My new 40i

[atcig]

I got home Wednesday and to my joy there were two boxes sitting on my porch. I wish UPS wouldn’t just put them out there for the entire world to see but they always do. So let the fun begin. I brought in the box with the helmet in it because that is the only one I could pick up – I have a torn rotator cuff. I had to wait for my wife to get home to bring in the big box. As you can imagine she was thrilled to do it.
I was a little worried about the helmet because the box was a bit smashed.


I opened it up and it was packed in there with a good bit of protective wrap and everything seemed ok. I put it on my head right away to try it out – looks good. I did notice however that there seemed to be a crack on the front of it. It wasn’t a crack it was just the graphics peeling off. I couldn’t care less about the peeling paint because, well you know, I got it free! If I would have paid $150 for it I would have been upset.





Before I got a chance to try it out I noticed that fluorescent lights gave it all kinds of hell. Every time I looked directly at the lights the auto shield would activate. My Harbor Freight one does the same thing so maybe it’s just a thing with the auto dark helmets. I tried it out on Friday and it worked great.



So Thursday evening I had a little spare time to un-box everything else and hook it all up. The cutter was packed very well. I hooked up the plug with no problem. Next up was the air filter. Not as much luck with this. There are a few issues with this part, both easy to fix.

First the holes in the bracket to hook it to the back of the cutter are in the wrong place, so I couldn’t put both screws in. When I have time I’ll just drill another hole where it should be because one screw will not hold the weight of the filter and the air hose.



Second the screws to hook the air filter to the bracket were too long. An extra thick washer on each screw fixed this problem.





The black and red colors are pretty cool looking but the paint had several scuffs and scratches – I’m sure it will get many more. I plugged it in to give it a go, pulled the trigger and whoosh, a nice bright arc of electric/air goodness. I got some scrap to try to cut, set the cutter controls and crossed my fingers. At first the arc kept going out as soon as I got near the metal. It did this about five times and I was getting a little worried. I checked all my settings again. Everything seemed to be just the way it should be so I tried again. This time it worked. Cut that metal like it was butter. I tried it on some steel and then on some aluminum. It worked great on both. I cut some squiggly lines in the metal and then wanted to cut a straight line. On my other cutter I just put another straight piece of metal and use it as a guide so I tried this. The tip of the cutter seemed to tack itself to the metal, it even burned the side of the tip. I read that you could drag these tips but after that I didn't try it. If anyone has any hints on this problem or the arc going out when I get to the metal just let me know. I look forward to really trying it out when I have time. I have a feeling I’m going to be very happy with it, especially when I work the little kinks out.

[Charley Davidson]

Can't help you with the issues but am anxious to see/hear the outcome and how it works. Did it come with a cup guide that keeps the tip off the metal?

Oh, and congrats again on your win

[Gadget]

I think if you pull the trigger when there is no metal present then move it to the metal the pilot arc will quit, something about transferring power from the pilot wire to the metal. Try putting your tip right on the edge of the material (not touching) and pulling the trigger. The S45 torches come with a guide wire which keeps the tip off the metal. You can run the guide against the cutting guide for straight cuts with no issues.

[atcig]

I'm anxious to get a chance to use it too Charley and no it didn't come with the cup guide.
Thanks Gadget, I'll try that. I'm going to have to get a guide because I want to be able to cut a straight edge.

[Gadget]

This video should give you some ideas for a pretty nice torch guide. Doesn't look like it would be too hard to make.

[mdkrusemark]

how thick of metal are you cutting when dragging the tip? Thin sheetmetal you should be able to drag but thick stuff you cant. Also if you are starting a cut in a part where you need to do a pierce you need to hold it above the material so it has room to blow the molten metal away without messing up the tip.

[Charley Davidson]

I have a Hypertherm 190C it has a drag cup on it & it works well for straight cuts using an edge guide where you can move fairly quick and smooth but for my Plasma trace I wish I had the other cup.

[brucer]

yep i go with gadget... bring your torch over the metal and in position like you would be ready to cut, or just off the edge of the metal and pull the trigger and go.. it should start and continue cutting the metal.. with the pilot arc you should be able to burn through a relative amount of dirt,paint,rust and proceed with cutting..

for the drag issue, or you wanting to drag it, this is the reason i got rid of my blupoint plasma so i could update to a pilot arc so i didnt have to drag it anymore.... for dragging you might try cocking the torch a little, i believe this is why they say dragging uses up more tips.

you might try using a piece of metal as a guide, but get a piece that also spaces the torch off the metal being cut... seems like i read somewhere that 7/16 thick is what you want for the trafimet torch so it will hold the torch off the workpiece a little.. it will actually guide the torch body instead of the tip..

could you post some pictures of the unit, maybe put something like a quart of oil, or a 12inch ruler or something for a size reference..

[KHK]

Gadget is correct. My 200PI will do the same thing.

[atcig]

Gadget - Thanks for the vid. I have been trying to come up with a good home made guide.

mdkrusemark - I didn't even try to drag yet. I decided after the tip stuck to the metal I was using as a guide that it wouldn't be wise to touch the tip the the metal I was cutting. My miller plasma has a drag cup so I don't have to worry about dragging.

Charley - The drag cup on my miller makes it about 2 times wider than the tip on the 40i.

Brucer - I started the torch just off of the edge of the metal and then brought it to the metal - as soon as it was where it should start cutting the arc went out. The only reason I like to drag is to keep the torch steady on my drawn line. That is another reason the guide would help me - I could still have the steadiness and could keep the tip off of the material. As for a size reference - it is about the same size as your 180c.