cutting aluminum

[icmplasma85]

I mainly work with steel, but I have some jobs coming up that I need to cut aluminum. I tried cutting a few test cuts on 1/4" and the torch dove into the aluminum badly. I always follow book specs and havent had any problem cutting steel from the very beginning. I have a plasmacam dhc2 and a powermax 65, they are both new, work great and love both of them and Im positive whatever is going wrong is a fault on my end, just havent figured it out. Any help is appreciated.

[Fountaine]

Do you have a THC, if not how can you increase your volts to get the torch up?

[icmplasma85]

yes i have the basic heighth control and my min and max settings are 3 and 12

[jimcolt]

With the basic height control you need to refer to your PlasmaCam video manual....and go through the procedure to set the correct z axis offset. Best bet is to go to the plasmacam website and get on the user forum...and have the other users help with this question.

I use a PlasmaCam with the advanced height control.....never have a torch diving problem on any material.

Jim Colt

yes i have the basic heighth control and my min and max settings are 3 and 12

[d bushey]

I had the same problem yesterday with .125 aluminum and raised the arc volts to around 140 problem solved. Also using hypertherm 165 with torch height control.