[jason_alex]

Hello I was wondering if anyone on the forum has done a HD3070 torch upgrade and I wanted to get your input on it. I have read all the info/stats on Hypertherms website and I was wondering if anyone has done it yet. About how long dose it take to compatible the conversion.

I find it interesting that on there website it says that they can reach right around 1500 starts and 20 second runs on 3/8 plate and still be in range ISO 9013 range 3 where the HPR130XD can only get 800-1000.

I also is it possible to run silver plus electrodes any idea how many start and 20 second runs it could handle?

Thanks,
Jason

[jimcolt]

There have been a few hundred HD3070 (high definition class) plasma torches upgraded to the new style torch from Hypertherm. It is a great improvement for the 3070, which was the original HyDefinition plasma cutting system.

Not sure where you got your information on the HPR130XD system, however it provides better consumable life as compred to an HD3070, even with the torch upgrade. Consumable life with any plasma system is dependant on the torch and consumable design, but also on the gas delivery system and the electrical output characteristics of the plasma power supply.....these must be accurately controlled. The newest technology HPR130xd (and HPR260XD, HPR400XD and HPR800XD) systems have a far superior gas control and power supply...producing longer consumable life, faster speeds and better cut quality.

Yes there are silver electrodes available for the 3070 torch upgrades. What you are cutting (material thickness as well as size of the parts) makes a difference, but on average you will see about a 50% improvement in consumable life with the silver plus electrode technology. It is not uncomon to see 1800 to 2000 starts if you steel parts have an average cut duration of about 20 seconds. Using the siler electrode technology in the newer HPRXD systems can produce as many as 2000 to 3000 starts on a single set of consumables under the same cutting conditions.

Best regards, Jim Colt Hypertherm

Hello I was wondering if anyone on the forum has done a HD3070 torch upgrade and I wanted to get your input on it. I have read all the info/stats on Hypertherms website and I was wondering if anyone has done it yet. About how long dose it take to compatible the conversion.

I find it interesting that on there website it says that they can reach right around 1500 starts and 20 second runs on 3/8 plate and still be in range ISO 9013 range 3 where the HPR130XD can only get 800-1000.

I also is it possible to run silver plus electrodes any idea how many start and 20 second runs it could handle?

Thanks,
Jason

[jason_alex]

Thanks for the information Jim, I did see that the new HPR130XD is rated for 110 IPM on 3/8 plate and the HD3070 with the upgrade is 105 and also that the hpr130xd is rated for production up to 1 1/4" where the HD3070 with torch upgrade only has run speeds for 3/4" and the thicker you go the faster the HPR130XD gets in comparison to the HD3070.

As for where I got my information is from Hypertherms web site under benefits tab

HD3070 - HyPerformance HD3070 torch upgrade for HD3070 | Hypertherm

HPR130XD - HPR130XD - HyPerformance Plasma System | Hypertherm

There have been a few hundred HD3070 (high definition class) plasma torches upgraded to the new style torch from Hypertherm. It is a great improvement for the 3070, which was the original HyDefinition plasma cutting system.

Not sure where you got your information on the HPR130XD system, however it provides better consumable life as compred to an HD3070, even with the torch upgrade. Consumable life with any plasma system is dependant on the torch and consumable design, but also on the gas delivery system and the electrical output characteristics of the plasma power supply.....these must be accurately controlled. The newest technology HPR130xd (and HPR260XD, HPR400XD and HPR800XD) systems have a far superior gas control and power supply...producing longer consumable life, faster speeds and better cut quality.

Yes there are silver electrodes available for the 3070 torch upgrades. What you are cutting (material thickness as well as size of the parts) makes a difference, but on average you will see about a 50% improvement in consumable life with the silver plus electrode technology. It is not uncomon to see 1800 to 2000 starts if you steel parts have an average cut duration of about 20 seconds. Using the siler electrode technology in the newer HPRXD systems can produce as many as 2000 to 3000 starts on a single set of consumables under the same cutting conditions.

Best regards, Jim Colt Hypertherm

[jason_alex]

Did I get the wrong information off the website, or something I over looked?

[jimcolt]

Sorry I did not get back to you on this. Here is the response from one of the process engineering managers in regards to the consumable life charts between the upgrade torch for the HD3070 and the new HPR130XD system:

The reason the life is longer on the 3070 upgrade is strictly due to the lower amperage, 100A vs. 130A. That results in the longer lifetime of the electrode in that configuration. When you take into account cut speeds, etc. the operating costs should be similar. I believe the 80A process has similar or longer life than the 100A, as another comparison.

So, at lower amperage you will be cutting at a lower speed, generally with better edge angularity.Lower amperage consumables last longer in terms of the number of starts and the hours of arc on time. If you factor in the lower speeds (at lower amperage)...then you likely will get a smaller number of parts cut at 100 amps vs the 130 amp process per set of consumables.

The upgrade torch is essentially the same torch as the HPR130XD torch. The HD3070 however has a 100 amp maximum power level.


Jim Colt Hypertherm

Did I get the wrong information off the website, or something I over looked?

[jason_alex]

Thank you very much Jim! And I understand there are more the the HPR thank meats the eye on a spec sheet with all the advanced features, And that the 130 can cut up to 1 1/4" production and 1 1/2" max cut where the HD 3070 can do a max of 3/4" with the torch upgrade. Also that the higher amperage heats up the tip more and takes the consumable life down. I would also be every interested to see where the HPR130XD would place running consumable life at 100 amps instead of 130 amps, And see how high the number of starts climes to since it was compared to "competitors A's" 100 amp system.

