warp steel

[jrios]

i jus bought an used torchmate plasma..and ive been using it just fine...but when i changed the electrode and the tip it started warping the steel and not cuttin right ... iam cutting at 40 amps 14 gauge steel..
any suggestions its a thermal dynamic

[admin]

40 amps should do a good jog at a lower cut speed. What speed are you running?

Many Thermal Dynamics plasma cutters have a function built in that will cut the output power back by more than half (not sure exactly how much) if it detects that the tip has made contact with the material. This happens a lot when the material is warping (thc or automatic torch height control will help to solve this problem).

Chances are that you are not cutting at the appropriate speed and the material is warping to the point where it is contacting the torch and cutting your power back resulting in uncut or nasty looking parts.

Let us know your speed and give us an update.

admin

[jrios]

iam cutting at 1.32 incher per second...

[admin]

Have you tried to increase the cut speed in an effort to minimize the warping effect? If you can minimize the warping then you will be less likley to drag on the steel and cause additional problems.

Do you have automatic height control on your Torchmate system?

admin

[jrios]

well i lowered the speed speed and it stopped warping the plate i guess i got confused with ramp speed and torch speed...the ramp speed was slower than the ramp speedit does have auutomatic voltage control but it doesnt seem to work it just goes up and down eratically,,,,i relly dont knw whats the purpose of the avc....i bought my tracker machine used and the guy that sold it to me had misplaced the operating manual....so i have been learning with trial and error..

[admin]

Glad to hear your warping issue is now resolved.

When you started this topic you mentioned you had a Torchmate and in your last post you said you had a Tracker.

Please clarify what type of machine you own and we should be able to help you resolve your auto height control issues.

THC or automatic torch height control is essential and you will be thrilled once you get it functioning better.

admin

[jrios]

its a tracker machine.. dang iam such a dork what was i thinking i guess its just that i see that name TORCHMATE alot in this website ajajaja

[admin]

Ok. Make sure your 110vac input cable to the computer and interface has a proper ground. If the ground pin in the plug is cut off or the outlet is wired incorrect then you won't get anywhere on your auto height control issue.

Check that and post your finding then we will move on.

Admin

[Metal Lee]

If you have a tracker table you will be using Comn'd and cut control software, the box needs to be checked in the AVC On, next on the control panel there is a POT that you use to to adjust the height while you are running. If you don't see fluctuation in the torch height while adjusting the POT it may be due to the sensitivity span is out this can be adjusted, if you look closlely at the board you will see a resesed pot that can be changed with a narrow slotted screw driver, you can make slight adjustments and then try cutting again. Some of this you may or may not know, just trying to help. I have a Nitro Plasma table wich uses the same software a controls. I will try to help if I can.

[jrios]

sorry i havent responded yet iam currently having problems with my computer and it is being fixed......it turns out the motherboard is bad and the power supply as well...its an 05 tracker machine and the guy i bought it from apparently never blew off the metal dust from the computer because when i disassembled it it was covered in black dust which iam sure was the cause of the computer failure...i called the guys at tracker and they told me that blowing off the dust is a weekly maintanence for the computer to kkeep on running efficiently... i tried changing ram slots but that didnt work so the computer is out to a local tech who i hope can help me......

[admin]

Computers...the other consumable item. Sorry to hear, hope your back up soon.

admin