I’m having some trouble with the water level (and splashback) on a Crossfire XR with a Hypertherm Powermax 45XP. I typically have no issues at all for a good spell of time, but then I get a “Torch Stuck Open” fault light somewhere in the middle of the job, which shuts me down for a while. I’d like to know if anyone has info or recommended next steps to follow in this case.
My hypotheses for the cause:
-Splashback from water table hits torch, makes the torch think it’s stuck open, no way for it to tell the system unless the THC control senses movement without a plasma Arc. the problem is that the THC doesn’t always work for me with certain materials, I’m sometimes cutting some rather thin stuff.
I’ve seen recommendations for water table height from bottom of workpiece that tend to be all over the place, I’ve been sticking with a water level about 1” - 1.5” from bottom of part to top of water.
I don’t think that a splash guard of some sort would fix this issue, the problem seems to be direct contact of water hitting the torch nozzle tip.
Pictures would help, pictures always helps, can we ask for pictures?
I’ve never heard of or seen a “torch stuck open” fault on anything so unsure where that is displayed? Is it a Hypertherm error code? A Firecontrol error code? Where?
I cut tons with my Hypertherm 45XP, thick and thin, on different tables, and “water splashing” has never been an issue. In fact, I’ve accidentally filled a water table a bit too much as I’ve walked away from my table during refills and cut on it anyway.
I’d have so much splashing back that bubbles would form/blow out through my torch during post-flow.
So if you can share exactly where this issue occurs, and maybe even post pictures of your consumables.
The error you are getting means the plasma misfired. You don’t even have to cycle the power to reset it. Most common occurrence I have seen it is with your consumables. My guess is the swirl ring needs changed. I actually bought a new one some time back and it constantly caused miss fires.
As for it having anything to do with the water you would have to have the torch underwater or wet enough to cause the electrode to corrode. I have even cut submerged before doing testing I don’t believe that the water is the issue.
I have had the same issue as Philip with the Hypertherm swirl rings. The ring seemed to have swelled and was causing the electrode to bind. I ordered a new one and it was also tight on the electrodes. I ended up just sanding the inside of the swirl ring a bit and it works fine.