How To Maintain Your Plasma Cutter Well

To operate a plasma cutter, you’ll need to have clean air and electricity, but that’s not all you need to ensure it operates at peak performance for an extended period of time. There are certain operation checks that you should perform daily to make sure high precision cutting equipment is intact.

Daily Operation Checks

• Check the Primary Power
• Purge the air or gas source
• Check the torch tip and replace if needed
• Check the electrodes and replace if needed

Check Your Welding Torch Tip

One of the most important maintenance suggestions is to check the welding torch tip. This is because a worn tip becomes misshapen and hinders the ability to cut well. Nobody wants their cutting to be sloppy, so be sure to replace your plasma cutter torch tip when it’s oblong, irregular and pitted.

Thermal Dynamics® sells torch tips and cutting and welding systems. For more information on how to purchase Thermal Dynamics products, please call your local Thermadyne® sales representative.

High Precision Cutting Electrode Maintenance

High precision cutting also requires frequent welding electrode replacement. Electrode tips contain hafnium, which promotes arc starts. Each arc start requires a small amount of this element, so when this element is no longer present in your welding torch, the arc process will not begin.

There are more involved plasma cutter maintenance best practices discussed in the Q2 2011 Newsletter, which outlines items to check every week, 3 months and 6 months. For more information, be sure to download the document.