My Airforce 400 Plasma cutter after few seconds of working well the power light flashes an cutting stops. Should i switch to 230 v

Replace trigger switch.

Make sure you have a good ground. If ground is good, make sure you are holding the tip level to the work and right up close.

It's all about duration. How much metal do you need to cut continuously. Although the 400 will cut a similar spec it won't hold out as long. So if it;s lots of short cuts the 400 is fine, if you need to cut thicker gauge for longer period go 500.

sounds like it is not getting a good ground eather in the tip or the ground clamp

Possibly an internal short in the torch tip... the expendable components failing in the tip will cause the sensors in the machine to register a "no cut" or "free air arc" state and kill the power to the tip to prevent damage to the unit. Replace the tip components and double check the grounds connections.

check the cable going into it,then the nozle i think the unit has a breaker type switch ? push it all the way down then back up again

On the main circuit board for the power supply, there is usually a thermal fuse installed, its a sealed unit and is not servicible, look for a black epoxied case,approx 3/8x3/4 long, with 2 leads coming out of it. Inside is a set of bi-metal contact points which serves as an over voltage/over current protection. These contacts deform/corode over time and it sounds like there not contacting properly. As soon as you try to load the machine, the current passing through this high resistance heats these contacts up, and shuts off power to the unit. I am not familiar with the guts of a hypertherm, but have extensive experiance repairing inverter based plasma cutting equipment, and i have encountered this before. I assume hypertherm must have some equivelent to this thermal switch inside the power supply.....Good luck..

make sure that there is air to the plasma and set at the proper psi. Make sure that the contact tip and nozzle is in the cutting head correct.

The unit needs to be tested.

You're welcome to ship the unit to me for diagnostic testing and repair. [email protected]

Hi,


I would recommend replacing the electrode, and maybe the tip, other that that it sounds like you aren't getting a good enough ground for it to start.