Tons of dross with my new Spectrum 375

[harcosparky]

Well I still think air volume is the issue.

Sounds to me like you are near the min required.

If you have a Home Depot nearby ( or another tool rental place ) try renting a bigger compressor for a day or two ( cheaper than buying ) just to confirm wether or not it is air flow.

Also I dont think you ever said but ... what are you doing to dry the air?

I am not sure what effect moisture has on a cut, but I know it tears up the tips.

I would do the following BEFORE selling/sledge.

#1 Rent/Borrow a bigger compressor

#2 With the bigger compressor online try a new tip ( in case moisture damaged the first )

I do know that when I felt cuts were going bad and switched tips it made a 100% difference.

[garth]

OK lets get this figured out now how big of an air line are you using? is the selector switch on the back of the spectrum on the rigth setting? are you running it with a 1/16 stand off of the material? do you have a good ground? if you are ok with all this see if your dealer would set it up at the shop and try it there but it sounds like the air line in to the machine is under sized. i use a 3/8 line in to mine and have no problem with cutting thicker than rated with good results. and the slag on the other side just knocks off. but then agian my input preasure is 125 psi and it holds it well and then adjust for the thickness of mat. good luck and see if your lws will help out may be as simple as a bad air line has press.but not enough flow.

[bobkrack]

Well, I managed to fix my air problem. I got to the point where I can set the air pressure with the air/gas set knob and get the "machine gunning" to stop. I then set the pressure to the max of the range indicated on the 375 and...... STILL CRAPPY CUTS. Tons of dross, machine is struggling to get through 1/8" and below. I tried new tips/electrodes/etc.

At this point, I have a couple options.

1) Spend even MORE money and get a whole new compressor and see if this fixes the problem

2) Figure out a way to sell this thing and recoup as much money as possible and consider this another "screwed again" situation

3) Find my sledge hammer

In addition to following other suggestions regarding air volume and quality(dry), take your tip, cover, and insert to the dealer. We have 3 plasma machines at our shop - one for up to 3/8", one for 1" and one that will cut through 3" plate. Your dross and control issues sound just exactly like using a damaged tip or even a "gouging" tip.
Goodluck,
Bob

[harcosparky]

In addition to following other suggestions regarding air volume and quality(dry), take your tip, cover, and insert to the dealer. We have 3 plasma machines at our shop - one for up to 3/8", one for 1" and one that will cut through 3" plate. Your dross and control issues sound just exactly like using a damaged tip or even a "gouging" tip.
Goodluck,
Bob

That's kinda why I suggested using a new tip as well as larger air supply.

A 3/8" airling would be sufficient IF IF the air compressor could push the proper volume ( CFM ) of air.

I was 'developing' a problem with mine even though I knew the air pressure and flow was correct, and the air was dry. I knew it had worked initially and something was changing, so I looked to the tip.

ALSO in this case as I recall -

vtwin4life -

'ordered' a Drag tip/cup for his machine.

Maybe he should try using the standard tip / cup setup as well.

A NEW TIP is something he could try easily enough as the 375 came with 3 extras.

[vtwin4life]

That's kinda why I suggested using a new tip as well as larger air supply.

A 3/8" airling would be sufficient IF IF the air compressor could push the proper volume ( CFM ) of air.

I was 'developing' a problem with mine even though I knew the air pressure and flow was correct, and the air was dry. I knew it had worked initially and something was changing, so I looked to the tip.

ALSO in this case as I recall -

vtwin4life -

'ordered' a Drag tip/cup for his machine.

Maybe he should try using the standard tip / cup setup as well.

A NEW TIP is something he could try easily enough as the 375 came with 3 extras.

Yeah, I tried new tip/cup/electrode last night. Same issues. My air line is 3/8". What I keep noticing is the arc is having a really tough time coming out the bottom. It ends up coming out on a severe angle even when moving the torch really slow and using 24-27 amp output on 1/8" stock. My 25 gallon compressor is rated at 3.5 cfm @ 90 psi, but I was told that would just mean that I wouldn't be able to make long cuts which I'm fine with. Maybe, I was told wrong, and this means that less than 4.5 cfm @ 90 psi means horrible cuts. There is a 26 gallon compressor at home depot now that is rated 5.5 cfm @ 90psi. I may either just buy it, or try to rent one like it. Something tells me that this isn't going to make any difference though.

