Cutting 16 ga at 30 instead of 45 amps

[shiner2001]

The majority of my cutting is 16 gauge (signs and wall art), but the other day I had a huge project that I cut out of 20 ga instead. I always cut my 16 ga stuff at 45 amps (book setting) and I think 220 ipm. I dialed down to 30 amps to cut the 20 gauge to reduce warping and heat discoloration. I then forgot to dial back up to 45 when I went back to my normal 16 ga stuff and it cut beautifully. Less dross, less warpage, less discoloration, etc. However, I didn't change anything else in Sheetcam when I did that, I just forgot to change the dial on my torch. Is that bad? Because I loved the results. I don't know what all changes (if any) Sheetcam makes if you give it a different amperage for a particular tool.

[gsi]

We use 30 amps to cut 16 ga all the time. It works really well compared to 40 amps for us. If it cuts it and gives you desired results, I see no reason to stay away from it.

[david47julie]

I have a TD 101 and I often cut 16 ga with a 40 amp tip at 30-35 amps but only when the tip is new and in good shape. I believe it gives me a little bit longer tip life and better cut quality on finer detail but as the tip wears i bump the amps up (as long as the tip is wearing evenly and still firing strait I might go as high as 45 amps before I change the tip) I also at the first sine of tip not firing straight remove the tip and use a tip cleaner to make sure there is not something in the tip deflecting the stream (if you clean your tip before the angled stream of plasma damages the tip you can extend the useful life of the tip not indefinitely but it will extend the life of the tip) I have tried 30 amp tips but have not noticed any improvement over a 40 amp tip at 30 amps ( as long as the tip is in good shape)

[jimcolt]

That is why the amperage knob is there! There are many different speeds , amperages and heights that can achieve the desired results. The ones published in the operators manuals provide the best combination of dross, warpage, speed. edge quality. Sometimes it makes the most sense to just turn down the amperage.....though you usually lose the wide dross free speed zone when you do this. If we published every combination for every material thickness.....there would be a few hundred pages of cut charts! Jim Colt Hypertherm

[Brand X]

I think the fine cut nozzles respond best to lower amperes in thinner metal..You always give up something to gain something.. Like Jim said, it's dross the generally takes a hit. Other things generally bother me more then dross does, so I will always play with settings.. I finally got them working really well for my needs, and will keep messing with them.. I like them on 22 ga, and 25 amps.. More dross, but really tiny kerf, and real nice cut face.. Plus I don't have to run 350 ipm, which is kind of hard on stuff..(IMO) Hypertherm is going to fix it when the new lower amp nozzles come out. There will be way less of a need to turn down the amps on a larger orifice sized nozzle.. The fine cut respond pretty well, because they do have a small orifice size to start out with.. Least that is I think is happening with them.

Now Victors are a whole another story.. Different machines matter as to how they like to cut.. I had the 101--151 series with the standard Machine torch, and the (A spec setup) 52-82, and A-120. The very Same SV torch on all. Every one of them cuts different then each, and every other one. I know the dials can be different, but it's not the amp range that is doing it, but the machines themselves.. I think that why people struggle so much with the parameters. Right now I have a A-60 spec cutmaster 82, and it cuts book speeds, on 3/16 to .375 on the 40 amp settings.. It's cuts are so perfect I feel like smashing my Hypertherm..:)Anyway I would never turn down the amps (so far)until I got into thinner materiel. then only to 35 at the lowest with 40 amp nozzles... I would switch nozzles to 20 or 30 amps first.

Side note,
If anybody is going to Fabtech , be sure to stop by the Thermacut booth. (If they have one there) They have some very nice Machines, and ideas on making consumables ..Very Nice and helpful people to deal with.. (IMO)They really are not just. a backwoods NH company any more.
They just need to make a single phase version for the states..

http://thermacut.ru/images/Download/BRO ... 016-65.pdf

That and the new Cutmaster 60i.. Hope it has a new torch..

[motoguy]

Brandx, what IPM are you using on 22g at 25a?

