Plasma Cutting Machine Maintenance (Ⅰ)
According to Murphy’s law, plasma cutters will always fail when you need it most-usually when cutting large plates. Full-load operation of the cutting machine every hour of downtime, the resulting loss of up to 200 dollars.
Many workshops do not develop regular preventative maintenance plans for their plasma cutting systems. After months of neglect of maintenance, the cutter will no longer work as designed. The mechanical parts will wear out prematurely, causing the machine to move smoothly. This may result in the part exceeding the standard tolerance range and poor cutting quality, especially when the cutting speed is high. When machine components fail, it often takes several days to troubleshoot and repair.
The checklist below is a good way to help you develop preventative maintenance plans:
1.Clean cutting torch body
Remove the cutting torch parts and check the inside of the torch. Check for any signs of mechanical damage to the thread. Use electrical contact cleaners and cotton swabs to clean the inside of the torch. Remove the torch from the cutting torch fixing tube and slide the fixed tube back, exposing the cutting torch cable connector. Check any connectors for leaks or damage. Blow away all metal dust accumulated.
2.Clean cutting torch cable
Thoroughly clean or sweep the entire cutting torch cable, the accumulated metal dust and dust clean. Metal dust may deplete the high voltage required to start a plasma arc. Check for hoses, bare wires, cracked joints or other damage that are not twisted or worn. Check whether the High-frequency shielding layer is properly grounded.
3.Clean plasma source
Use clean, dry workshop gas source to blow up all metal dust accumulated. Metal dust may cause damage to power components (especially PCB boards). Contactors, relays and spark gap assemblies may also fail due to excessive accumulation of metal dust. Check the air filter on the power supply shell and replace it if necessary.
4.Check the cutting torch cooling unit
For water-cooled cutting Torch, check the coolant flow in the cooling tank for signs of inhalation air or reduced flow. Ensure that the number of gallons per minute for coolant reflux is in accordance with the regulations. Check the flow switch on the reflux pipe is working properly-coolant flow is not enough will cause the torch overheating. Check and clean the coolant filter and pump strainer and replace it if necessary. Use the conductance meter (if any) to check the coolant resistivity. For most systems, the resistivity must not exceed 10 micro-Euclidean. Pour out and refill the coolant every 6 months.
5.Check plasma gas
Gas quality is essential to maintain longer service life and good cutting quality. To check the air quality, the system can be placed in test mode, in the airflow through the system, a clean paper towel under the cut torch. Check for moisture, oil mist or particulate contamination. Check the filter once a week; Once the dehumidifier starts to accumulate water, it immediately pours out.