[harcosparky]

What I keep noticing is the arc is having a really tough time coming out the bottom. It ends up coming out on a severe angle even when moving the torch really slow and using 24-27 amp output on 1/8" stock. My 25 gallon compressor is rated at 3.5 cfm @ 90 psi, but I was told that would just mean that I wouldn't be able to make long cuts which I'm fine with. Maybe, I was told wrong, and this means that less than 4.5 cfm @ 90 psi means horrible cuts. There is a 26 gallon compressor at home depot now that is rated 5.5 cfm @ 90psi. I may either just buy it, or try to rent one like it. Something tells me that this isn't going to make any difference though.

The arc coming out at an angle ???

OK, forget about cutting any metal for the moment.

What happens when you just hold the torch in the air and fire it???

I tried that with mine and got a nice well defined flame coming straight out of the torch.

I even went so far as to adjust the air pressure from high to so low it shut down and still the flame from the torch was straight. ( keep in mind I am adjusting pressure at the 375 and in no way cut down on the CFM )

In a bit I will test with a LOW CFM compressor and see what happens

[harcosparky]

OK I just ran a test with a 2.6 CFM @ 90 PSI compressor.

Porter Cable Pancake Compressor

Even with the low flow I was able to fire off the torch and make a short cut.

I did notice some degradation with this configuration.

Try firing the torch into the air and see what the flame looks like.

At this point even with the low air flow, if you do not see a well defined flame coming straight out, take the unit to the LWS and have them check it out.

The arc coming out at an angle tells me maybe something at the torch end is misaligned, but this is truly a SWAG ( Scientific Wild As*ed Guess )

When you tried the new tip, did you try the standard tip or the drag tip ???

[vtwin4life]

The arc coming out at an angle ???

OK, forget about cutting any metal for the moment.

What happens when you just hold the torch in the air and fire it???

I tried that with mine and got a nice well defined flame coming straight out of the torch.

I even went so far as to adjust the air pressure from high to so low it shut down and still the flame from the torch was straight. ( keep in mind I am adjusting pressure at the 375 and in no way cut down on the CFM )

In a bit I will test with a LOW CFM compressor and see what happens

In the air, the flame comes out perfectly straight. It's when I make a cut, it comes out on an angle oppisite of my cut direction. It's like the unit is under-powered and struggling to cut through the 1/8". It really has a tough time penetrating the steal when cutting. That's why I'm beginning to think there are more problems than just air. No matter how slow I go, and how much amperage I throw at it, it's like I'm pushing it to it's limits and getting a horrible sever cut.

Between this and the "Genuine Miller" drag parts that don't give any standoff what-so-ever unless you unscrew the drag shield (Miller tech duplicated this), I'm really questioning the quality.

[harcosparky]

Well don't question the quality based on one unit. It could well have been damged internally during shipping. Hard to say.

I own a 375 and even though new with it am very happy. Watched the Miller rep use a 375 and was amazed at how good it was in experienced hands.

I would take the unit back to the LWS and have them try it.

I've exhausted my limited knowledge at this point.

KEEP IN MIND - I did all my testing with the torch up off the workpiece freehand and did not do any dragging.

[vtwin4life]

Well, I have learned a valuable lesson here. I bought this from a shop in indiana that sells on ebay (no auctions, just brand new). I called this morning basically asking advice of what to do, and his response was "well I haven't had any problems with them and I've sold a lot of them, so take it to a service center". So, he has basically washed his hands of it. I called a couple service centers and they ask "did you buy it here or online?". When I answered them, the whole tone of the conversation changed. "Well that's what you get when you order online" is the answer I got there. They told me that they will most likely be way too busy on a saturday to look at the machine. I work 14 hours a day monday through friday, which excludes me from going to any LWS. So I figured I would save a few hundred by ordering online.

Lesson learned. I should've spent that $1200 on beer, I'd be in a lot better mood right now.