RESOURCES > Maintenance > Troubleshooting > Cut Performance

Unsuccessful Cut

An unsuccessful cut can come from a variety of different reasons in multiple different subsystems. This guide will teach you the ways to locate what is specifically not working, and point to the resources for how to fix the underling problem.

 
 

An unsuccessful cut is one where it doesn’t finish the way you wanted it do. You may notice the everything inside the window is just mist, there could be light marking or maybe it almost has cut through. After taking note of state of the machine and the surroundings you can work your way through the following guide.

WAZER depends on its high pressure system to create high speed stream, and dry abrasive delivery system to channel in abrasive as cutting edges. Fundamentally you can break the system down in to a few simple parts that can be evaluated individually.

The guide is broken into two parts: a Quick Troubleshooting Guide that will solve 90% of the problems you may encounter, and an exhaustive debugging procedure that will walk you through all observable problem categories. Within each section, the checks are sorted from the most common problems we have found, to the less likely and more difficult things to check. Please follow this article and not skipping any steps unless directed. Oftentimes, the problem comes down to something simple that is easy to overlook.

Quick Troubleshooting Guide

Check: Is the Pump Box on when it was supposed to be Cutting? You should clearly hear the sound of the Pump Box turning on when you start a Cut.

  • Root Cause: If not, the Pump Box is not receiving power or signal to turn on.

  • Corrective Action: Make sure to connect the Pump Box to an appropriate AC power source with the included Pump Box Power Cable and switch the GFCI on. Also, ensure the Signal Cable coming from the WAZER is plugged in. Before resuming, you must clean out the Abrasive Hopper and Abrasive Hose. Follow the instructions in Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Cleaning the Abrasive Hopper and Abrasive Hose.

  • Root Cause II: If the sound is un-even or you hear a loud knocking noise you have a problem with too much flow.

  • Corrective Action II: It is likely the high pressure orifice is broken. Please take a shot video and contact customer support at support@wazer.com.

Check: Is the water supply to the Pump Box turned on?

  • Root Cause: WAZER does not know whether it is being supplied with water or not. If the water supply is not providing sufficient water, the machine will not be able to cut properly.

  • Corrective Action: Double check all your plumbing and make sure that water is being provided to the Pump Box.

Check: Is abrasive is flowing through the valve? Achieve this by performing Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Quick Abrasive Check

Check: Is the Cut file set up correctly? Identify if the Cut Rate you used to try to cut this Material is in line with other similar Materials and thicknesses. Take special note of alloys and hardness as this can drastically change the required cutting speeds

  • Root Cause: If not, WAZER’s Cut Rate is set too high.

  • Corrective Action: Make a new Cut File with a decreased Cutting rate for this Material.

Check: Are both the Abrasive Hose and the Abrasive Hose End clear?

Check is the orifice in good health? Follow the guide here to check the stream

  • Root Cause: A slightly damaged orifice will look similar to a working one once the stream has been focused by the nozzle. Despite how it looks the cutting potential is greatly reduced.

  • Corrective Action: Please take a shot video and contact customer support at support@wazer.com. Then, please Replace the Orifice

Check:  Is there a knocking coming from the pump box.  

  • Root Cause: When the orifice is broken the pressure setting device on the pump struggles to achieve pressure and make a loud noise

  • Corrective Action: Contact WAZER Replace the Orifice

Check: What is your current Abrasive Flow Rate? Achieve this by performing Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Checking the Abrasive Rate.

  • Root Cause: If WAZER’s Abrasive Flow Rate is below the required rate, the cutting ability is reduced

  • Corrective Action: Perform an abrasive valve teardown to clear any obstructions.

Exhaustive Troubleshooting Guide.

This guide will trace the path of water through the machine as it is pressurized and delivered to the cutting head. I will also trace the path of the abrasive to the head. Finally it will look at once they are mixed and focused to your work piece.

Abrasive Supply Problems

Check 1: Are both the Abrasive Hose and the Abrasive Hose End clear?

