I have a Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 51 that I bought new 13 years ago. Has a crap load of hours on it. Ran into an arc starting issue a couple of months ago when I was building a cage for a Truck Night In America Blazer.
Replaced the start cartridge and all was good for a few uses. Started using it yesterday on some 1/2" sheet. Done this before on this piece of steel. The arc quit cutting but was there. Then the start cartridge began failing. pulled the start cartridge and the end of it was mangled. Had been arcing. Replaced it again. New tip, electrode and nozzle. O-rings are good, nothing else looks wrong in the torch.
The arc was coming off of the tip in a wide round pattern. Looks like it is feeding off of the face of the tip. New air filter and dryer were installed to make sure it was not contamination. The tip is bad after 30 seconds of this. Replaced tip and electrode again. Same result.
I can not find anything on the interweb describing this situation. Has anyone seen this before?
Replaced the start cartridge and all was good for a few uses. Started using it yesterday on some 1/2" sheet. Done this before on this piece of steel. The arc quit cutting but was there. Then the start cartridge began failing. pulled the start cartridge and the end of it was mangled. Had been arcing. Replaced it again. New tip, electrode and nozzle. O-rings are good, nothing else looks wrong in the torch.
The arc was coming off of the tip in a wide round pattern. Looks like it is feeding off of the face of the tip. New air filter and dryer were installed to make sure it was not contamination. The tip is bad after 30 seconds of this. Replaced tip and electrode again. Same result.
I can not find anything on the interweb describing this situation. Has anyone seen this before?
