Help with Hypertherm Powermax 30

[chatofab]

Hello,

I purchased a used Hypertherm Powermax 30 that is giving me some trouble, and I was wondering if someone here might be able to point me in the right direction. The previous owner had the multi voltrage cord cut off and replaced it with a 110v plug. I took it to Airgas and they put on a new OEM adapter / plug. Today, I got it home and plugged it in to 220v. The AC LED came on and I began a cut. After about 10 seconds the arc extinguished and all the LEDs were off like it had lost all power. I unplugged it and plugged it back in several times before the AC LED finally came back on. Again it cut for about 10 seconds before extinguishing and the process just repeated. I've looked through the owners manual, and all it says is to check to make sure the machine is plugged in and getting power. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

 

[Lx460]

Have you disassembled the torch head? Maybe the plunger is stuck? Do you have spare consumables? If so, I'd swap them to see if it works. Also make sure you have a good filter to provide clean dry air.

Edit: that torch may not have a plunger. I'd still take it apart and see if everything looks ok.

 

[brownbagg]

your consumables are worn out. i have the same unit. go buy the plunger , the cap and you be good to go.

 

[chatofab]

your consumables are worn out. i have the same unit. go buy the plunger , the cap and you be good to go.

Thanks, guys! I will order some consumables and post back with results!

 

[chatofab]

I threw some new consumables on it, and the problem persists!

Basically after 30 seconds or less of cutting it automatically trips itself off and all lights extinguish for several minutes. It will then spontaneously turn back on and do the same thing again.

 

[Cope]

I threw some new consumables on it, and the problem persists!

Basically after 30 seconds or less of cutting it automatically trips itself off and all lights extinguish for several minutes. It will then spontaneously turn back on and do the same thing again.

Go over to weldingweb.com and join. Jim Colt is a member there and is also with Hypertherm. He can get your plasma straightened out.

 

[rlitman]

Go over to weldingweb.com and join. Jim Colt is a member there and is also with Hypertherm. He can get your plasma straightened out.

Good advice.

With a plasma, before testing anything else, first make sure your air pressure under flow meets spec (not static air pressure).
Second, inspect all consumables (and test with fresh).
Continue diagnosis from there.

Also, the "parts in place" switch in the torch head can cause the unit to shutdown like you describe.

I don't have a service manual for your machine, but a thermal overload cutoff could do that (making guesses here).

 

[Raytheone]

You can find the Service Manuals on Hypertherm's site. There are diagnostic LED's inside the unit that might help you as well.
Maybe the cooling fan isn't working?

https://www.hypertherm.com/Xnet/library/library.jsp?file=HYP117345&format=pdf

 

[schade]

Have you tried running it off 110v instead of 220. There could be a loose wire or one barely making contact. Maybe pop the cover off and double check the connections

 

[chatofab]

Took it in to Airgas and they said that the control board and regulator are bad. Quoted me $428 to fix it for parts and labor. Does this sound plausible/fair? I picked it up for $500 initially so this would put my over $900 into a used Powermax30. Would you guys recommend having them fix it? Trying to buy the parts and installing myself? Or selling it on Craigslist/Ebay for whatever I can get for it?

 

[paranoid56]

i would buy the board yourself and replace it, its normally very easy.

 

[chatofab]

i would buy the board yourself and replace it, its normally very easy.

Any recommendations on where to buy it? And how to install the replacement?

 

[bcradio]

I know this doesn't help the OP, but this should be a lesson to anyone thinking of buying a used plasma cutter. Be very careful what you buy.

 

[goforride57]

I know this doesn't help the OP, but this should be a lesson to anyone thinking of buying a used plasma cutter. Be very careful what you buy.

Especially a 220v unit with 110v cord.

 

[chatofab]

Especially a 220v unit with 110v cord.

Yup when I tested it out the unit cut and the cord looked OEM so I assumed that just the 220v adapter cord was missing. Lesson learned - test used equipment thoroughly. There is nothing I can do about that at this point, so I am looking for advice moving forward.

 

[chatofab]

Bump. Anyone got advice/suggestions?

 

[Buckgnarly]

Bump. Anyone got advice/suggestions?

If you can wait til Wed I will have some engineers from Hypertherm in my class. They come every year to talk to and demo units to my science classes....

 

[goforride57]

http://www.hypermaxonline.com/Contact-_ep_5.html

I couldn't find anything for info. My brother has the same machine and as far as I know, it hasn't skipped a beat. Just copy and paste the link. Call the technical support and see what they have to say. Hopefully you could get them to email you a breakdown of the machine with part numbers, a number to call to order the parts and hopefully some way to verify that the circuit board and regulator are indeed bad.

500 bucks seems like a good deal. I think if you could get away with 100 bucks or so to fix it, you would still be doing good.

 

[chatofab]

http://www.hypermaxonline.com/Contact-_ep_5.html

I couldn't find anything for info. My brother has the same machine and as far as I know, it hasn't skipped a beat. Just copy and paste the link. Call the technical support and see what they have to say. Hopefully you could get them to email you a breakdown of the machine with part numbers, a number to call to order the parts and hopefully some way to verify that the circuit board and regulator are indeed bad.

500 bucks seems like a good deal. I think if you could get away with 100 bucks or so to fix it, you would still be doing good.

After talking with a couple shops in town, it sounds like the parts are gonna run about $300. I plan on buying the parts and installing them myself. I will post back as to whether or not this resolves the issue.

 

[ProCharger]

Go over to weldingweb.com and join. Jim Colt is a member there and is also with Hypertherm. He can get your plasma straightened out.

This is the best advice in this thread. Jim is a stand up guy, works at Hypertherm, and will do everything in his power and goes above and beyond to straighten things out. You WILL get the answers you seek.

 

[jimcolt]

The symptoms sound like inlet air starvation. If I was there I would install an air pressure gauge right on the inlet fitting. Look at the pressure on the gauge with no flow (the specs for the Powermax30 say that the pressure should be between 90 and 120 psi), then activate the airflow to the torch by turning the amperage knob fully counterclockwise. When you do this you will see a drop in the pressure on the newly installed gauge...if it is dropping below 90 psi...then there is your problem. This would mean that you have some kind of restriction in your air plumbing system.

-Air hose to small in ID (minimum of 3/8"ID required)
-Air hose too long (50' maximum recommended)
-Too many fittings, too many filters.
-Clogged or saturated filter in your air system.
-Defective regulator or clogged fitting at your compressor.

A call to Hypertherm technical support often gets the problem solved very quickly as well. The staff that answer the phones are very well versed in helping you troubleshoot your system. Lastly, that unit is worth $800 or more on the used machine market.....so if it costs a few hundred to get it repaired it is well worth it. The service manual and operators manual are free downloads on the www.hypertherm.com website. I am available at [email protected] as well.

Jim Colt Hypertherm