Plasma cutters

[RobinHood]

On my plasma it’s easy to not tighten up the positive lead at the Everlast machine properly because a protrusion gets in the way.

Not an Everlast Plasma machine, but it was the same on their TIG welder: the power lead lugs are a poor fit - I machined them so that they are fitting correctly (and not just feel tight) and make good contact at the same time.

 

[Chris Cramer]

I finally got the torch working with my machine. The electrode probably had poor connection to the rest of the torch, I cleaned the threads in the blow back spring so the electrode screwed in better. The ground clamp probably had poor conductivity as well, cause it cut better when I swapped the everlast clamp with my Miller clamp for my welder.
I got asked to cut some labels for Wilco landscaping.

 

[Janger]

oh that reminds me there is another little gotcha with my plasma torch, if you tighten it up too much when changing the consumables the internal contacts seem to get distorted and then it runs intermittent. Perhaps you have the same kind? Glad you've got it working better. Sign looks good!

 

[Chris Cramer]

The hypertherm powermax 45xp and the duramax machine torch with the crossfire pro cuts far cleaner and faster than the everlast power plasma 50s. I finished cutting 105 signs out of a 3'x 4' 3/16 plate of mild steel. The settings from the cut charts in the hypertherm manual are fairly accurate and leave behind very little slag, and with some finer tuning it can still do even better. The only shortcoming I come across is how much more air the powermax 45xp takes to operate which reduces the time you can keep the machine running; but even that is a pretty long time.

 

[Janger]

Hey look at them all that’s fantastic! Glad it’s working better for you Chris.

 

[Janger]

Hey look at them all that’s fantastic! Glad it’s working better for you Chris.

I suspect you will want a 240V compressor. With this hot weather I’m noticing way more water in the system - the auto drain is letting out a lot of water and my desiccant only lasts a day before I need to recharge them.

 

[Colten Edwards]

I happen to have one for sale 60 gallon hi-flow 3 head compressor. I think the motor is a 3hp on it.

 

[Chris Cramer]

The compressor I use is almost double the required cfm for the hypertherm powermax 45xp; so any application that uses compressed air would work fine. However I just learned that the machine could be well used for marking as well, and I'd rather use argon than air for that purpose to leave a cleaner, and more narrow mark. I have an argon cylinder that I use for tig welding, but the flow meter on the regulator only goes to 50 scfh when the required cut flow of the plasma cutter is 255 scfh. Is a whole different cylinder needed to go that high or could I find a different regulator that will bring it to that flow?

 

[Janger]

255 scfh is a very high rate - you'll empty the tank very quickly.

 

[Tom O]

doesn’t the Hypertherm automatically regulate the pressure I would think that is way too high and would call to inquire.

 

[Chris Cramer]

The hypertherm regulates the pressure but not the flow rate. According to the manual it should be 255 scfh at 90psi. The same is for compressed air, so I'm thinking of imply trying it at 90 psi and max flow with a 3/8 hose just like air. It's the flow rate that confuses me.

 

[Colten Edwards]

that looks alot more reasonable. had me worried for a moment. My new to me compressor is supposed to be 17cfm at 120psi and I was thinking it wouldn't be enough

 

[Chris Cramer]

After purchasing the powermax 45xp, I'm now offering to sell my everlast pp 50s with the torch and all my remaining extra consumables. The price of a brand new power plasma 50s is $1200 and mine is only about 1.5 years old so I would be offering it for $700.