check this out a welder that uses water

[ccawgc]

My son just showed me an add for this plasma welder that uses water and alcohol.
To cut and weld with. makes the shielding gas and plasma from water.
Cut, weld, solder and braze.
Check out their wed site and watch the videos.
Cuts real slow.
WWW.multiplaz.com
Just thought it was an interesting system worth talking about.

[Aquafire]

Quote: "Multiplaz Office: Multiplaz Office is conveniently located within a 20 minute drive from the Los Angeles International Airport."
Convenient for who? For them to catch the next flight back to Beijing with a suitcase full of our cash? Shouldn't this machine be yellow or green?

[prop-doctor]

you can even run it off whiskey (thats what the hip flask is for )

[Rick V]

I think it's pretty interesting - rather unique and appears well suited for thin (1/16 to 1/4 inch thick) materials. It's almost like a TIG blow-torch - just wave it around.
Judging from the Eastern European accent on the video's, this unit is not a product of China.
Sounds more like Polish... and Poland where it got its first award.
It was awarded the Gold Medal at the international show in Warsaw, it received an additional gold medal in Brussels and the Grand-Prix award at the 26th Salon International des Inventions, 1998 in Geneva.

So who lives near the LA airport and can check this out with a hands-on session?

Still, at $2,000... hmmm.

[soutthpaw]

Im heading out to LA next weekend for a month to visit family. My mother in law lives 15 mins from LAX so I would love to go do a hands on and report back.

[umahunter]

looks unique seems more like brazing then welding watched the videos and they don't seem to ever show much of the finished product just the process

[soutthpaw]

looks unique seems more like brazing then welding watched the videos and they don't seem to ever show much of the finished product just the process

I was thinking the same. looks almost like an OA flame. I will definitely pay them a visit when I am out in CA.. It has me very curious. Just wondering if its that great and a truly unique process then why not patent it and sell the patent to one of the big boys...

[ccawgc]

They claim to have the patents. Check the speed of the cuts, Give me a max 30 and get the job done, If they can figure out how to match Hypertherm's speed of cut they might be able to compete. they are selling it for $1995.00

[mudbugone]

I just watched several videos online of it welding SS and also cutting steel.....They were 2-3 years old so this isn't brand new tech. I haven't heard of it before and it's certainly interesting.

At $2000 it's probably used more in industrial settings,but at 17 pounds it's not beyond reach even at that price for a home fabricator. I've probably got that much in all my toys that accomplish everything it does in one machine...probably more....

Should be interesting to hear the results of a hands on review...looking forward to it.

In the meantime I'll research it online ...should be interesting. I didn't see any finished results in the videos I watched,which I thought was strange. I did see a crankshaft that had been repaired/welded before it was finish machined..... looked just like any other welded repair I'd ever seen.

Thanks for posting this...I enjoy anything new. You always learn something.

[farmall]

They should send one of the mods a unit for review. If they are good, cheap publicity you can't buy.

[papaharley03]

My son just showed me an add for this plasma welder that uses water and alcohol.
To cut and weld with. makes the shielding gas and plasma from water.
Cut, weld, solder and braze.
Check out their wed site and watch the videos.
Cuts real slow.
WWW.multiplaz.com
Just thought it was an interesting system worth talking about.

I just watched one of the videos. In the end credits, it says, "Produced by International Plasma Corporation".

That is a VERY legitimate company. I used to work on their plasma etching equipment in the semiconductor industry. If they are the ones who make the Multiplaz, I have no reservations about them being around for awhile.

Just an observation,

Papa

[bmyers]

Looks like a pretty good idea. Anyone have any idea of how the alchohol-water solution works? What type of alchohol is it? Can it be bought and mixed by the operator or do you have to buy it from multiplaz?

[farmall]

This thread is interesting:

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtal...t=41524&page=2

[mudbugone]

Sounds like he's pleased with his purchase!

He at least gave a lot more in depth analysis of the unit as well as finished shots of the results.

I'd like to see one up close and see what it can do... Probably wouldn't sell off my stash of welding toys,but you never know... 21st Century here we come.

[Rick V]

watched the videos and they don't seem to ever show much of the finished product just the process

I didn't see any finished results in the videos I watched,which I thought was strange.

