PowerPro 256 and Plasma Troubles.

[Jason]

Well I have not used the plasma part of my power pro 256 until tonight I hooked it up and gave it a try. Usually we just grab the torch or a smaller parker plasma if we need. Since I have not used mine before I figured I would give it a try and ran into some problems. I had it set at 35A then 50A and 60PSI and 80PSI line pressure to cut 3/16 plate. I figured between those settings something should cut this like butter but was denied. In my frustration to get it working I decided that I would take the guide off and I finally got it to cut by pulling the trigger, tapping the tip to the metal and then pulling it back up a tad. If I did not tap it down it would not blow through. At 35A it hardly left a gouge and at 50A it went maybe half way through..

Now when I got the machine I had weird issues with it not starting up correctly(made a buzzing sound and had an orange? light on).. This went away after turning on and off the machine 3 or 4 times. I did notice that with the stock TIG torch I had a hard time getting the arc to start but also had something funny with the torch going on. I hooked up a WP20 and only had maybe 2 bad arc starts or so..

My question is, does this sound like its the points or sound like the machine is having a problem some place. I opened it up and did not see anything really wrong in my quick glance. I couldn't locate a set of filler gauges to check the points so I will have to purchase a set here soon.

[geezer]

A mastercard/bankcard will give you 31 - 32 thous., if you have no pilot arc when you press the trigger, chances are the tip is loose or you have a bad connection, don't scratch start the plasma, fix the pilot arc.

A loose tip or piece of crud can interefere with the start up and the air coming out of the tip giving you a poor cut, bad connection at the machine can also make it troublesome for start up

[Jason]

It has an arc when pulling the trigger but wont cut unless I tap it and I would rather not do it that way and would like to fix it. Thanks for the tip on the bank card.. I will probably pick up a set of filler gauges as I should have them for building cars and working on machines anyways. I will keep the tip in mind for the next time I am without gauges and need ~30 thous.

[geezer]

If you have pilot arc, then I would check your ground clamp.

[performance]

Which torch? I'd check the clamp too. Take cable loose and shine things up or borrow one from another welder you know is good.

[everlastsupport]

Did you check the gap on the points? If they are two wide you can get a pilot arc, but the arc transfer for cutting might not happen. You are probably cutting with the pilot arc and not the cutting arc. Next time you are at the unit, give a call into tech support.

[Jason]

The plasma torch is the upgraded one. I attempted to check the points but could not locate the feeler gauges so I need to get a new set. I will grab some and try all these suggestions. The ground clamp is pretty clean but I will see if I can try and get it better. I am not sure that I will be going to the shop today or for sure this weekend as I will be busy but I might run up just to look into this. If not it will be next week sometime hopefully. If I am still having problems I will give a call to support. Thanks..

[everlastsupport]

You can use a credit card to set the points, should be a tad loose, that is be able to fall out. Also, clamp in the + side if not labeled.

[DaveO]

... could not locate the feeler gauges so I need to get a new set.

A typical sheet of plain 20# copier / printer paper is .0035" to .0038", so you can improvise a feeler gauge with enough sheets of paper. I hadn't heard of the credit card trick, but the paper trick can get you in the ball park in other applications.

[Jason]

A typical sheet of plain 20# copier / printer paper is .0035" to .0038", so you can improvise a feeler gauge with enough sheets of paper. I hadn't heard of the credit card trick, but the paper trick can get you in the ball park in other applications.

Yep I know about paper but didnt feel like stacking up sheets. 24# is ~4 thous but again I didnt feel like stacking them. I worked as a machine adjuster to make envelopes in the past so I have worked with 20# and 24# paper a lot as those are the common ones. Either way it is a good tip for those that may not know that. I used paper a lot when setting gear mesh as gears should have 3-4 thous of play between them.

As to the ground clamp, I did have it in the + but thanks for pointing that out. I should have stated that in my first post.

[acourtjester]

HI
Did you check and see if you have it in pulse mode I think you need it in cut and pulse off. Also have the slope up to minimum.
Have fun
Tom

[Jason]

HI
Did you check and see if you have it in pulse mode I think you need it in cut and pulse off. Also have the slope up to minimum.
Have fun
Tom

I did have pulse off as I have not used it at all. I will have to look at the slope up and such. I havnt used it but it may be on without my notice since I was in 2T with the foot pedal for tig. Also for plasma it is left in 2T correct? Would the up slope make a difference?

[acourtjester]

Yes the plasma is 2t or on with trigger pulled and off when trigger released. (the 7 pin connector is swapped from the foot pedal to the plasma torch). You are not doing plasma with the foot pedal??? The only thing is the foot pedal will only turn on the plasma it should not effect the current for the plasma, That is set with the big knob and shown in the readout.
As for the slope up it will make the plasma start delayed from the trigger pull until slope is reached.

[Jason]

no I am not using the foot pedal with the plasma. I was saying I have never touched the slope up. I didn't think it had an effect when the pedal is connected and did not realize it would cause the plasma not to cut. From what your saying about the plasma still reaching its full amperage does not sound like the problem to me then as it does not cut unless I tap it down. I will check it when I check the points just in case though.

[acourtjester]

Jason
What I was saying was if you had a delay in starting cutting it could have been coincidence with you tapping the torch. Have you tig welded with your machine?
It would seem that if you can tig with out problems the gat could be all right. I still would check the gap. Attached is what my points looked like when I opened mine up and after I straightened them up.
You should get mike or mark on the phone when you with the machine. I have heard the will answer on the weekends. Mike has his extension on the post when he asked you a question. Hopefully you will get it worked out.

[acourtjester]

Jason
Did you get your problems corrected with the plasma cutting on your machine??
It may help others to see what was the correction if they have a similar problem with their machine.

[Jason]

Jason
Did you get your problems corrected with the plasma cutting on your machine??
It may help others to see what was the correction if they have a similar problem with their machine.

Been really busy and have not been to the shop since last week.

[acourtjester]

Thanks for the reply. WE be here When you do.

have fun
Tom

[Jason]

I used the machine in TIG form and managed to get the arc starts on the TIG pretty close to perfect but have not tested the Plasma again yet. The problem I found was extremely hard to spot from the side. The point on the inner side of the machine had a very slight twist but was perfectly inline from the side with the other. I managed to twist it pretty close to straight and set the gap at .040 which seems good enough to me and starts an instant arc almost every attempt. One thing I noticed now is it started to burn an electrically component. I assume that maybe the arc wandered off the points to it...

Here is a pic.


I will post back again later after I get to testing the plasma.