Check 2: What is your Abrasive Flow Rate? Identify your current Abrasive Flow Rate by performing Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Checking the Abrasive Rate.

  • Root Cause: If WAZER’s Abrasive Flow Rate is below the required rate, the cutting ability is reduced

  • Corrective Action: Follow the guide Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Resetting the Abrasive Rate

Check 3: Is the abrasive hose end inserted too far into the abrasive catcher? The o-rings on the hose end should not be visible however there should be approx 3/8" (10 mm) of metal showing, see Maintenance Manual > Procedures > Dry Abrasive > Correct Abrasive Hose End Installation.

  • Root Cause: If the hose end is inserted too far it is harder for the abrasive to be drawn up to the nozzle

  • Corrective Action: Pull the hose end out and re-insert until the o-ring just disappears

Check 4: Is the abrasive hose pinched any way?

  • Root Cause: If the flow of abrasive is restricted at all,the the performance will drop

  • Corrective Action: Trace abrasive line through the machine and see if it is kinked anywhere or that any zip tie or cable tie is not to tight.

Cut File Problems

Check 1: Is the Cut file set up correctly? Identify if the Cut Rate you used to try to cut this Material is in line with other similar Materials and thicknesses.

  • Root Cause: If not, WAZER’s Cut Rate is set too high.

  • Corrective Action: Make a new Cut File after decreasing the Cutting rate for this Material.

  • Corrective Action II: if you using a material not in our database and nothing is close follow this guide Testing a New Material and Creating a New Wam Entry to determine the correct speed and add it to your personal database

Check 2: Is the material is of even thickness and density? Take special note of alloys and hardness as this can drastically change the required cutting speeds

  • Root Cause if your cutting parameters are right in one part it may not be sufficient in thicker parts.

  • Corrective Actions: Find the cutting rates for the thickest part of you material and be careful that you do you cutting head offset in that same area as well.

Setup Problems

Check 1: Is the offset between the cutting head and the work space correct?

  • Root Cause: If the gap is too large, then the full cutting force will not be focused on the work piece. If the gap is too small, back pressure will push water into the abrasive hose and cause a clog.

  • Corrective action: Follow the guide in User Manual > Cutting on Wazer > Cut Startup > Set Nozzle height

Check 2: Is the Cutting Bed level?

  • Root Cause: If the gap is to large in some places then the full cutting force will not be focused on the work piece

  • Corrective action: Follow the guide in Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Leveling the Cut Bed

Check 3: Is the work-piece firmly attached to the cutting bed?

  • Root Cause: If the work piece is moves during the cut the jet won’t be able to focus and make it through the material.

  • Corrective Action: Add extra screw to securely constrain the work piece.

Check 4: Is the cutting bed firmly attached to the machine

  • Root Cause: If the cutting bed is loose it can cause the work piece to move around under the jet and the full cutting force will no be focused on the correct area. This can either come from cutting bed bolts improperly secured or the bed may be worn out.

  • Corrective action 1: Follow the guide in Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Leveling the Cut Bed

  • Corrective action 2: Using a new cutting bed from our store. Follow the guide in Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Flipping or Swapping the Cut Bed and Inspecting the Tank Pierce Plate

Low Pressure Water Supply

Check 1: Was there any high pressure water coming out of the nozzle? You may see a mist or a directed side jet. You will also notice that the cutting sound is quite a bit louder and higher pitched.

  • Root Cause: If there was water, we know the high pressure system is working

  • Corrective action : skip to Check 3

Check 2: Is the water supply to the Pump Box turned on?

  • Root Cause: WAZER does not know whether it is being supplied with water or not. If the water supply is not providing sufficient water, the machine will not be able to cut properly.

  • Corrective Action: Double check all your plumbing and make sure that water is being provided to the Pump Box.

Check 3: Are there any leaks on in either the low pressure supply to the pump or in the high pressure system after the pump?