What I find unusually suspect with all this 'hype' is exactly what umahunter and mudbugone pointed out - finished product/results.

He at least gave a lot more in depth analysis of the unit as well as finished shots of the results.

Even the 'results' posted by that new owner on the Hobart site leave a lot to be desired.

Why is there not one picture of a decent weld - anywhere?

Another thing that nags at me - the size (diameter and length) of that 8000 degee C plasma jet coming off that torch appear rather too big a 'flame' to do any precision work. I can't imagine welding 1/16 through 1/8 inch thick aluminum with that - might be like trying to gas weld with an oxy-actylene cutting tip or tig with a huge 300+ amp arc... way too much heat input.

[mudbugone]

In defense of the guy from Australia that reported on his impression of the unit... He did say he was not a welder beyond hobby level before he posted pics.

Taking that into consideration I wasn't expecting X-ray quality welds and wasn't surprised at his results. I was looking more at the penetration he was getting and as he stated if he didn't move right along too much penetration was the result.

Considering his level of expertise by his own admission and a "new" welding method experience ,I thought he did pretty well. At least he wasn't ashamed to show the finished results which is more than the manufacturers videos did for the most part. The crankshaft welds I saw were similar quality to his results.... Maybe that's just the nature of the process unless you are very good at handling the torch.

It seems to be similar to the Henrob torch in handling or perhaps a cross between the Henrob & a regular O/A welding process.

I find it strange that it's been on the market several years and very little exposure so far. Hopefully someone with more expertise operating it will be able to test it out. If any more reviews surface I'd be interested in viewing it.

[farmall]

I'd like to see what the Fronius made with that tech turns out, but there's so little material available.

[Rick V]

What is unsettling is that a goggle search and listing of 10 pages on the mulitplaz turned up:
a) many links/references to mulitplaz site - going back a few years (2008)
b) a bunch of web forums posing the question, "Have you ever heard of this?"
c) one... just ONE (1) partial review - the one that farmall posted from the Hobart form
http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtal...ad.php?t=41524

I mean... really! If this thing was even a 1/4 as good as the multiplaz manufacturer & distributors make out... how come after 3 years only 1 guy bought one and reported on it?
Seems that something is not right here.

Hopefully, soutthpaw on his visit to LA will get a hands-on demo... his views are anxiously awaited!

[gordfraser]

I think it's pretty interesting - rather unique and appears well suited for thin (1/16 to 1/4 inch thick) materials. It's almost like a TIG blow-torch - just wave it around.
Judging from the Eastern European accent on the video's, this unit is not a product of China.
Sounds more like Polish... and Poland where it got its first award.
It was awarded the Gold Medal at the international show in Warsaw, it received an additional gold medal in Brussels and the Grand-Prix award at the 26th Salon International des Inventions, 1998 in Geneva.

So who lives near the LA airport and can check this out with a hands-on session?

Still, at $2,000... hmmm.

won awards in 1998
and no one has heard of it much 13 years later!!

sounds like it's not a winner.....al though interesting.

[brucer]

a friend of mine that sales hotrod parts.. he travels to alot of car shows around the country has seen them demo'd at car shows a couple times... i went to visit him a couple months ago and he was talking about then, i thought it was one of the hho torches he was talking about but now i remember him saying a plasma welder..

i might be mistaken but doesnt Thermal Arc produce a variant of these things? like 150amp plasma welder?

[soutthpaw]

I am in CA now, I just emailed them to see about meeting up and checking it out. I update if we set something up

[brucer]

cool, let us know..

[wmgeorge]

Do a Google for Browns Gas and do some reading. You will see the basis of his welding process. Since he uses a quartz rod to convert the water into steam its a small step from there to the Browns Gas process and then on to plasma? The problem with Browns gas is it takes more energy to make than what you get out. Not a free lunch. IF its so great, why hasn't it taken over the welding market in the past 13 years?

Like Jim Colt pointed out it uses the same amount of power for the plasma process as a standard plasma cutter, (for same capacity) and maybe more?

[bmyers]

Only problem is, the flame wouldn't be near 8000 deg F would it?

[wmgeorge]

If you keep reading about the Browns Gas it has a article that describes cutting with the gas and much higher temperatures. There are lots and lots of research and postings on this gas. The torch has to be using a form of Browns Gas.