tips, amps, speeds, psi..

[parrotlady]

Hi all,

So I finally have my table running, and it is doing everything it is supposed to do.. What I am trying to figure out now is some basic guidelines for tips, amps etc..

I realize there are some wide margins but there must be a starting point?

Right now there is a 20amp tip in my hypertherm 1250 (it was already in there from the previous owner, and appears brand new). I did a line speed test on 20g, and I am getting good cuts at 135 ipm which kind of seems fast.

I have alot of 40 amp tips (came with the machine). Should I switch the tips?
Could someone give me a guidline for cutting fairly uncomplicated things out of 16,18, and 20g mild steel? I just want to know if i am in the right ballpark or not.

Thanks so much

April

[teknition1]

Hi April,

Here is a link to the owners manual for your machine. It has the cutting charts on pages 4-15 to 4-19 as well as alot of other good info. Use the machine torch guidelines even if you are using a hand torch on your table. Hypertherm engineers spent many hours testing the cut settings and they are pretty close to perfect. If you need further assistance, there is a hypertherm rep named Jim Colt in the hypertherm forum on cnczone.com that can answer any most any hypertherm related questions.

owners manual:
https://www.hypertherm.com/library/file ... 3950r1.pdf

hypertherm forum:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/hypertherm_plasma/

hope this helps

Brad

edited to add: I see Jim Colt hangs out here as well.

[parrotlady]

Thanks Brad! I do actually have that manual, but I suppose i just wanted to clarify a few things.. First off, I think this 20 amp tip is confusing me because in the manual, the lowest listed is 40amp, so I think I had better change the tip even though it seems to be doing fine.

The other thing is that on the page that lists the 40amp mechanized tip, the material listed goes from 22g to 18 and I want to cut 20g.... I suppose I should just take an average from between the two?

The other thing I wanted to clarify is; what is the arc current? I assume the arc voltage is what I set my height control at ( i have an automatic one, where I set it to manual and take an average reading, then dial that in and press auto), but whats the arc current?

Also, how do I know what amps to set the torch at? Is that the arc current?

Thanks so much for your patience! As you can tell, i am still learning and apparently have a long way to go

April

[parrotlady]

Thanks leatherhands... it is all coming together now in my brain

April