Need help with Powermax 30

[hbarski]

I bought a used Hypertherm Powermax 30 on craigslist. It was portrayed to be a "light use" machine. After using it this weekend, I have determined that it was used quite a bit. I want to remove the case to inspect the condition of the internals and replace the air filter, but I am having a tough time with the case removal.

Is it required to remove the forward or rear cover prior to removing the top cover? It was cold in the shop this weekend, and I didn't want to force things (brittle). I removed the screws for the handle, but was afraid of forcing the handle out of the recess in the front and rear cover, they acted like they didn't want to give. I tried to search the forum, but was not able to find anything on this topic.

I used the unit to cut up a mobile home frame and it worked well for the most part. There were several times when the cooling air did not continue to run following the cut which I thought was abnormal. I am new to the world of plasma cutters and bought this unit after reading a lot on the forum and Hypertherms reputation.

Any help that could be offered is appreciated.

[Thats Hot]

Yyyyyy!!!!!!!

[jimcolt]

If you look in the maintenance section of the operators manual for the Powermax 30 it clearly shows how to remove the cover. If you don't have the manual you can go to www.hypertherm.com click on download library, choose system type "Powermax30", choose manuals, then operators manual (there may also be a service manual) then download it as a .pdf file.

To remove the cover, remove the two phillips screws in the handle, gently bend the front and rear panels outward slightly.....then pull the cover straight up. Make sure that when it is put back together that the mylar insulator is properly positioned.....the manual is clear and has pictures.

How did you determine that it was used more than lightly? Sounds as though it works ok!

The cooling air will cancel if you trigger the switch twice very rapidly....likely that is what happened.

Jim Colt Hypertherm



I bought a used Hypertherm Powermax 30 on craigslist. It was portrayed to be a "light use" machine. After using it this weekend, I have determined that it was used quite a bit. I want to remove the case to inspect the condition of the internals and replace the air filter, but I am having a tough time with the case removal.

Is it required to remove the forward or rear cover prior to removing the top cover? It was cold in the shop this weekend, and I didn't want to force things (brittle). I removed the screws for the handle, but was afraid of forcing the handle out of the recess in the front and rear cover, they acted like they didn't want to give. I tried to search the forum, but was not able to find anything on this topic.

I used the unit to cut up a mobile home frame and it worked well for the most part. There were several times when the cooling air did not continue to run following the cut which I thought was abnormal. I am new to the world of plasma cutters and bought this unit after reading a lot on the forum and Hypertherms reputation.

Any help that could be offered is appreciated.

[Eric106]

...

The cooling air will cancel if you trigger the switch twice very rapidly....likely that is what happened.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

What's the intended use for that feature? It's not mentioned anywhere in the manuals that I recall reading.

-Eric

[jimcolt]

It is not intended as a feature....it shuts off the airflow....which is necessary to refire the torch with minimal delay. The torch will not fire if air is flowing.

Jim

[hbarski]

Thanks for your reply. I am very impressed with this little unit. I bought it for use on the farm. I feel it will handle all of the needs I will have there. Right now I have some work to do on the bush hog housing.

The young fellow that had it for sale said it was used for less than "20 minutes". It was a distress sale for him. I gave him half of what he said he paid for it "6 months ago". When I went to his home, it was late and in his dimly lit garage on a rainy night. He showed me that it would cut and I thought "looks good to me, get it and go". He had the manuals, registration cards, cords, CD and a set of consumables. When I got it to the farm, I had time to look it over and figured that the "20 minute" was probably more like 20+ hours. There were burns all over the torch head and a "patch" on the torch lead. When I removed the consumables, I noticed what looked like severe arcing/pitting on the contactor in the torch head where the electrode makes contact. I used a dremmel wire wheel to clean it and it "appears to be working fine", except for the pitted surface of the contact. After several hours of use, the new electrode showed no further signs of arcing.

In your opinion, what would have caused this and should I try to overhaul this torch head?

The condition of the unit caused me to want to investigate the internals a little further in order to verify that there were no "other surprises". I did try to follow the instructions in the manual for the case removal, however, the front and rear panel did not want to give very much and I was leary about forcing them back very much in the cold shop. I went to the web, looking for a video on the case removal but came up empty. I just do not want to create any problem by using too much force in removing the handle.

The double click could be what had occured to shorten the duty cycle of the cooling airflow. The only other question I have is that "is it "normal" for the cooling fan to occasionally cycle like a laptop cooling fan? I was using it outdoors and it was in the 50s, and did not think that I had used a very long duty cycle. I did have it on 220 and the fan never ran for more than an occasional minute or so.

Other than my concern on the internals and the torch head and lead, I am very impressed with this powerhouse. Beats a gas torch hands down.

[jimcolt]

The pitting in the torch will occur if the internals of the torch...or the electrode gets greasy or dirty....good idea to keep a plasma torch (of any type) clean to minimize arc damage. Th cooling fan is controlled by an internal temperature control that monitors the critical switching component (Insulated gate bipolar transistor, or IGBT). It will cycle regardless of ambient temperature.....but you will notice the fan "on time" will be longer with long cuts, thicker materials and on hotter days. The fan control is so that shop dust dust not get pulled through the machine when there is no need for cooling.

Jim Colt

[hvpguy]

Keep it clean. Very Clean. Air supply is critical. I use bottled air as a hobbyist type of user. Much less of a hassle than a compressor and all the rest needed. Way cheaper for time-to-time users. The 30 is a very capable machine.