[Brand X]

I think was down to about 120? I am thinking 83 volts on the thc, but maybe a bit less?,but Sheetcam locked up and I lost every one of my settings.. I do have a little test piece I cut.. It was nicer then the low amp victors setup I was cutting..(other machine though) No warping, and very tight kerf. The test piece was with no water,, It pulled a bit because of the shape and opened up around the one side.. Still is low Kerf...like 10 thousands mostly.. Hand saw blade, so at least I know it will not burn up little details, or warp the piss out of it.. Now you will get more slag, but ok be me.. Center start point was about 20 thou..It's a lot of heat into one area, I am happy at the slow speed setting.

[jimcolt]

If anyone is going to the Fabtech show.....stop at the Hypertherm booths (there will be three). At one we will have our HPRXD plasma doing live cutting as well as an abrasive waterjet system cutting, at another we will be demoing the Powermax45 XP at two hand cutting demo tables....on one you can put the torch and your hand and try cutting and precision gouging (the ability to remove spot welds at 10 amps). There will also be a homebuilt (using precision plasma LLC components) cnc table with a Powermax45 XP cutting and marking. I am working in my home shop building these two downdraft demo tables.....this one will be 100% finished today....every cut on the flat materials was done on my home CNC table with the Powermax45 XP. The mechanized cnc table was built last year at this time in my shop as well. Fun projects! Jim Colt

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[Brand X]

I know this was covered before, but you will mark with one set of consumables, and cut with another? So will it work with the 65 power max at 20 amps? Marking drill points mostly..

[whiskeymike]

If anyone is going to the Fabtech show.....stop at the Hypertherm booths (there will be three). At one we will have our HPRXD plasma doing live cutting as well as an abrasive waterjet system cutting, at another we will be demoing the Powermax45 XP at two hand cutting demo tables....on one you can put the torch and your hand and try cutting and precision gouging (the ability to remove spot welds at 10 amps). There will also be a homebuilt (using precision plasma LLC components) cnc table with a Powermax45 XP cutting and marking. I am working in my home shop building these two downdraft demo tables.....this one will be 100% finished today....every cut on the flat materials was done on my home CNC table with the Powermax45 XP. The mechanized cnc table was built last year at this time in my shop as well. Fun projects! Jim Colt

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Jim, will you have the same setup at SEMA?

[whiskeymike]

The majority of my cutting is 16 gauge (signs and wall art), but the other day I had a huge project that I cut out of 20 ga instead. I always cut my 16 ga stuff at 45 amps (book setting) and I think 220 ipm. I dialed down to 30 amps to cut the 20 gauge to reduce warping and heat discoloration. I then forgot to dial back up to 45 when I went back to my normal 16 ga stuff and it cut beautifully. Less dross, less warpage, less discoloration, etc. However, I didn't change anything else in Sheetcam when I did that, I just forgot to change the dial on my torch. Is that bad? Because I loved the results. I don't know what all changes (if any) Sheetcam makes if you give it a different amperage for a particular tool.

You can change the amperage on the machine when using sheetcam, Mach 3, and CandCNC? I thought it ignored the knob and machine and only allowed setting of volts. Maybe that's a dumb statement, but I thought I had learned that early on.

[SeanP]

The majority of my cutting is 16 gauge (signs and wall art), but the other day I had a huge project that I cut out of 20 ga instead. I always cut my 16 ga stuff at 45 amps (book setting) and I think 220 ipm. I dialed down to 30 amps to cut the 20 gauge to reduce warping and heat discoloration. I then forgot to dial back up to 45 when I went back to my normal 16 ga stuff and it cut beautifully. Less dross, less warpage, less discoloration, etc. However, I didn't change anything else in Sheetcam when I did that, I just forgot to change the dial on my torch. Is that bad? Because I loved the results. I don't know what all changes (if any) Sheetcam makes if you give it a different amperage for a particular tool.

You can change the amperage on the machine when using sheetcam, Mach 3, and CandCNC? I thought it ignored the knob and machine and only allowed setting of volts. Maybe that's a dumb statement, but I thought I had learned that early on.

Not on the old 45 Mike, the new xp will allow that, I have done the same more than a few times marking holes at 25a then come to do the cuts on 12mm

Yep it's well worth trying at lower amps for the thinner stuff, just keep tweeking speed until no dross.

