[irnsrgn]

Lots of people are getting plasma cutters for thier shops and it seems they are a mystery to some. So I thought I would explain them as they were explained to me. This may clarify things or not. If I make any mistakes please feel free to correct them.

1. There are 3 states of Matter, SOLID, LIQUID AND GAS, Some say that a plasma is the 4th state of matter.

2. A PLASMA in this sense of the word is a Super Heated Gas.

3. A plasma works by super heating common air under pressure and pushing a portion of it thru a small nozzle to literally vaporize any metalic substance in its path whether it be Ferrous or Non Ferrous in nature.

4. If it says the machine uses 5 cubic foot of air a minute, this usually means that 1 cf of air comes out of the nozzle and 4 comes out around the nozzle to cool it.

5. The Plasma stream coming out the nozzle is coming out at somewhere around 200 mph and at a temperature approaching 28,000 degrees.

6. Whatever the Capacity or Thickness the machine is rated at is at a speed of 10 inches per minute. For instance if the machine says a capacity of 1 inch, It will cut 3/8 inch material very well and as the thickness increases the inches per minute of travel are greatly reduced.

7. Whatever the recommended input air pressure is, increasing it will not improve the cutting ability of the machine, but will greatly increase the slag or dross it leaves, and shorten the life of the consumable tips.

8. Plasma is usually limited to the thinner materials as it has a tendency to not cut straight thru like Oxy Acet does on thick material. If you expierience a slanted cut from your plasma, you will notice that the slant is tapered to the outside bottom on the right side of the torch and slanted in at the bottom on the left side of the torch usually in the direction of travel.

9. There are 2 types of torches, those that have to make contact with the material to cut and those with a pilot that are stand off and do not make contact with the material, the later type will usually destroy a tip if contact is made with the material.

10. Don't touch the consumable tip components with your fingers as this will shorten the life of the tip from contamination by the oils on your skin.

11. Some machines have a variable power rating, this is to conserve electricity and wear on the tip consumbables and to make a better cut.

12. PLASMA MACHINES LITERALLY VAPORIZE THE MATERIAL BEING CUT AND THIS MATERIAL IS FLOATING IN THE AIR AND CAN BE INHALED BY YOU AS YOU WORK, WEAR A MASK OR RESPERATOR DESIGNED TO FILTER THIS MATERIAL.

13. Commercial business's that use Plasma on a day to day basis a lot, will have water tables (A cutting table with water just below or covering the material being cut) to keep this contamination from entering or dispersing into the air you breath.

14. TIP - Contact type nozzles or tips do not work very well with painted or rusty material, but this may be overcome on straight cuts by using a piece of flat iron as a guide and making sure it is grounded, pull the torch along the flat iron making sure the tip is in contact with the flat iron, the torch will then perform almost as well as one with a pilot or high frequency option.

15. EYE PROTECTION IS ALSO A MUST AS THE PLASMA STREAM IS BASICALLY NO DIFFERENT THAN THE ARC PRODUCED BY A WELDER.

16. TIP - on contact type nozzles, a light coating of MIG Tip Dip applied by your finger on the contact surface will prolong tip life and also keep dross from sticking to the tip as well as increasing the ability for it to slide along on the material to reduce friction.

17. TIP - Most of you will have a water trap on your air lines, and again at the plasma machine. Oil in the air line is the biggest reason for tip failure or wear out there is. There are special oil filters that use what looks like brown course toilet paper as a filter, and these are the most efficient and sure way of filtering oil from you entering your plasma system, Water traps will not filter out oil.