Which plasma?

[sidthss]

I was posting my personal opinion, more of an "Im just saying," post. Do ya got a problem with me mentioning the cheap machines smaw?

[smawgmaw]

I aint got no problem at all with you stating what your opinion is, only if it made sense. Matter of fact, I am the proud owner of two Chinese units. Totally happy with them. Great customer service and followup from the company I bought them from, good parts availablity, and a live person at the other end of the phone to talk to when I got questions. And, yes, I would buy another from the same company. I could have easily tried to promote Chinese units to the original poster of this thread but didnt. Why? Because he was interested in certain units. Do I have to promote the Chinese units or company I bought them from? No. Their quality and the company from which they come promotes themselves. And since you stated that you dont own and would never own a "junk Chinese" machine, you cant honestly give an experienced opinion on something you absolutely know nothing about. Thats what I have a problem with and others on this forum should have a problem with, BS opinions from someoone who doesnt have a clue to what they are talking about! Opinions as such I toss in the worthless bin to be taken out with the rest of the trash. Yes, there are some "Chinese Junk" out there, but to lump all into a "worthless pile" is ignorance on the part of the person doing the "virtual evaluation". Dont knock something until you try it. Nobody is forcing anything on you that you dont want. Im pretty sure no one on this forum has a problem with you buying Miller, Lincoln, Esab, Hypertherm, etc. I dont and neither should anyone else. You dont want "Chinese Junk", then dont buy it, nobody is forcing it on you. But know what your talking about before you give an opinion. Dont go around the world with blinders on believing that whatever you read or is told to you is the absolute truth without checking things out for yourself. If you do, you are going to be a very misinformed individual which you appear to be now. Please educate yourself not only on this issue but on others in this world, or continue to forever live in the fog in which you now reside.

[sidthss]

First off, get your panties out of a bunch, its my money, I work and sweat for it, so i spend it like I want to! It is my personal opinion and i can say whatever the h#ll I want to say. No I havent ever owned any of those machines, becuase of personal preference, from what I have seen, read, and tried it wasnt worth the risk to me. I would rather get a machine that if it does break, I have the comfort of going to the lws and having them fix it and not having to ship the machine to who knows where and not have a machine for that long period of time. For you to tell me that I go around the world beleiving everything I read and I have blinders on is ignorance on your part. Yeah, ill see what I can do about educating myself on other issues in this world and clearing up the fog that i am in, wait, you know so much about me that you know I have other foggy issues? But im sure your a perfect person who is open to all ideas and has no issues with anything, just so ya can stay out of the fog, right? Im done with this thread, so piss off jackass.

[smawgmaw]

No, I am not perfect. Never claimed to be. And I dont know about your personal issues and dont care to. Glad your done with this thread. If all you can come up with is vulgar insults then maybe you should try and grow up in the mean time! Bye! Bye! Bye!

[smawgmaw]

I am going to take the first step here pertaining to this thread.

1. To OP tpierce, sorry, didnt mean for your thread to turn into a circus.

2. To Combat Jump, I apologize for my post #15. Even though it may appear to have been an insult, it wasnt meant to be.

3. To Billy, same thing, I apologize for my post #21. Nothing was meant as an insult towards you in any way.

4. To any of the moderators who had to keep tabs on this thread so it didnt get out of hand, sorry guys.

Im done here with apologies.

[Combat Jump]

Well, if anyone is still reading about which plasma cutter to get, I have some more to add.

I got my Miller 375 Extreme the same week I ordered it – again, no tax, and free shipping. All the way from Indiana to California, which is pretty prompt.

The price I paid was in the “ballpark” for what I consider a quality light duty plasma cutter - $1145. That included a nice carry case. As with other things in life that you might buy, I have found that in general, you get what you pay for. I like the quality of my Miller 211, so I didn’t mind paying $136 more than a Hypertherm Powermax 30 for more Blue.

Another note, is that the Miller is very small for what it does – even comes with a shoulder strap. Not that I will be carrying it around while cutting, but that might give you an idea how portable it is.

I used it today. I welded up some legs for a work table. Used the 375 for the cutting jobs. It was like going through butter.

