Snap, Crackle and No Pop

admin

This should never be found in a plasma cutter or welder!Customer called today and wanted to bring in his plasma cutter to be checked out because when he turned it on it was making crackling and snapping sound. He said he turned it off fast and unplugged it.I told him to bring it in and I would get to it sometime today. Some time after lunch I opened it up and started to look it over and was amazed at what was in there. So the first thing was to remove all the Aluminum dust and shavings. A soft parts cleaner brush and low air pressure did the best, after I was happy with the cleaning I looked for burnt spots on the circuit boards, wiring, etc. I didn't see anything so it was time to put the power to it. Plugged it in, hooked up the air, put on the welding gloves, face shield and jacket, then turned it " ON "-- NO SNAP, CRACKLE OR POP great so I fired up the torch and everything worked.How lucky can you getI showed these pictures to the customer and told him to keep the plasma cutter as well as his welders away from the grinding and cutting because the fans will pull the dust and grindings into the machines.Anyway the customer was lucky he shut it off when he did and there was no damage (other then to his wallet) and is back to work on the boat.As I tell everyone keep your welders and plasma cutters away form the grinding, cutting and welding dust and blow them out with low pressure air to keep them clean on the inside were it counts. Metal dust buildup on the circuits will kill your machine.Here are the pictures on the metal in the plasma cutter. Attached Imageswww.georgesplasmacuttershop.comPlasma Cutter and Welder Sales and Repairs--Ebay storeTec.Mo. Dealer Consumables for the PT and IPT torch's
Reply:A number of years ago I bought a oscilloscope (electronic measuring instrument) from a machine shop that went bust. Working, so no problem there, but it had been left on the bench next to a machine milling graphite pieces, wasn't pretty when I opened it up... People don't seem to care about keeping sensitive stuff safe.