Ceramic coated slats and slat cleaners

[Napualima]

I manage the burn table crews at my job and we're looking at using the Walter E-Weld ceramic coating. Has anyone tried this yet? What are the pros and cons you've experienced? We burn about 16 hours a day on a Messer Titan III with the downdraft table and we cut mostly 3/16-1" material with an occasional 2-3" plate for oxy fuel so we get a lot of run time on our table.

Another option we're looking at one of those slat cleaners that you drag across the slats and if anyone has experience with one of those I'd be interested hearing about your experience with that as well.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Here is a video of the Trumpf cleaner in action, What I found works best on my table is to use a sharks tooth design on the slat(as shown in the vid) and then flood it with water. I have also seen people make tumblers to clean their slats,,

[Napualima]

That's really cool. I looked at Slag Hog as an option. Applying the ceramic coating was too complicated to squeeze into our schedule so we're trying a spray on each time kind of spray. We'll find out soon because we just got a sample in the mail. Thank you for your reply.

[PlasmaDon]

If the slat does not burn away under the kerf, it may cause shorter tip life.

[DieselFumes]

If the slat does not burn away under the kerf, it may cause shorter tip life.

No kidding! Why is that?

[PlasmaDon]

If the slat does not burn away under the kerf, it may cause shorter tip life.

No kidding! Why is that?

I have a neighbor weld shop with an older plasma table.
to preclude changing the slats (theirs are bar grating)
They lay 2" x 1/4" angle down like mountains, random lengths here & there.
These are so covered with slag, they are at least 3/4" thick now.

They are complaining about shortened tip life, so I watched a few parts being cut.

The blowback on pierce (1/2" plate) was a normal shower back up, but when the torch passed
over these slag covered angles, the blowback (for at least 3/4" of cut line) was 10x worse.

I pointed this out, but the continue to insist the short tip life is cause by piercing.......

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Some people's logic circuits are coated in dross as well.. Slats are listed under the consumable list just like the torch consumables and general maintenance. His cut quality has probably diminished greatly requiring more time in secondary cleanup.

I started with flat strip then went to a 1/4" bump similar to the plasma cam design now it is the sharks tooth design. This design gives you a prolonged slat life and cleaner cut quality.

The ultimate design would to be a sharks tooth cut out of copper stock. A cost break down would be beneficial to the severe users.

[DieselFumes]

10-4, makes sense since it has to essentially cut through a much thicker piece every time it passes over a slat. Thanks PlasmaDon

[Deezl Smoke]

If the slat does not burn away under the kerf, it may cause shorter tip life.

No kidding! Why is that?

I have a neighbor weld shop with an older plasma table.
to preclude changing the slats (theirs are bar grating)
They lay 2" x 1/4" angle down like mountains, random lengths here & there.
These are so covered with slag, they are at least 3/4" thick now.

They are complaining about shortened tip life, so I watched a few parts being cut.

The blowback on pierce (1/2" plate) was a normal shower back up, but when the torch passed
over these slag covered angles, the blowback (for at least 3/4" of cut line) was 10x worse.

I pointed this out, but the continue to insist the short tip life is cause by piercing.......

This is just what I've been experiencing, and have uploaded pictures here in a few of my recent topics. There not only has to be a place for the molten kerf to escape, but if I have a nice fit between the plate and the slats with no air gap, the plasma senses this and starts changing torch height to keep the voltage in perimeter. Thick plate has so much slower torch speed, it's a whole different ball game than thin sheet.
The members here and Tcaudle have been a great help with settings to minimize issues on my table, but for certain, slat design and maintenance are a very big part of consumable life, cut quality, and overall performance and satisfaction with the machine.

[PlasmaDon]

Well......they asked me, and I watched for 15 minutes and told them what i wrote.....they laughed and said "No, it's from the piercing".
And proceeded to burn out 10 plates about 6" sq. without the holes in each corner, and then set up the ironworker to punch them all....
All to get more tip life from the plasma.....

Could have let the table burn the holes, and drop the parts off complete, while they go do something productive elsewhere.

I can lead them to water.....but can't make them think.