So, in sum, I did a lot of reading on this site before making my purchase. Searched and read as much as I could find. In the end, I considered what was important to me, and put down my cash. I am happy trading my hard earned green for some hard working blue. 

[jamlit]

All the major brands make good plasma cutters. The Millers are a decent unit for sure. BUT, Hypertherm and Thermodynamics are the top machines going. I am not tryimg to put any machine down and I am sure several people have units that are working prefect everyday, but in my opinion, anyone looking to buy a plasma would be better off getting a Hypertherm or Thermodynamics.

[gsport]

good thread.... i'm in the market for a plasma too. with all the reserch i had done i was ready to buy the miller 375 extreme. i went to the local AirCo. gas company to see what a deal they'd cut me and knowing they are an authorized dealer/service store for miller i thought i'd find out first hand about the plasmas.. talking to the salesman there he said his first choice would be either a hypertherm 30 or the thermal dynamic 39 over the miller machine. he said they get more miller machines in for repairs than the other two.. and if you talk to them about matching prices you WILL get a better deal.. i was quoted an even $1000.00 for the hypertherm and $1006.00 for the thermal dynamics. i didn't even ask about the price for the miller.. i left there with my head spinning and not sure which one i'd get now. i had all intentions of leaving there with the miller but after all the talking i did there i told him i'd be back, that i wanted to do some more research.. i think i'll probably go with the thermal dynamic 39

[874crawler]

Though the powermax 30 is less than the spectrum 375 it also has a smaller cutting capacity so you have to figure that in when you are comparing prices

[jimcolt]

You may want to try the Powermax30 if you think it has a smaller cutting range than any other 120 volt plasma! Some manufacturers are a little looser with their brochure specifications. You will find that any Hypertherm product will easily exceed the specifications on the brochure! I'll stand behind that promise!

Jim

[500HpSilverado]

I will back up Jim Colt's comment. The Hypertherm is far more powerful then it is rated, here is the proof.

[jimcolt]

This isn't a Powermax 30.....but a Hypertherm Powermax45 severing through 1-1/4" of steel! Quite a bit beyond its rating.

Jim

[Tony D]

my post #9 shows it too 1/2" like butter and 1" severance gouging and piercing it also woo hoo

[874crawler]

Originally Posted by 500HpSilverado

I will back up Jim Colt's comment. The Hypertherm is far more powerful then it is rated, here is the proof.

Im not saying the Hypertherm isn't worth it but it is rated 1/2" severance so cutting 1/2" doesn't surprise me.

Does anyone have sidebyside comparison cuts from the powermax30 and the 375? If the powermax 30 cuts just as good it would definitely be worth it.

No bashing intended

[Nomand]

This is not the first time I hear "beyond its rating"...

What that "rating" means then?

Seems like an attempt to relief themselves from responsibility....

[specter]

TPierce did you ever get the answer you were looking for regarding the 375Extreme or the PowerMax 30? I for one would recommend the PowerMax 30 over the 375 Extreme because of the Power Max's ability to cut beyond what your requirements are. And of course the overall cost savings of the PowerMax over the 375 as far as performance, initial cost as well as cost of consumables, comparison of consumable life cycle, I have the PowerMax 45 and can tell you that I have exceeded its stated performance by 125% on a few occasions and posted the results here at Welding Web.

All products made today no matter where made carry manufacturer's product ratings. Even that bridge you might drive over or the house you live in has product ratings or standards. against which they are made and operate.
Perhaps Jim Colt of Hypertherm can best describe a rating. He has done it in several posts throughout the site.

[jimcolt]

I cannot speak for other manufacturers (other than Hypertherm) but here is how Hypertherm ratings for hand held plasma are developed:

There are three basic ratings for each of Hypertherms systems.... Recomended Thickness, Maximum Thickness, and Sever Thickness.

Recommended is the maximum material thickness that allows the operator to move the torch at a minimum speed of 20 inches per minute.....while providing a good quality drop cut. Drop cut means the the part will drop free of the plate without additional manipulation of the torch.

