Borax seems fine, don’t need much. We added a little ink Jet coloring (food dye) to make it look more special If you talk to Hypertherm they do all their sync cut charts without a water table, dry and recommend water about 3" below the material, if cutting with a water table. Getting water levels up seems aids in some sheet cooling on thin stock. If you spend the time with proper drains and up fill from a reservoir you can do whatever at any time. We chose not to spend the $ . XR machine ,
K
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Is this recipe safe for heating and breathing?
will nitrate work instead of nitrite?
No, it won’t. Two different chemical compounds.
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I will keep sayimg this over and over…
what ever you decide to put in your water…read the MSDS / SDS sheet on the products you put in the water.
Plasma cutting fluid is designed for the applications of plasma cutting.
many of the home mixes use chemicals that when exposed to heat and flame chage and become extremely dangerous.
Plasma cutting is toxic enough not to be adding more toxic substances…
I see people adding radiator test fluid / powder to the water…sure it works…but have you read the information on it…dangerous…
just be informed and have ventilation and wear proper repsirator as required.
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We used radiator fluid…no problem. We all agreed!
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One smart cow!
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Graduated magna cow laude!
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I use 1 cup or so per 5 gallons. I use pH test strips to verify its right before filling the table.
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Has anyone found an affordable source for sodium nitrite? It’s not available on Amazon except in curing salts (6.25%) and greases. Seems there was some brouhaha over it being used in suicide kits (see Sodium nitrite - Wikipedia), and I guess after the lawsuit Amazon banned it’s sale. It’s also not available on eBay, and any commercial suppliers are charging an arm and a leg for it.
The Plasma Green 9010, Sterling-Cool, and other commercial fluids are all pretty pricey, too. I may try Borax in the interim.
Has any used washer fluid? I don’t know if it would even work so just a thought. The plus side for me is it won’t freeze but not sure if it hold anti corrosion properties or not haven’t done any research on it yet
Welcome to the forum. This topic has been discussed extensively on the forum. Net: DO NOT CONCOCT your own fluid. The temperatures of a plasma torch will turn most solutions into something very dangerous. Read what works and use it, don’t try to invent your own.
Plain water is step 1. It works and who cares if your slats have rust on them.
Step 2. Plain water, but drain and refill every time you use your table. That’s easy and effective.
Step 3. Use a well known and APPROVED solution to attempt to keep your slats pretty. After a dozen burns they won’t be, but you can try…
UPDATE: Freezing won’t hurt your table.
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Awesome. New to the site and haven’t even started cutting with my table yet so was just having some thoughts.
Well good that you’re asking questions. I think, if there is a ‘secret’ to CNC Plasma cutting, #1 is making sure you have plenty of very dry air and then quality consumables for your torch. Those are the two recurring problems cited on this site.
Then, be methodical in learning what works and doesn’t. Helter Skelter doesn’t work, you won’t learn. Step by step, piecewise experiments on scrap material will teach you what you need to know.
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I’m waiting on my air dryer to show up and I will also run a desiccant system so hopefully no moisture issues.
I stocked up on consumables but I’m sure I will burn through them.
I’ve been learning the cad/cam stuff as I have time. I’m a wireless tech so I have a lot of PC background just not in any design software so it’s been a learning curve but getting better.
Thank you for the tips and I’m sure I will have far more questions once I’m up and running
That will help you troubleshoot RFI/EMI and Ground Loop issues that you may have with this system. The Crossfire electronics tends to treat all grounds the same, but with this high power, they aren’t, and the Work lead on the plasma cutter is often mistakenly called ‘Ground Lead’ making matters worse…