Exceptional consumable life (I Think) on Everlast

Disclaimer…i know this is not ideal and intend to improve however i am on a tight budget and this might help others in my same boat…
Hello, i want to put a little information out there. it might help some. and i would appreciate feed back.
Cutting with Everlast 52i thc hooked up through the cnc port on divided voltage. i porgram my nominal voltage. i never use smart voltage and i run my nozzle very close to the material. i am using 30amp consumables and cut at 27amps on 16gauge mild hot rolled steel. historically have used hand torch but just recently switched to machine torch. they both use the exact same consumables so i dont think this has any bearing on what i am seeing. I do really like machine torch though.
I have 17cfm compressor on 80gallon tank. immediately exiting tank i have a harbor freight paint filter

. (this catches water and i drain multiple times a day) i run straight 3/8 air hose. (100ft) to my cutting area of my shop, here I connect to a very cheap water trap. this thing is the cheapest portion of my water management solution but it seems to make a huge difference if not in place. I immediately go from this trap to a dual trap/desiccant setup.
Previously without desiccant, i got 200 -225pierces with chinese consumables and about 325pierces with consumables from @mechanic416 pierces out of my consumables. This would shorten sometimes throughout the day based on humidity.
Adding the color changing dessicant was a bit confusing initially. it seemed to help for a very short time but then quit. the bottom beads were barely pink but the rest indicated dry blue. i bought more dessicant from amazon…brand dryndry. i have now begun changing the dessicant after every 2 ft diameter sign i cut. i dry the dessicant in a little counter top oven…usually takes about a half hour. everytime i change the dessicant only about 20percent of the bottom stack of dessicant is color changed but i change it all each time…takes about a minute. here is the fun part!!
Last night i just passed 1,000 pierces on a single set of consumables. This was with George’s type. I have not tried a chinese set using this process. this is phenomenal to me and with all the pieces of course not counting the air compressor i have less than $150 dollars in my air drying equipment. of special note…i live in Texas…when i was doing this most recent test over the last week…most of our days have been near 100 percent humidity…you can literally chew the air. I have the parts to make an air cooler for my compressor and i still intend to do that…but if i did not want to this system right here is doing an amazing job in my opinion!! @mechanic416 i looked around to find average piercing numbers for consumables but really did not have much luck other than for hypertherm. I imagine your probably one of the most qualified on here…whats your opinion on them? attached are the products i am using for moisture removal and filtration. the paint filter is on clearance and can be found for 14 bucks sometimes. i bought it all at harbor freight.


paint filter

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Just shows how much dry air makes a difference. And still see some people that absolutely believe that dry air does not matter and does not effect consumables.

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What most people do not under stand is air loves moisture. The hotter the air the more it likes to collect moisture. It does not matter if its compressed air or just atmosphere . The cooler you can get your air (dropping it below the dew point) from the compressor to the plasma cutter the better the plasma cutter will work and the longer the consumables will last. Most filters ( too many filters in a air system will cause air flow problems ) do not take moisture from the air, but as the air goes through the filter it slows down and cools the air some and a small percent drops out of the air.

Think of it this way, if its 105 degrees and 20% humidity. You go out and take a dip in the pool. When you get out in a few minutes your dry. Were did the moisture go, the air sucked it up like a big sponge. That night it drops to 57 degrees when you get up everything is covered with water because the air dropped below the dew point and it could no longer retain the moisture so it dropped out of the air.

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