Maximum is the maximum material thickness that can be cut with a torch travel speed of at least 10 inches per minute. Expect a bit of dross....and extra manipulation to drop the cut piece from the plate.

Sever rating is the maximum reasonable severance thickness that the plasma system will cut...expect heavy dross and slow cut speeds. This number can often be exceeded by a skilled operator.

Hypertherm has detailed engineering test protocol that rates each system to the above specifications. Is this a safety net? Absolutely......Hypertherm's sales staff feels very comfortable with the ratings. Most of them can be exceeded!

You can gaet a more detailed explanation from this link to the www.hypertherm.com site .

http://www.hypertherm.com/en/Product...ty_ratings.jsp

Jim Colt

[tpierce]

Specter, I did purchase the Powermax 30. I hope to try it out Saturday. I'll report back on my experiance and performance of the machine. Thanks for all the input, it was a great help.

[jamlit]

Originally Posted by jimcolt

You may want to try the Powermax30 if you think it has a smaller cutting range than any other 120 volt plasma! Some manufacturers are a little looser with their brochure specifications. You will find that any Hypertherm product will easily exceed the specifications on the brochure! I'll stand behind that promise!

Jim

So true Jim

The Hypertherm and Thermodynamic units will out preforn the miller. Rating are not always true as many have said here.

[specter]

U welcome tpierce glad I could help. Of course having one of the leading experts in Plasma come to answer a question never hurts.

I sure hope that you'll like your PowerMax as much as I like my PowerMax 45. You'll find plenty of other PowerMax 30 owner's here at Welding Web. Also take that DVD thhat comes with it for a test drive before hand.The Hypertherm DVD is a great get to know your equipment tool.

Between now and Saturday if you haven''t already done it drive around and pick up some scraps to practice on. Drive around on trash days! Best thing to look for is metal bed frames! They cut up easy and fabricate into some of the best welding carts out there. If you go to the Projects forum or just do a keyword search of welding carts you'll find several out there with some great designs.

Another good place to good look for some free steel is behind major department stores! But always be sure to ask the manager of the store before you drive off with anything.

[mercurybds]

For What it's worth . . .
The OEMs who put these automated systems together all seem to prefer Hypertherm. Check out this one:
plasma cutiing beam drill line for structural steel

Several of them will be at the Fabtech show in Chicago middle of November if you're in the neighborhood.
www.fmafabtech.com

[jimcolt]

I have been working for the last few weeks to configure a demonstration machine that will be at the Fabtech show in Chicago. Hypertherm has developed a major breakthrough for our HPR line of industrial high definiton class of plasma systems. We will be demonstrating True Hole technology.....a combination of CAM software, cnc control, torch height control and some new plasma process technology that now allows us to cut holes on plate to over 1" thick with no taper, and virtually no ding or divot in the hole.

This process is very easy to use as the MTC CAM software inputs a standard part drawing (such as a .dxf)....automatically recognizes holes and applies the correct lead ins, lead outs and modifies cnc algorithms which create speed changes further improving hole profiles. New plasma technology using proprietary shield gas mixes is also used to improve roundness and cylindricity of these holes. This type of plasma cut hole will meet AISC hole quality specifications in most cases.

If you are able to go to the show...stop by the Hypertherm booth...I'd be happy to meet Welding Web members!

Jim Colt

[yesindeed]

Originally Posted by tpierce

I need to cut from 16 ga. up to 3/16" plate, with some short cuts in 1/4" angle and bar. I'm considering the Miller 375 extreme, and the Hypertherm Powermax 30. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Thanks.

Man, you posted my exact question...

[jimcolt]

Powermax30 by Hypertherm is the best selling 120/240 volt plasma on the market.....the torch is designed for drag cutting without the typical nozzle sticking that you find with many torches in this power range.....the power supply is compact and reliable....and its made in the USA by a company that is owned by its employees....no layoffs ever! I am a little biased...being a 32 year employee!

The 30 has adequate power to sever 1/2" when necessary....and has (by far) the best consumable life in the industry.....I think if you search this site for Powermax30 you will see a ton of posts!

Jim Colt