But just looking at the number on 3/8" is interesting.

HD 3070 on 3/8" @100 amps run speed is 105 IPM in intervals of 20 seconds is what what the # of starts is rated at = brings us to 35 inches of cut in 20 seconds (not counting pierce since information is not on website for seconds of delay. (I am sure the HPR130 pierces a lot faster than the HD3070)
# of starts in ISO 9013 range 3 and 4 is right around 2346 starts I broke it down in cad so off the bar chart on Hypertherm's website.
Taking the 35" per 20 second runs by the 2346 starts it comes to around 82110" or (6842.5') of cut per set of consumables.

HPR130XD on 3/8" @130 amps run speed is 110 IPM in intervals of 20 seconds for the # of starts brings us to 36.66667" of cut in 20 seconds not counting pierce unless that is figured in run speed on Hypertherms charts # of starts in ISO 9013 range 3 and 4 is around 1600 starts.
Taking the 36.66667" pert 20 second run at 1600 starts come to around 58666.66667" or (4888.888889') of cut per set of consumables.

I just thought I would post this since I was curious. I still am, nothing better than to learn. This chart dose not account for gas usage or any other features such as all of Hypertherms great patterned new technology such as "True hole" or there new stainless technology.

All the information I gather was from the https://www.hypertherm.com/Xnet/libr...file=HYP106268 and also HPR130XD - HyPerformance Plasma System | Hypertherm

[jason_alex]

This also did not take into account secondary operations based on the HPR130XD having a higher cut quality such as dross free up to 5/8"

[jimcolt]

Jason,

The data and your calculations are probably fairly close. From my 36 years of plasma cutting experience I would dare say that cut quality on 3/8" steel is probably better at 100 amps than at 130 amps.....in terms of edge angularity (Iso9013) and edge smoothness. Plasma, like almost all cutting processes needs to match the power to the thickness for best results (Laser and abrasive water jet act similarly). In fact....for best results on cut part accuracy I would drop to 80 amps on 3/8", it would cut at a slower speed, but measurable improvement in quality is the result.

Some users prefer productivity, some prefer quality. From our marketing and sales experience over the years, most buy plasma based on productivity, therefore we generally advertise our products performance based on its speed capability.

So, the HPR130XD was a natural progression from the older HD3070 in the following ways: Availability of a fully automated interface (Ethernet like) with the cnc control, the torch height control and the gas flow control....this integrated system allows the CAM software to have all of the system expertised embedded. The operator of these machines loads the plate, ensures the correct consumables are in the torch, then pushes the green button. 24 gas, height control, power and motion control parameters are properly set....the operator spends more time cutting and less time looking for setup charts and pushing buttons on the control panels. After this was released, further development allowed us to add True Hole technology (data embedded in the CAM software) that used lab developed hole cutting motion, height, gas and power settings to make holes more round, minimize taper and eliminate start/stop dings and divots. Even further development allowed for faster cut to cut cycle times by using (tipped up part) collision avoidance as well as torch retract avoidance, automated advance gas preflows, etc to dramatically shorten non productive travers time on a cnc machine. And even further, on machines equipped for contour bevelling the software and system parameters (again with embedded data in the CAM) was updated with data developed in our labs to take trial and error steps out of the normal procedures for producing accurate multi angle bevels (usually for weld prep), again saving tremendous amounts of time. Bottom line, there is far more productivity available with the HPRXD systems than can be had by simply gaining a few inches per minute in cut speed. None of this new tech is available with the 3070, regardless of the torch that it is driving!


Jim Colt

Thank you very much Jim! And I understand there are more the the HPR thank meats the eye on a spec sheet with all the advanced features, And that the 130 can cut up to 1 1/4" production and 1 1/2" max cut where the HD 3070 can do a max of 3/4" with the torch upgrade. Also that the higher amperage heats up the tip more and takes the consumable life down. I would also be every interested to see where the HPR130XD would place running consumable life at 100 amps instead of 130 amps, And see how high the number of starts climes to since it was compared to "competitors A's" 100 amp system.

But just looking at the number on 3/8" is interesting.

HD 3070 on 3/8" @100 amps run speed is 105 IPM in intervals of 20 seconds is what what the # of starts is rated at = brings us to 35 inches of cut in 20 seconds (not counting pierce since information is not on website for seconds of delay. (I am sure the HPR130 pierces a lot faster than the HD3070)
# of starts in ISO 9013 range 3 and 4 is right around 2346 starts I broke it down in cad so off the bar chart on Hypertherm's website.
Taking the 35" per 20 second runs by the 2346 starts it comes to around 82110" or (6842.5') of cut per set of consumables.

HPR130XD on 3/8" @130 amps run speed is 110 IPM in intervals of 20 seconds for the # of starts brings us to 36.66667" of cut in 20 seconds not counting pierce unless that is figured in run speed on Hypertherms charts # of starts in ISO 9013 range 3 and 4 is around 1600 starts.
Taking the 36.66667" pert 20 second run at 1600 starts come to around 58666.66667" or (4888.888889') of cut per set of consumables.

I just thought I would post this since I was curious. I still am, nothing better than to learn. This chart dose not account for gas usage or any other features such as all of Hypertherms great patterned new technology such as "True hole" or there new stainless technology.

All the information I gather was from the https://www.hypertherm.com/Xnet/libr...file=HYP106268 and also HPR130XD - HyPerformance Plasma System | Hypertherm

[jason_alex]

Thank you Jim as always a wealth of information!