Tons of dross with my new Spectrum 375

[harcosparky]

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.

Call Miller and tell them all that has transpired. All that you have done and most importantly what the LWS's have said and tell the who the dealers are with that attitude.

I know who ya bought from - thanks for giving me thier response as well.

Never bought from IOC and never will.

[Scotth]

Vtwin4life, give me a call at 920-831-4854 and I will get this straightened out for you.

[Fishy Jim]

What I've found is that if you don't have a good ground, and/or you move too slow is when you get the heavy dross or lack of cutting. I've learned my lesson that the pilot arc is only good for really thin stuff without a completed circuit.

When you move too slow, you end up melting the edges of the cut rather than making the cut and moving forward with it. I can look at everything I've done so far and see where I was moving too slow or the right speed.

Air hoses can also collapse internally and create blockages. I'd be checking any quick connect fittings and see if you can pass a strong blast through the hose without the machine attached to it. As has been mentioned, pressure and flow are entirely different. You can get 150psi out of a bicycle hand pump, but you'd never feed a plasma with it.

[harcosparky]

You can get 150psi out of a bicycle hand pump, but you'd never feed a plasma with it.

I bet yer arms fall off trying!

There has to be an easy answer, hopefull vtwin4life will make the phone call as suggested above.

But I was a bit surprised that I was able to fire off the 375 and cut some thin stock running the thing on a Porter Cable pancake compressor.

That poor lil compressor was gonna have a heart attack if I didnt stop though!


So far I have not had to call Miller for a problem, but I have called them plenty before buying any welder and I have to say they wer FANTASTIC with me and my ignorance. They have me as a customer for a long long time.

When we decided to buy a plasma cutter we didn't even consider any other brands. That MM210 won over our hearts big time!!!!!

[vtwin4life]

I bet yer arms fall off trying!

There has to be an easy answer, hopefull vtwin4life will make the phone call as suggested above.

But I was a bit surprised that I was able to fire off the 375 and cut some thin stock running the thing on a Porter Cable pancake compressor.

That poor lil compressor was gonna have a heart attack if I didnt stop though!


So far I have not had to call Miller for a problem, but I have called them plenty before buying any welder and I have to say they wer FANTASTIC with me and my ignorance. They have me as a customer for a long long time.

When we decided to buy a plasma cutter we didn't even consider any other brands. That MM210 won over our hearts big time!!!!!

Again, I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions here. I did in fact take Scott up on his offer and called him. I will be taking the machine to a local service center this weekend, and hope that they can fire it up and see if they get the same results. In my phone call with Scott, he again mentioned (as many have) that the machine will actually work fine with under powered cfm (pancake compressor) for shorter cuts. He told me that it sounds like there is more of a problem than air.

As another check last night, I put a multimeter on my 240 drop in my garage since I just had it installed. It checked out to the proper voltage. I also put the meter on the pigtail I made, and that also checked out with the proper voltage. All in all, I checked voltage on each hot for 120, both together for 240, and continuity across the pigtail ground. So at this point, I can rule out an electric problem.

Bottom line, Scott said he is leaning towards this being something more than an air issue, and if in fact it is, he said he would get me a new machine since mine is 1 week old.

[garth]

Glad to hear scott got it worked out for you with the service center.

[vtwin4life]

This morning I took my Spectrum 375 to the service center. Sure enough, they hooked it up and got the same results, lots of dross on the bottom of the cut, and the machine struggled to cut 16 ga. steel. They told me that it looks like some kind of internal power issue.

So, I left my unit there, and now it's in Miller's hands. I'm out a ton of cash and 2 weeks worth of messing around diagnosing this thing, so I hope my situation is remedied soon.

[harcosparky]

This morning I took my Spectrum 375 to the service center. Sure enough, they hooked it up and got the same results, lots of dross on the bottom of the cut, and the machine struggled to cut 16 ga. steel. They told me that it looks like some kind of internal power issue.

So, I left my unit there, and now it's in Miller's hands. I'm out a ton of cash and 2 weeks worth of messing around diagnosing this thing, so I hope my situation is remedied soon.

Is there any doubt it will be remedied soon?
I should think not. After all you have Scott's word.
And a ton of witnesses !!!!

Ya know it woulda really been bad if they hooked it up and could not duplicate the problem. The worse kind of trouble on an electrical device is one that cannot be duplicated.

Soon you will have a fully functional Spectrum 375 and this will all be a distant memory!

[vtwin4life]

Is there any doubt it will be remedied soon?
I should think not. After all you have Scott's word.
And a ton of witnesses !!!!

Ya know it woulda really been bad if they hooked it up and could not duplicate the problem. The worse kind of trouble on an electrical device is one that cannot be duplicated.

Soon you will have a fully functional Spectrum 375 and this will all be a distant memory!

Yes, I agree. I am very happy that the problem was easy to reproduce. Often at work, I deal with issues that are not easily replicated and that really throws a wrench in the works.

I spoke with Scott this morning, and a new machine should be headed my way.

[garth]

Glad to hear you got it worked out let us know how the new one works take care.

[vtwin4life]

Well, the new machine came today... I fired it up... This time I have tons of dross, but only on one side of the cut. I have tried new tips, etc, all with the same result. Help me out here - is 1/16" of dross along the entire cut line normal??? I'm so ridiculously disappointed. I have checked that the angle of the cut is perfectly straight up and down so there is no way that I could be leaning the torch one way or the other. I have good air flow, as we have ruled this out from the last run. The dross can be removed with a good pair of pliers, but it can not be taken off with a wire wheel, it's on there pretty good. I tried cutting two pieces of 1/8" stacked and the machine barely made a sever cut. What is going on here?!!!

[vtwin4life]

Pics of the cuts that aren't making it through 1/8" with dross everywhere.

[rmack898]

????????? Do you have the ground attached to the piece that you are cutting, or is the piece being cut just clamped to your table???????? You need to grind a clean spot and attach the ground directly to the piece being cut. If you are already doing that than NEVER MIND. I just didn't see any clean spots on your sample in the pics.

[vtwin4life]

????????? Do you have the ground attached to the piece that you are cutting, or is the piece being cut just clamped to your table???????? You need to grind a clean spot and attach the ground directly to the piece being cut. If you are already doing that than NEVER MIND. I just didn't see any clean spots on your sample in the pics.

I tried both with the ground clamp on the piece, and on the table. The pictures are just one example, I have other examples of perfectly clean steal. I tried the same thing with those. Clamp on the piece, and clamp just on the table.

[FusionKing]

Looks like normal now to me....not really sure what you expect??
It isn't a laser! I use a straightedge and the drag technique and appearance improves a great deal.
I believe after you work on your technique and log some real work time with it you will improve your results a lot.
I have had people use mine and was suprised at the crappy results they were getting because I had not taken into account they really never had used a plasma cutter much and really wasn't that skilled with a cutting torch either.
As for the dross I like to knock it off with a sliding motion across the surface...usually with an axe....from the cutting torch days!!
Don't lose heart....