Tripping Main Breaker

Share information on your Everlast Plasma Cutter or whatever brand and model of Plasma Cutter you’re using on your Go Fab CNC machine.
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QDCLLC
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:08 pm
Tripping Main Breaker

Post by QDCLLC » Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:45 pm

Hi All,

We've been using the PowerEdge 80 now for about 4 months, and despite the minor flaws with the table (torch height control/z axis issues, gantry staying square) the cutter has performed well. About a month ago, it blew its first torch - completely melted the area around the swirl ring and I chocked that up to user error. I went to avortec and ordered more consumables and a new IPTM-80 Torch head. All was okay until that torch then literally shorted out. It fried the air supply tube, and completely melted the wire leading to the head. (Surprisingly, this wire was only about 14ga despite the 80A rating.) I contacted avortec, who noted that something might be amiss with the settings. I double checked the air pressure, water separators, tips and applicable amp setting for each. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Today, two days into the new torch I'm trying to finish cutting 11ga diamond plate A500 and the thing is having trouble maintaining a cut with a 1.2 tip @ 45A. The THC is set on AUTO, and the plunge/ignite/cut settings are all per GOFAB default.

My code has a series of around 60 pierces, and about every third or fourth it would refuse to fire. I thought this was weird, and just paused and then restarted the code to inspire the cutter to ignite. Once that issue was over, I noticed that it would do the same pause when it tried to ignite longer cuts. Kept babysitting it, and then all of a sudden it just refused to ignite completely. I look down, and the cutter is completely dead. The 100A breaker on the back is tripped, so I reset it and went to my central panel at the shop. I flip that and notice that once its set it pops immediately with a bit of visible spark/light behind the panel. Obviously, this isn't good and I suspect that there's a dead short somewhere.

Has anyone experienced this at all? I have a feeling that the cutter may have been on its way out when it began consuming non-consumable components with all the settings set appropriately. Now I''m dead in the water, a 2/3 cut sheet on the table and more material wasted!

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.


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