consumables for hypertherm

[rwehavinfunyet]

i have a powermax 1000 and i was wondering where is the best place to purchase consumables? I seem to be going through the fine cuts like crazy. also what does everyone use for detailed art? fine? or 40? thanks lisa

[trucks1948]

I have a hypertherm 1000 and i use fine cut and get really good life out of them.i cut mostly 16 and 14 gage.Talk with Jim Colt and make sure the pierce height and cut height are correct.I get most of my consumables off ebay,i think it is Harris welding.jim

[boodog710]

Lisa, I have a Hypertherm 1250 and use the fine line consumables for cuts 12 ga and smaller. They actually last me longer than the shielded consumables. In your case, the first thing that comes to mind is moisture. What do you do to control it. It's the worst enemy of your consumables. Once I dried my air, they lasted 2 to 3 times longer. There are several methods to do this. All have been discussed here at length. Use the search at the top of the page.

Also, on Hypertherm's web page there is a section on the use and care of consumables. Like a lesson with question at the end. It takes less than 20 - 30 minutes.

One other thing I do is I don't mix electrodes and nozzles. By that I mean once I "mate" and electrode and nozzle, I don't switch them around. For whatever reason this seems to help extend the life of the pair.

Hope this helps,
Jack

[jimcolt]

If I could see pictures of your used consumables (nozzle and electrode)....and you could describe why you are changing them (cut quality issues or misfiring?)...then I could offer advice. One other thing.....make sure you are using the deflector shield part number ending in 404 for FineCut cutting.....this shield extends slightly past the nozzle and does not allow the nozzle to contact the plate....which causes rapid nozzle wear. Other things to consider:

1. Keep amperage as low as possible with the FineCut nozzle. At 35 or 40 amps it will last longer than at 45 or 50.
2. clean dry compressed air at the pressure settings listed in the Hyperthem manual.
3. Maximum thickness should be 10 ga.
4. Pierce height should be higher than cut height 1.5 or 2x.


Jim Colt

[rwehavinfunyet]

we do powder coating as well and have an air dryer so i dont think that is the problem. i dont have the deflector on tho so i will get one of those. i think i am having trouble with my height. i get blow back and it plugs the hole. I will have to try a few things and see if it does better.

[WSS]

I just ran into a bunch of trouble with finecuts and found that the torch was not retracting enough to let it fire correctly. It would not actually start until motion started (very wrong I know). What happened was I increased the downward search force to compensate for a rough spot and on thinner gauge stuff it pushed/bent the steel too much and the retract amount was about equal to the flex.

WSS