With our introduction of the metal cutting Ajan plasma, along with their range of cost-effective and readily available consumables, we have recently gone a little more in-depth about what those components actually are, what they do, how they work together and how to recognise when one or more might need replacing.
That’s all good, great in fact. As historically consumables, their availability and sheer cost have been real issues for many people and businesses. With Ajan that’s all about to change of course but still…nothing beats good maintenance.
Properly maintained machines and consumables last longer, and give better results, with that in mind let’s take a closer look at how best to maintain your consumables, and make sure they last as long as possible, giving safe, reliable service and the best results.
Let’s first take a look at the bigger picture, regular maintenance is important, replacing leads when necessary, identifying exposed wiring and/or external damage to your plasma should all be a part of essential routine maintenance and can all in some way have a detrimental impact on the life of your consumables, the quality of your work and, not to mention your safety.
Here are a few more ideas to make sure your maintenance is first class, and your consumables last as long as they can:
- Cutting speed is something that is worth giving thought to. Try to cut too fast and you won’t cut at all, too slow and you’ll place unnecessary strain on all your consumables, meaning shortened life and quicker burnouts.
- Clean hands, handling the electrode and other consumables with greasy hands can cause issues with stray tracking and problems with cooling.
- Don’t over tighten, electrodes have an O-ring seal, meaning when you feel the locating shoulder touch the bottom of the torch, it is installed correctly.
- Measure your electrode’s pit depth with a dial indicator, if it is more than 0.8mm replace it ASAP, neglecting to do so can lead to serious failures that can damage other components, and certainly the rest of your consumables.
- Always pierce your work piece from the recommended height, your nozzle will love you for it and won’t become unintentionally steel plated.
- Don’t try to match up your consumables with non-compatible brands ever, one of the main reasons we teamed up with Ajan was their ability to provide everything you are ever likely to need for your Ajan plasma, that includes cost-effective and readily available consumables that they make and ship themselves.
- Make sure your swirl ring matches your application.
- Make sure all your other consumables match your application!
When it comes to cutting heavy plate and sheet, few ways are as efficient as plasma, but without good maintenance that efficiency can evaporate, the tips above are a great way to start but for more information on plasma consumables and the mighty metal cutting Ajan plasma itself, get in touch today.
Published 8th October 2018