from the heat.
Apart from having a proper water level, I like the idea of dropping a plate on the bottom of the water table as added insurance.
The HyperTherm units spec a high air pressure and then regulate it internally. Not adjustable, just a minimum.
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I reconfigured my drain with a PVC flange under the watertable, that way there is no drain “ridge” and I get like 99.9% drainage. I also put down a sheet of 1/32" Stainless Steel 27" x 30", this spans from slat-holder to slat-holder in the Y direction and out to the edges of the x axis in the water table. Between the SS sheet and the water table are four 1/4" SS nuts along the center of the water table only, they’re just laying in there to support/space the center of the sheet, so the sheet actually bows a little towards both slat-holders. This does a lot of good:
- Stops the big geyser when the fill-pump goes on.
- Provides enough access for water to flow freely (filling and draining).
- Prevents any hot-spots or perforation of the water table.
- Keeps the majority of debris from entering the drain.
- Makes cleanup of debris a cinch (just drain, let the water evaporate completely, remove chunks, they stay right there on the SS sheet and let the shop-vac eat the dust.
- Looks really cool when filling, as you can’t see where the blue water is coming from.
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