Hypertherm SYNC fine cut cartridge

[cutnweld]

Hello everyone, I thought I would give some feedback on my experience thus far with the SYNC finecut cartridge. I was, as some of you may know, diehard, dead set against the SYNC system. Well, I decided to see for myself how they actually compare. For a bit of History, I do a wide range of cutting, with the thickest I have ever cut with my 85 amp being 1 3/4", the thinnest 18 gauge. And everything in between. When doing artistic work I tried various times to use the fine cuts, but never had much luck. It seemed like they were so fiddley, and would not last anything worth speaking of. Like literally a couple hundred pierces. No problems with the regular tips, just fine cut. Well one day I bit the bullet and ordered the adapter and a fine cut cartridge. One 400 plus pierce fire ring and one intricate wedding sign later, I am hooked. It even sounds different when its cutting, and on the longer full speed cuts the slag can be wiped off with a glove, or fingernail if your careful. I don't know how long it will last, but it has certainly outlasted any other fine cuts I have used, and I am going to try higher amp cartridges next. I know I may go on some hate lists for saying something good about the system but hey, it worked for me!

[acourtjester]

Info from a user is much better, like the player on the field verse the people in the stands.
Thanks for the report, I'm sure a company like Hypertherm wants to keep the customer happy, sounds like you are.

[rdj357]

I agree, they work great. I have a great experience with the regular FineCut also but the cartridges are absolutely a nice setup. I helped an owner this past week get setup and cut a 4x8 sheet of 3/4” plate nested full of pipe flanges. The 85a cartridge was still cutting fine at the end of the sheet without an end of life error. I don’t think it will last too much longer but it did a great job.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Thank You for your real world "One of us" review. I have great luck with all of the older (Non SYNC) consumables which is why I strongly dislike the newer systems.

[rick_b]

You guys must be getting different FineCuts cartridges than we do here, I have nothing but trouble with them the SYNC system and Hypertherm.

[rdj357]

Nope, same ones.

[Gogo]

i just pulled one off the cutter that had over 2000 pierces in 14 gauge and was still cutting pretty well. i had an important piece so i finally used a new one, i have the older unit but got the adapter. the cutting settings are very different. i’m sold on the fine cut.

[cutnweld]

Rick B, I have a brand new Powermax 85 that I would consider selling

[SegoMan DeSigns]

They had some problems with the original batch and did an upgrade, you can return the old to your place of purchase and get new replacements.

[rick_b]

Rick B, I have a brand new Powermax 85 that I would consider selling

Thanks, but this is a new SYNC 105 on a new machine. It has been such a problem, I have had to get our old machine back into service(lucky we didn't sell it) that machine has a powermax 105 on it and it runs the old-style FineCut consumables and cuts around 60 to 100 sheets of 1.5mm a day.

[rick_b]

i just pulled one off the cutter that had over 2000 pierces in 14 gauge and was still cutting pretty well. i had an important piece so i finally used a new one, i have the older unit but got the adapter. the cutting settings are very different. i’m sold on the fine cut.

2000, I wish ours would give us that, at the moment the best I have had was 1100 the worse was 550, and at $80+ a pop the cost starts to add up.

[rdj357]

Sounds like you’re not maintaining the correct cut height. (3.5mm pierce height, 3.5mm cut height) Assuming you have the revision B cartridges that have the castle looking end and not the flat nose and are running at book settings of .2 seconds to pierce the path and 109 mm/sec then you should be getting great results IF you’re achieving and maintaining that cut height.

[Gogo]

at $80+ a pop the cost starts to add up.

you might want to put an AUS after that $80 so people don’t freak and tell you your oaying too much.

[rick_b]

Sounds like you’re not maintaining the correct cut height. (3.5mm pierce height, 3.5mm cut height) Assuming you have the revision B cartridges that have the castle looking end and not the flat nose and are running at book settings of .2 seconds to pierce the path and 109 mm/sec then you should be getting great results IF you’re achieving and maintaining that cut height.

Yep by the book, "mild steel FineCut high speed" type B cartridges. This is on a new machine which was a tad under $200K-AU so it's not a toy. Had the Hypertherm tech here for 3 days and the machine tech here all up for around 15 days and the results are still crap.

[rick_b]

at $80+ a pop the cost starts to add up.

you might want to put an AUS after that $80 so people don’t freak and tell you your oaying too much.

Yes, I realize I forgot the AU after I submitted it.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Yep by the book, "mild steel FineCut high speed" type B cartridges. This is on a new machine which was a tad under $200K-AU so it's not a toy. Had the Hypertherm tech here for 3 days and the machine tech here all up for around 15 days and the results are still crap.

I understand you pain...

