Problem cutting program

hello, I am having a problem cutting a program it pierces and starts the cut but at some point it will stop piercing for the cuts but continue running the program like its a dry run.

what plasma cutter are you using?

check if your torch has a 2T 4T switch…

its a primeweld cut60 it does have a 2t 4t switch. i have cut bottle openers and the throwing knives from the fireshare. they turned out perfect. this was a glock sign i got from plasmaspider. it started with the o and all tgree times i tried it cut it out successfully but twice thats where it stopped cutting and just dry running. on the other it made it half way then started dry running. i figured it was just a problem with the gcode or something since everything else cut fine but wasnt sure

make sure you have enough air going into the cutter. whats the psi output on your tank? Also what psi do you have it on for your cutter?

its a 27 gallon tank i have it set at 55 psi

Not enough pressure at the torch!
I have 120 psi from Compressor to the CUT60. The CUT60 Regulator is set at around 80 psi when not firing. When it fires, the psi at the CUT60 drops to around 75psi as expected. This works for me.
27gal reservoir seems a bit low and the compressor may not be able to keep-up with the air demand. I am using a Campbell Hausfeld 60gal and a lot of folk here are using 60gal and up.

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thanks for the advice. next purchase is a bigger compressor. its just what i had before. so you think its basically running out of air? that makes sense cuz the one time it cut half of it the compressor was on.

Absolutely!

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you have air problems for sure…
Cletus is bang on…need to supply higher pressure to most plasma units and the internal regulator adjusts pressure from there to run the torch…if thereis not enough pressure the torch will turn off to save the tips…
Other plasma cutters have external regulators…but of the pressure is not enough then the plasma will still cut off.

also…that small a compressor running that hard will create a lot of moisture…make sure to drain it and get some type of dryer installed to remove the moisture.

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i bought a dryer but i havent had time to put it on yet. Theres no regulator at the tank so i dont know how much pressure is feeding into the machine. atleast i know its an air problem. thank you guya for tge responses. ill have to do some work to my air system and buy a bigger tank

bigger tank is not always the cure. I have a decent California 20 gallon compressor…but it has a hard time keeping up…even with a 60 gallon reserve between the compressor and plasma.
I have to take breaks often…until I buy a proper High volume CFM/PSI compressor.

I’m running my cut60 of a harbor freight 29 gallon belt driven compressor… the cfm’s output is 6.4 @ 90psi and the cutter needs 5.7 @ 90. I would say it’s the bare minimum… I also recently added a 26 gallon reserve tank to it to help in cutting a little longer before the pump kicks in.

Look for a compressor that produces more cfm’s than was the cutter needs and you’ll be good. If you can afford a bigger compressor with 1.5x’s or more the cfm’s then go for.

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mine is 4.7 @90. ill have to look into other tanks and reserves. thanks for the actual numbers of what i need.

keep in mind that if you have a small tank but meet the minimum scfm…your compressor will not shut down much.

this is true… the compressor i have kicks in every 6-7 cuts while cutting. adding the reserve, i now have a “55” gallon compressor so it doesn’t kick in until a few more cuts from before.

I wonder if he tested on lighter material at lower amps if the lower pressure would be sufficient? It would allow him to cut lighter gauge until a new compressor could be had.

ps I’m just thinking out load. Plazma has come a long way since I started using it in the 80s. I have a 20 year old handheld Hypertherm 350 (35amp) that cuts 3/16 at 50 psi without a problem.

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No harm in trying I guess, but I suspect results will be iffy until a properly sized compressor is installed.

im cutting 14 gauge at 40 amps and 55 psi when i had the problem. just fyi. im gonna try and put the psi up and see if that fixes it but i understand i need a better air system

most likely it will shut down or damage the tip

so i was messing with it and it was still doing the same thing in the beginning and started dry running but than it cut all the branches and leaves from the tree in one run without shutting off or running out of air. im guessing because it will only shut off if there is not enough air for a pierce?