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Science Forum Index » Engineering - Joining (Welding) Forum » Powermax 30 Update
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| Dusty |
 Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:06 am |
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Guest
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Evidently my wife was listening and watching me while I was doing
research and talking to people about plasma cutters. She surprised me
with a Powermax 30 as a retirement gift :O) (I gotta love her she's a
great partner).
Anyway I have done a couple of hours of cutting and here are my conclusions.
Ernie is right, Hypertherm is a great product! Well worth the money!
I have cut everything from 10ga to 3/8" plate and gotten great cuts. I
was even able to bevel cut 10 ga. (just to see if I could). I cut off
square tube that was welded to 3/8" plate with only shallow gouge in the
plate at the welds. (about 2mm and easy to smooth out with a grinder).
If you are trying to re-use salvaged material, paint and rust make cuts
a little more difficult and not as pretty but it is not impossible .
The new T-30V torch makes it easy to get into corners.
You can contact drag with no apparent difference in cut quality or
damage to torch.
Unit is very light and seems to have all the power I'll ever need. Duty
cycle is adequate for my use, but probably not for making long cuts
across or the length of 4'x8' sheets. It comes with a built in air
regulator and filter, but I attached another filter on the air line just
in case.
Over all I really like it. Planning on getting a medium bottle of
nitrogen and a regulator to make it a little more portable for use in my
second career. |
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| Pete C. |
| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:14 am |
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Dusty wrote:
Quote:
Evidently my wife was listening and watching me while I was doing
research and talking to people about plasma cutters. She surprised me
with a Powermax 30 as a retirement gift :O) (I gotta love her she's a
great partner).
Anyway I have done a couple of hours of cutting and here are my conclusions.
Ernie is right, Hypertherm is a great product! Well worth the money!
I have cut everything from 10ga to 3/8" plate and gotten great cuts. I
was even able to bevel cut 10 ga. (just to see if I could). I cut off
square tube that was welded to 3/8" plate with only shallow gouge in the
plate at the welds. (about 2mm and easy to smooth out with a grinder).
If you are trying to re-use salvaged material, paint and rust make cuts
a little more difficult and not as pretty but it is not impossible .
The new T-30V torch makes it easy to get into corners.
You can contact drag with no apparent difference in cut quality or
damage to torch.
Unit is very light and seems to have all the power I'll ever need. Duty
cycle is adequate for my use, but probably not for making long cuts
across or the length of 4'x8' sheets. It comes with a built in air
regulator and filter, but I attached another filter on the air line just
in case.
Over all I really like it. Planning on getting a medium bottle of
nitrogen and a regulator to make it a little more portable for use in my
second career.
You might consider using a SCUBA tank and regulator instead of nitrogen.
SCUBA air fills run $5-$10 for the typical 80cf 3,000 psi tank and are
pretty widely available. SCUBA 1st stage regulators output 120-140 psi.
I suspect this will be cheaper than nitrogen overall. You can also rent
extra (filled) tanks for a big project for about $10 / day if you need.
Pete C. |
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| Ernie Leimkuhler |
| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:46 pm |
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In article <45d4757e@nntp.zianet.com>, Dusty <prhodes@sdc.org> wrote:
Quote: Evidently my wife was listening and watching me while I was doing
research and talking to people about plasma cutters. She surprised me
with a Powermax 30 as a retirement gift :O) (I gotta love her she's a
great partner).
Anyway I have done a couple of hours of cutting and here are my conclusions.
Ernie is right, Hypertherm is a great product! Well worth the money!
I have cut everything from 10ga to 3/8" plate and gotten great cuts. I
was even able to bevel cut 10 ga. (just to see if I could). I cut off
square tube that was welded to 3/8" plate with only shallow gouge in the
plate at the welds. (about 2mm and easy to smooth out with a grinder).
If you are trying to re-use salvaged material, paint and rust make cuts
a little more difficult and not as pretty but it is not impossible .
The new T-30V torch makes it easy to get into corners.
You can contact drag with no apparent difference in cut quality or
damage to torch.
Unit is very light and seems to have all the power I'll ever need. Duty
cycle is adequate for my use, but probably not for making long cuts
across or the length of 4'x8' sheets. It comes with a built in air
regulator and filter, but I attached another filter on the air line just
in case.
Over all I really like it. Planning on getting a medium bottle of
nitrogen and a regulator to make it a little more portable for use in my
second career.
DO NOT USE NITROGEN!!!!
Modern Plasma cutters are designed for compressed air only.
Running them on Nitrogen is not good for consumable life-span.
The SCUBA tank of compressed air is a much better idea.
Of just a little portable air compressor.
I have run my Thermal Arc Pak38XL from a little portable air compressor
that is normally used for small nail guns.
It is a small 3/4 HP Thomas compressor. |
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| BobH |
| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:48 pm |
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Pete C. wrote:
Quote: Dusty wrote:
Over all I really like it. Planning on getting a medium bottle of
nitrogen and a regulator to make it a little more portable for use in my
second career.
You might consider using a SCUBA tank and regulator instead of nitrogen.
SCUBA air fills run $5-$10 for the typical 80cf 3,000 psi tank and are
pretty widely available. SCUBA 1st stage regulators output 120-140 psi.
I suspect this will be cheaper than nitrogen overall. You can also rent
extra (filled) tanks for a big project for about $10 / day if you need.
If you are cutting steel, you will get a better cut with air as well. I
tried a nitrogen cylinder and was disappointed with the cut quality and
the amount of cut time per cylinder. Plasma cutters are pretty hungary
for air or N2.
Bob |
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| RogerW |
| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:55 pm |
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Guest
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On Feb 15, 7:06 am, Dusty <prho...@sdc.org> wrote:
Quote: Ernie is right, Hypertherm is a great product! Well worth the money!
I have cut everything from 10ga to 3/8" plate and gotten great cuts. I
was even able to bevel cut 10 ga. (just to see if I could).
I have been thinking about a Powermax30 for cutting 5/16" plate.
Sounds like it would work. I don't need high speed, just reasonable
speed and a clean cut.
And hello everyone. I have been a lurker on this group for a long
time. Finally decided to join. :)
Roger |
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