Cutting 3/16 steel with Xp 45 with fine cut consumables 45 amps @ 80ipm. It will cut fine almost all the way through code but will experience a spot or two where it will not cut clear through. Good ground and air looks good and never stops firing. Any ideas?
Sounds like you’re going way too fast, and possibly the wrong consumables. At 45 amps you should be using 1.0mm tips. Most will say either “1.0MM” or “50A” on them… I’m not sure what you mean by fine-cut tips, do you mean ones with smaller holes like a .8mm or .6mm?
Either way, 80ipm is too fast for 45A, and would recommend something closer to 40 give or take on 3/16.
Some Hypertherm torches have a fine cut option. (Narrow Kerf, better surface finish) . They make a very nice cut, but to your point, they do not cut as fast as the standard consumables and are more sensitive to torch height
Whoops nevermind, for some reason I assumed he was using a Razorweld.
Ok I just looked at Hypertherm’s cut chart for fine-cut consumables, and the lowest they go is 10 gauge at 95IPM @ 45A. They don’t list 7 gauge on their chart, but they also don’t say NOT to cut that thick with Finecut consumables (they do say it’s not recommended to do above 1/4").
Given they recommend 129 IPM on 10gauge and 85IPM on 7 guage with standard consumables, I’d venture a guess that the same ratio is what’s needed for fine-cut.
Hypertherm recommends the IPM of the 7gauge be 65% of their 10gauge with their standard shielded consumables, so I would think 65% of the 95IPM (62IPM) gives you a great place to start as far as IPM with 45XP and Finecut consumables and 3/16 mild steel.
1 Like
Thanks for all the info everyone.
The cut charts show a maximum thickness of 10 gauge (about 1/8") for Finecut consumables. To cut 3/16" step up to the 45 amp shielded cut chart, there you will find the best cut quality. If you stay within the factory specs listed on the Hypertherm Powermax cut charts you will have better results. Jim Colt
1 Like