  • Root Cause: Leaks will will lower the pressure the pump or the cutting head sees resulting in reduced cutting potential

  • Corrective Action: For leaks in the high pressure systems see Maintenance > Troubleshooting > High-Pressure Leak. For those on the low pressure system contact support for more solutions

Check 4: Is the inlet water pressure is sufficient. If you can hook up an inline water pressure gauge to see what the water pressure is while the machine is running. It should be at least 30 psi while the machine is running. If you do not have a gauge, remove the #3 inlet hose from the pump box and see how long it takes to fill a X-gal bucket. If this takes less than Y seconds your inlet pressure likely okay

  • Root cause: low inlet pressure will reduce the maximum pressure the pump can achieve

  • Corrective Action: solution you may need a booster pump, contact support for more info.

Check 5: Is the water supply uninterrupted?

  • Root Cause: if the inlet water pressure dips at all during the cut, the output pressure of the pump will dip correspondingly and the jet may not cut all the way through the material. You may notice inconsistent cutting in addition to random abrasive clogs

  • Corrective Action: Find all major water appliances that are on the same circuit and make sure they don’t come on during a cut. This can even include a utility sink that has a particularly high flow.

Check 6: Is the inlet water filter dirty?. Look at where the water line enters the pump box. ADD PICTURES

  • Root Cause: a clogged filter will starve the high pressure pump and create a variety of strange sounds and reduced performance

  • Corrective Actions: follow instructions here Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Cleaning the Water Inlet Filter

Check 7: Is the high pressure filter clogged ? Contact WAZER support for more information.

  • Root Cause: a clogged filter will starve the high pressure pump and create a variety of strange sounds and reduced performance

Electrical Function

Check 1: Was the Pump Box on when it was supposed to be Cutting? You should clearly hear the sound of the Pump Box turning on when you start a Cut.

  • Root Cause: If not, the Pump Box is not receiving power or signal to turn on.

  • Corrective Action: Make sure to connect the Pump Box to an AC power source with the Pump Box Power Cable. Also, ensure the Signal Cable coming from the WAZER is plugged in. Additionally make sure that the GFCI unit on the Pump Box power Cable is switched on. Before resuming, you must clean out the Abrasive Hopper and Abrasive Hose. Follow the instructions in Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Cleaning the Abrasive Hopper and Abrasive Hose.

Check 2: Does the High Pressure Valve open? Use the Output check menu to check to see if the component work in isolation.

[NOTICE]: remove the abrasive hose from the head before checking

  • Root Cause: if the HP valve doesn’t open water can never reach the cutting head

  • Corrective Action: contact WAZER support for a new valve

High Pressure Testing

Check 1: Listen for loud knocking noises coming from the pump box when the pump is on and the high pressure valve is open.

  • Root Cause: When the High pressure system detects that more water is flowing than intended, safety in the pump can be heard engaging. This could be either a leak or a broken orifice.

  • Corrective Action: Continue to next Check, at the same time keep an eye out for leaks.

Check 2: that the Nozzle stream is as expected by observing the stream during a nozzle purge while the water supply is still on.

  • Root Cause: If the stream is white cohesive jet. Then everything is okay

    • If the stream is particularly wide but pump sounds normal, the nozzle may be worn out

      • Remove nozzle and re run,

        • If the stream is cohesive then just change nozzle

        • If the stream is not cohesive then both are worn out

    • If the stream is wide and the pump is making a loud knocking noise the orifice may be broken

  • Corrective Action: See the Wazer store to buy the needed wear components; for the just the orifice, and for the nozzle and orifice. Follow Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Replacing the Orifice

Check 3: Is the the kerf is not wider that 1.27mm (0.05in) - note this depends highly on the material and thickness you are cutting. If you have cut the material before and the the kerf seems wider than before then the problem could be the nozzle.

  • Root Cause: The nozzle is worn out

  • Corrective Action: see the WAZER store to buy the needed nozzle and orifice. Follow Maintenance > Maintenance Procedures > Replacing the Orifice Note: if high accuracy isn’t a priority to you it is possible you can keep using a worn nozzle, however you will need to reduced your cutting speed to compensate which in turn will increase your cost per cut.

RESOURCES > Maintenance > Troubleshooting