Ultra Cut 200XT frying consumables

[welderrprman]

I am working on an Ultra Cut 200Xt with the XT300 machine torch. This is mounted to a CNC table etc. The machine uses air for the pilot then transfers to Oxygen for the plasma cut. The electrode and tip get coated between them with a black substance. Copper Oxide II, I believe.
Supposedly this is caused by moisture either in the air supply or Oxygen. It destroys the consumables and apparently prevents the pilot from transferring to the work. Error code 106 comes up. Pilot arc did not transfer. The air supply appears to be OK as it has a refrigerate dryer and one of those toilet paper filters at the input to the machine. Has anyone had problems with bottled Oxygen generally used for oxy acetylene apps? Supposedly there are more refined Oxygen types available but are more expensive. Supplier won't sell medical oxygen without a license?

[cuttinparts]

It does sound like your air is wet and/or dirty, not likely your bottled oxygen giving you this issue. It is possible that your drier is not functioning properly. I had lots of moisture issues at first and now use a Sharpe 2 stage filter at the inlet of my refrigerated drier which feeds clean and drier air to my Sharpe desiccant drier which is mounted close to the plasma cutter. This in conjunction with routine compressor tank draining has solved my blackened consumable issue and I can cut MUCH longer on a set of consumables.

[CEMClo]

I have problems with moisture every cut. I was assuming that it was coolant leaking in the torch head

[CEMClo]

I really love the thermal dynamics plasma units

[CEMClo]

Are there any threads on the XT300&301 torch?? We go through Cartridges, shield cups, electrodes swirl rings... everything so fast...

[cuttinparts]

Are there any threads on the XT300&301 torch?? We go through Cartridges, shield cups, electrodes swirl rings... everything so fast...
Always change the air from Run to Set to purge after part changes.. i dont use that oxygen grease garbage they give you, i scrub the cartridge and everything with oil based soap. coat every consumable with ani spatter(before purging and drying)
And the cartridges are still always full of crud. i check the torch head during heavy cutting so i dont overheat the damn thing since its made of plastic.
(using 1/2in i.e) i have to pierce at .5, cut at .32, cut at 40ipm, with amps at 85 and voltage at 180. if i dont ill get 30 cuts from a full set of consumables. using my parameters i can get many more (sacrificy electrodes)but forget cutting any hole smaller that 10 inches at that height. corners are fine idk how it, never pauses on corners unless im cutting 2 inch.
i cant even load the 55a consumables in a brand new cartridge because it turns into a sprinkler head.
messing with the air pressure changes nothing. it cuts the same at 120psi as it does at 60. no changes in flame density or length as far as i can tell. im pretty sure the gas distributors(swirl rings) are so undersized and ineffective it has no swirl

I'm no pro but if your moisture issue was coolant I expect you would be topping up your coolant on a regular basis to replace whats missing?

I was also told that oil's or oil based cleaners and such were not good to get on the consumable items. Was explained to me to treat the electrode and nozzle like a halogen bulb.

[CEMClo]

The amount of coolant lost isn’t much compared to what you lose from consumable changes and idk the oily residue mixed with antispatter has worked pretty well for me. That’s been the soul difference in keeping the arc off the edges of the electrode and only burning it dead center