Plasma cutters

[historicalarms]

When I first looked at acquiring on of these a couple years ago pretty much everything was in the $1500-2000 range, just a bit too much for the amount of use I would get from one. Now I have an opportunity to get a small job that will make it a reality to justify one.
Now when I look at Amazon there is page after page of machines in the $400-600 range that are advertised to clean -cut 1/2" material ( this little job requires a bunch of 3/8 cutting but I do have occasion to cut 1/2 a bit).

My question to the board is "does anybody have experience" with these, what I would call budget priced machines from Amazon. I am a bit leery of them as the Brand name ones such as Hobart & Miller etc. are still up in the $2000 range.

 

[CalgaryPT]

I suspect the same principle applies to plasma cutters as other cheaper tools in that the non-big name brands tend to rate performance liberally, and the big boys rate theirs more conservatively. I own a Hypertherm PowerMax 45 and it exceeds what the specs say. I briefly owned a PowerMax 65 and it exceeded its specs too.

Plasma has come a long way and I’m sure there are many no-name brands that perform very well now. I remember it wasn’t too long ago that Lincoln and Millers were looked down on compared to Hypertherm and Theromo Dynamics. A lot has changed. Lincoln acquired Torchmate for example, and their cutters have since improved.

Assuming the model you are looking at is rated well with good reviews I would research consumable availability. Also, some units do poorly at gorging if that is a consideration to you.

Lastly, if automation and CNC is a future requirement make sure it has plugs for send/receive of these signals, or you can at least tap into the board if needed. Even my older Hypertherm 45 lacked these, but luckily there were vids on how to modify the motherboard. You’ll also want a machine torch if you CNC.

Best of luck.

 

[Janger]

I think Mike @Bofobo bought a smaller one a while back from kms I believe. Mike? How’d it turn out?

 

[Janger]

I think Mike @Bofobo bought a smaller one a while back from kms I believe. Mike? How’d it turn out?

I have an Everlast tig/plasma combo. It’s worked well for me. A few hiccups. It’s More money than you’re discussing.

Another point not mentioned you have to have dry clean air. The line needs a dryer - desiccant - radiator - something. Even a tiny bit of water blows up the consumable.

 

[Tom Kitta]

I have cut50. Works great. Got it few years back. Cheap from eBay. I doubt its 50 through - I think more in line with 35. But for the money it works. It eats consumables through faster then brand name models. Make sure air is dry.

 

[Dr.Fiero]

Whichever you get, make SURE that you can easily get the consumables. If you can use an expensive Miller (etc etc) tip right off the shelf, it'll beat the hell out of having to wait 3 months to order one from the MFG (just to find out they discontinued it, or they went out of business).

Also, look for one that brags about using high quality Japanese FET's from Panasonic (etc). These are what do the switching, and take the brunt of the abuse in the power supply. The cheap chinesium ones are a sure bet for failure.

 

[historicalarms]

Thanks a bunch guys, this gives me a baseline for more research.

One thing that is mentioned in the adds is Non-pilot arc or "pilot arc". is there a benefit to either one?

 

[Dr.Fiero]

Pilot arc - it essentially shoots high frequency, lower amperage power from the tip to the surface. It's ionizes the air, and lets the main arc light off easier. Similar to in TIG welding, you might hear the terms "scratch start" and "high freq start".
That's *my* understanding of it anyhow!

 

[CalgaryPT]

Thanks a bunch guys, this gives me a baseline for more research.

A great resource is Jim Colt - he worked for Hypertherm and is considered the God of plasma cutting. He has a great website: https://www.thefabricator.com/author/jim-colt and is actually very approachable. He answers emails personally still I believe. He was a major contributor to Torchmate's success before they sold to Lincoln and made plasma understandable to many of us.

When in doubt, look for articles by Jim on the web. The guy knows his stuff and is a great teacher.

 

[Tom Kitta]

I have the one with pilot - this is the one to get. The tig description is accurate. Also with pilot you will use the consumables less.

 

[Bofobo]

I used my cut30 all but once. And only on 110v, it Worked great but i needed both my small compressors to get enough CFM. For the 1/8” plate and would quickly trip the breaker with long cuts or extended periods of use, again on 110v it is dual voltage I just could not use it in my kitchen they’re the only 30 amp plug in my house resides

 

[historicalarms]

I have both 30 amp 110 & 220 ( not sure of the amps.) available in the shop but no mater which way I go, I will need to add an extension cord as I don't like cutting sparks inside the building ( 50 yr old wood structure). My acetylene torch is on wheels and goes outside for even a small "snip" LOL.

Thanks for the links Calg.

Spent most of the morning reading "user quality reports" on Amazon on several machines. They all give a PSI requirement for different cut thickness's but not one of them give the flow volume requirement . I think my compressor is 10 cfm. so hope that will be sufficient ( two 50 gal tanks hooked in succession), I filled a lot of 11-24 truck tires with it for a # of yrs.

 

[Tom Kitta]

I used it with my smaller compressor 11cfm @ 90 without it overworking itself.

 

[Dr.Fiero]

They all give a PSI requirement for different cut thickness's but not one of them give the flow volume requirement . I think my compressor is 10 cfm. so hope that will be sufficient .

Another thing to remember... you can have an awesome 50cfm pump, attached to a 1000 gallon tank.
But then you run your lines into a 3/8" regulator, that goes down to 1/4" ID hose at the reel.... you've got nothing.

Point is - you're pretty much only as strong (CFM) as your weakest link (hose).

If you're using couplers at any point (and who doesn't?), make sure to get rid of all those "M" couplers (that show up on almost anything bought in the last 20 years), and switch over to the Milton "V" ones. They flow almost double what an "M" does. And the nice thing is, a female "V" will still let you plug an "M" into it (with the resultant lower flow).

 

[Tom Kitta]

Thin cable does indeed cause issues at high cfm flows but not even close to these encounterd by small plasma cutter unless your cable is ultra long and has many kinks or connectors.

It is similar to running electrical cable that is small gauge - you are having voltage drop when drawing lots of power through it. With long thin air cable you have PSI drop. Same PSI drop occurs when using air dryers of different types.

The 3/8 cable of 100ft length creates enough drop that operating say 1" impact is an issue.

There are calculators available online for all of this.

 

[Dr.Fiero]

All I'm saying, is that if you've got 1/4" hose/pipe in the system, you've choked the whole thing off.
You can only flow about 4cfm (at 120) through it. So your 10cfm compressor becomes a moot point.

 

[Chicken lights]

Another thing to remember... you can have an awesome 50cfm pump, attached to a 1000 gallon tank.
But then you run your lines into a 3/8" regulator, that goes down to 1/4" ID hose at the reel.... you've got nothing.

Point is - you're pretty much only as strong (CFM) as your weakest link (hose).

If you're using couplers at any point (and who doesn't?), make sure to get rid of all those "M" couplers (that show up on almost anything bought in the last 20 years), and switch over to the Milton "V" ones. They flow almost double what an "M" does. And the nice thing is, a female "V" will still let you plug an "M" into it (with the resultant lower flow).

That’s really good info. Is there a chart online that shows the comparisons?

I’ve got most of my shop switched over to Milton “P” series fittings

 

[Bofobo]

I feed several lines to the cutter with this, air in the splitter and connects to the cutter at the elbow. to reduce my overall pressure losses, and yes as you can see my shop floor is hardwood

 

[Alexander]

I have been curious about the really cheap plasma cutters on Ebay. Like this one.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Digital-ICU...ree-Shipping/273724093162?hash=item3fbb3a32ea

 

[Alexander]

@Bofobo you could get an extension cord from princess auto and run it outside from your kitchen