Plasma cutter woes

A while back I bought a used plasma cutter, which I've used semi-sucessfully a few times since. Cuts were never particularly clean, but I put that down to crappy technique and probably suboptimal settings on the dials as I mess about trying to find the right ones.

Today I got some new consumables thinking that might help. I ordered them based on the AG-60 moulded into the side of the torch, and they looked what I imagine the originals would have done before being worn out. I fitted a full set and the torch seemingly wouldn't work. I tried the original electrode with new everything else and it seemed to work fine. Swapped a new electrode back in and this time it bade a weird blue arc that wouldn't cut. This time the torch was very hot and after waiting for it to cool and taking the outer parts off it seems to have burnt itself out somehow:

It looks like a new torch is a tenner, so not the end of the world, but I need to understand what happened so that I don't keep killing them! Is this user error, inappropriate/defective electrode, or something else?

Thanks,

Mike

Was the air going through OK? the passage of air cools the electrode as well as enabling the plasma arc.

It looks as though it arced out sideways ! As above was the air flowing ? Noel.

Air was definitely flowing from the torch. Can't be absolutely certain it was flowing in the way it was supposed to - all I know is that the typical whooshing noise happened. Stupid question, but there's not supposed to be a hole in the electrode right? I can't see one in the original, but it's all covered in crap so I can't be 100% sure there wasn't one. Definitely no holes in the new ones

This page may possibly help **LINK**

The tip has a hole about 1mm in the lidl pt31 jobs, the inner electrode is solid

There's a small insulator between the electrode and the tip/nose

Don't know about yours tho

Basically its a plasma stream riding on air and firing out the hole in the tip

edit: As mentioned, yours went sideyways by 90 degrees, very weird

a bad electrode?

Not enough airstream is my guess, something wasn't sealed right

Edited By Ady1 on 11/07/2023 16:56:41

I've seen the blue arc once now, just remembered

Had to change all my consumables to get back to normal

Looks like you got unlucky and it killed the torch

Given we know the internet is full of sellers too fond of cut and paste, where an AG60 torch in the title becomes a PT31 in the write up buyer beware.

There's something definitely wrong with the air my pt30 wandered off like that when the air went low, or maybe damp air?

The consumables look the same for pilot arc or drag tip torches, buy the right gun for the machine.

Found this on Amazon This product is durable and strong for the cost Hope they don't change the manufacturing procedure anytime soon. The other ones I used, cause my torch to burn out instead of the tips. Now I've been cutting with the same tips for a week.

You aren't the only one with poor consumables.