[jimcolt]

whiskeymike, We cancelled out on SEMA for this year....in favor of putting all of our efforts into Fabtech....which is two weeks later also in Vegas.

Jim Colt

If anyone is going to the Fabtech show.....stop at the Hypertherm booths (there will be three). At one we will have our HPRXD plasma doing live cutting as well as an abrasive waterjet system cutting, at another we will be demoing the Powermax45 XP at two hand cutting demo tables....on one you can put the torch and your hand and try cutting and precision gouging (the ability to remove spot welds at 10 amps). There will also be a homebuilt (using precision plasma LLC components) cnc table with a Powermax45 XP cutting and marking. I am working in my home shop building these two downdraft demo tables.....this one will be 100% finished today....every cut on the flat materials was done on my home CNC table with the Powermax45 XP. The mechanized cnc table was built last year at this time in my shop as well. Fun projects! Jim Colt

IMG_3692.JPG

IMG_0311.JPG

IMG_0308.JPG

Jim, will you have the same setup at SEMA?

[whiskeymike]

Not on the old 45 Mike, the new xp will allow that, I have done the same more than a few times marking holes at 25a then come to do the cuts on 12mm

Yep it's well worth trying at lower amps for the thinner stuff, just keep tweeking speed until no dross.

I'm on a HT65. So I assume you can't change the amps on the 65 either when using the mech torch?

[jimcolt]

If your Powermax65 has the serial port (it is optional, and can be upgraded in the field with Hypertherm kit no. 228539) and your cnc electronics has the serial interface capability...then you can let your cnc choose the amperage on a Powermax45 XP, Powermax65, 85 , 105 and 125 system. The original Powermax45 does not have this capability.

You can do marking with the larger units using the marking nozzle and shield that were designed for the Powermax45 XP, however the marking quality will not be nearly as good with the larger systems as compared to the 45 XP.....the XP can go to 10 amps, the larger units have minimum output of 25 and 30 amps...too much power for good quality marking.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Not on the old 45 Mike, the new xp will allow that, I have done the same more than a few times marking holes at 25a then come to do the cuts on 12mm

Yep it's well worth trying at lower amps for the thinner stuff, just keep tweeking speed until no dross.

I'm on a HT65. So I assume you can't change the amps on the 65 either when using the mech torch?

[whiskeymike]

If your Powermax65 has the serial port (it is optional, and can be upgraded in the field with Hypertherm kit no. 228539) and your cnc electronics has the serial interface capability...then you can let your cnc choose the amperage on a Powermax45 XP, Powermax65, 85 , 105 and 125 system. The original Powermax45 does not have this capability.

You can do marking with the larger units using the marking nozzle and shield that were designed for the Powermax45 XP, however the marking quality will not be nearly as good with the larger systems as compared to the 45 XP.....the XP can go to 10 amps, the larger units have minimum output of 25 and 30 amps...too much power for good quality marking.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Yea, I have the CPC, but not the serial.

Bummer about SEMA, I was looking forward to seeing the new stuff. Maybe next year for Fabtech. I couldn't handle two weeks in Vegas in one month!

[jimcolt]

I like SEMA....but you are right, back to back trade shows in Vegas are not fun, and are ridiculously expensive. We'll be back next year for SEMA!

Jim Colt

If your Powermax65 has the serial port (it is optional, and can be upgraded in the field with Hypertherm kit no. 228539) and your cnc electronics has the serial interface capability...then you can let your cnc choose the amperage on a Powermax45 XP, Powermax65, 85 , 105 and 125 system. The original Powermax45 does not have this capability.

You can do marking with the larger units using the marking nozzle and shield that were designed for the Powermax45 XP, however the marking quality will not be nearly as good with the larger systems as compared to the 45 XP.....the XP can go to 10 amps, the larger units have minimum output of 25 and 30 amps...too much power for good quality marking.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Yea, I have the CPC, but not the serial.

Bummer about SEMA, I was looking forward to seeing the new stuff. Maybe next year for Fabtech. I couldn't handle two weeks in Vegas in one month!

[Black Forest]

Not to hijack this thread but....Jim do you have any pictures of the marking with the 45xp?