Does your machine allow 2 torches to be mounted, plenty of room on skate and cable tray for a second lead? You could mount a 45 XP as a second / fine cut torch.. a magnetic mount would allow torch change outs..

[rdj357]

Sounds like you’re not maintaining the correct cut height. (3.5mm pierce height, 3.5mm cut height) Assuming you have the revision B cartridges that have the castle looking end and not the flat nose and are running at book settings of .2 seconds to pierce the path and 109 mm/sec then you should be getting great results IF you’re achieving and maintaining that cut height.

Yep by the book, "mild steel FineCut high speed" type B cartridges. This is on a new machine which was a tad under $200K-AU so it's not a toy. Had the Hypertherm tech here for 3 days and the machine tech here all up for around 15 days and the results are still crap.

That’s unfortunate, I recall now that we’ve had a similar conversation about this previously. I’m sorry you’re having so much trouble. As someone who sees a lot of different machines and setups, I still 100% fault the machine and not the Hypertherm technology. I was a harsh critic from the beginning because of the flawed design but once the engineers at Hypertherm resolved the ohmic sensing issues of their original design I’ve seen nothing but success *from machines that maintain accurate height*. I guess machines are like wine, being expensive makes them more likely to be good but just because they are expensive doesn’t guarantee they are in fact good. I’d be calling it a lot worse than a toy.

[cutnweld]

Mine are flush on the end and guess what, after all my bragging it blew shortly after... How do I get type b? My dealer doesnt know much about hypertherm he just orders the part numbers that i supply

[rdj357]

Keep the old one!! Hypertherm will warranty all used or new type A cartridges. If your supplier doesn't know how then have them call Hypertherm or you call them yourself. Pull your receipts and have them ready.

[rick_b]

[/quote]

That’s unfortunate, I recall now that we’ve had a similar conversation about this previously. I’m sorry you’re having so much trouble. As someone who sees a lot of different machines and setups, I still 100% fault the machine and not the Hypertherm technology. I was a harsh critic from the beginning because of the flawed design but once the engineers at Hypertherm resolved the ohmic sensing issues of their original design I’ve seen nothing but success *from machines that maintain accurate height*. I guess machines are like wine, being expensive makes them more likely to be good but just because they are expensive doesn’t guarantee they are in fact good. I’d be calling it a lot worse than a toy.
[/quote]

Robert,

Yes, you are right I have been calling it a lot worse than a toy on a number of occasions.

I get where you are going with the machine not holding its cut height. I first thought that too, but the machine has a readout on the screen for its cut height and it stays constant. You mention "Hypertherm ohmic sensing issues" When was that? Hypertherm here fitted their new (Ducks nuts)EtherCat Interface to this machine I know it's new as we had to wait 6 weeks for it to come off the production line. I keep thinking something is missing from somewhere but I don't know what. Neither the Hypertherm nor the machine techs have been able to work it out and all that seems to be happening is we are just going around in circles

[adbuch]

I get where you are going with the machine not holding its cut height. I first thought that too, but the machine has a readout on the screen for its cut height and it stays constant.

As some have discovered in the past, just because the machine has a readout does not necessarily mean that it is accurate. The best thing to do (which you may already have done) would be to pause the machine mid-cut and take accurate measurements of the actual cut height.

David

[adbuch]

Rick B, I have a brand new Powermax 85 that I would consider selling

Thanks, but this is a new SYNC 105 on a new machine. It has been such a problem, I have had to get our old machine back into service(lucky we didn't sell it) that machine has a powermax 105 on it and it runs the old-style FineCut consumables and cuts around 60 to 100 sheets of 1.5mm a day.

After re-reading the posts, I now understand that you have two completely different tables/cutters. The old one with the Powermax 105, and the new one with the Sync 105. So it is not just a simple matter of swapping out the plasma cutters as I think was suggested. This sounds to me more like "teething" problems with the new table and/or new table/cutter combination. I would be curious to know if your problem persists if you use the Powermax 105 (non-Sync) on the new table.

David

[rick_b]

Rick B, I have a brand new Powermax 85 that I would consider selling

Thanks, but this is a new SYNC 105 on a new machine. It has been such a problem, I have had to get our old machine back into service(lucky we didn't sell it) that machine has a powermax 105 on it and it runs the old-style FineCut consumables and cuts around 60 to 100 sheets of 1.5mm a day.

After re-reading the posts, I now understand that you have two completely different tables/cutters. The old one with the Powermax 105, and the new one with the Sync 105. So it is not just a simple matter of swapping out the plasma cutters as I think was suggested. This sounds to me more like "teething" problems with the new table and/or new table/cutter combination. I would be curious to know if your problem persists if you use the Powermax 105 (non-Sync) on the new table.

David

David,

I thought of doing that but I was told it will not work as the electronics are for the SYNC and will not work with the old 105.