[jgramlich]

First: Yes, I want to move my plasma table indoors, but that option is not currently possible.

I've got an Hypertherm HPR260 manual gas console connected to a Controlled Automation Promax burn table.

This cold weather is just killing me....and my HPR260. I have the unit in an unheated shed full of steel plate that absorbs all that night-cold and yada yada. What seems to be happening is that a minute bit of moisture getting past my line dryer builds up and freezes my air lines.

I'm getting plenty of oxygen pressure out of my LOx bottle, but next to nothing from my air supply on my plasma unit...right now. The air pressure on the regulator on the wall, connected to the plasma unit, is a constant 120psi. This morning I was getting up to 30psi on the console (when it's set for 60psi) and right now I'm down to between 5-10psi on my air pressure when I try to manually set the gas pressures.

I've spoken with Hypertherm tech support and they've given me a few ideas to try...run bottled nitrogen through the lines to sublimate any ice, for one. Wait for spring was another (tongue in cheek). :-)

This has been a constant problem the last couple of weeks for me, but usually whatever is blocking my air lines breaks loose after a couple of hours of morning...but today it froze on me in the middle of the day. This is getting old.

I'd be interested in hearing any other theories/ideas y'all might have out there.

[Pandinus]

For starters, the air in the line will cool at the point of a pressure drop... try dropping the pressure to closer to your final pressure inside where the reg. won't freeze up.

Second, how about a heat exchanger for the air line to warm up the air a bit???
Try a good length of soft copper tube coiled up in a barrel full of water and drop one of those submersible heaters they use to keep Animal watering troughs from freezing up.??? or a magnetic block heater... or a Bar-b-Que .... might not be the safest or most efficient, but you wont go without a hot meal

OK keep the BBQ for lunch and use something safer... lol

[jgramlich]

Hmmm...interesting idea. I do have something I could rig up for a heat exchanger just before it goes into the plasma unit...would be pretty easy too. Thanks!

[Pandinus]

Your welcome, hope it works out

[ImanCarrot]

What about heat tape? like this stuff:

http://www.prothermind.com/SILICONERUBBERHEATTAPES.htm

Or you could stick a greenhouse paraffin heater in the shop (get a carbon monoxide warning sticky thing just in case).

[Bigrhamr]

A little creative plumbing can get rid of a lot of line moisture. Vertical runs, drains at the bottom and pull your air off the top, let gravity work for you.

[Al Lowe]

This might sound really stupid, but what about heating your shed to get the ambient up a bit... or stick some heaters in strategic spots.

[jgramlich]

Thanks for the input folks. :-) Looks like the freezing season is gone for this year.

What seemed to work in the end...I stopped shutting off my line-dryer at night. Not sure if this actually solved the problem as when I started it it was not nearly as cold as it had been earlier in the year...but, it was never frozen up the next morning after I started doing that.

[ImanCarrot]

Heh, I leave my compressor and air dryer on 24/7. Thanks for letting us know you got a solution, a lot of folk don't reply when they've got the solution, it's nice when they do

[jgramlich]

Oh, and I should have been more specific about the location of the table. Our shed is large, very swiss cheese and we store a couple of hundred tons of steel in there, so when it gets cold at night, the steel absorbs all that cold and keeps it even colder in the shed than the outside temperature. :-)