Questions for TBN members who own plasma cutters

[davedj1]

I'm just throwing this out there as another satisfied customer of Hypertherm. I cannot express how awesome their customer service is. I purchased a used Powermax 9000 (about 14 years old at the time) at a car show and not long after I had a no start problem. I had already downloaded the manual on line but really couldn't figure out what was going on. I called Hypertherms tech line and the gentleman on the line walked me through the diagnosis, turns out I had a bad trigger. Now that's service for a machine they had no vested interest in. I installed a new switch in the torch and life has been good every since
Thanks Hypertherm

 

[Budweiser John]

Great reference, and thanks.
I’ve located what I think to be a fair price at Welding Supplies.com for a model 45XP.
Liquidating some used assets from my former contracting company and looking forward reinvesting the proceeds in the plasma cutter.
Worked in the wood/carpentry trades for ever but am really enjoying a new found interest in hot iron.
B. John

 

[dragoneggs]

Great reference, and thanks.
I’ve located what I think to be a fair price at Welding Supplies.com for a model 45XP.
Liquidating some used assets from my former contracting company and looking forward reinvesting the proceeds in the plasma cutter.
Worked in the wood/carpentry trades for ever but am really enjoying a new found interest in hot iron.
B. John

You will love the 45XP... my first plasma cutter so I am not a good judge but after meeting Jim Colt and gang at Fabtech a couple years ago and getting to try it out at the show (when it was released) with a couple of minutes of guidance, I was sold. The drag tip is wonderful!

 

[lennyzx11]

Great reference, and thanks.
I’ve located what I think to be a fair price at Welding Supplies.com for a model 45XP.
Liquidating some used assets from my former contracting company and looking forward reinvesting the proceeds in the plasma cutter.
Worked in the wood/carpentry trades for ever but am really enjoying a new found interest in hot iron.
B. John

I just found that on their webpage per this post BudJohn.
Man, is it me or they don't make it easy to find on the webpage?
I still haven't figured out how to see the product details for it.
I'm also in the market and per the conversation here am interested.
I had wanted to go with a Hobart for brand loyalty but this one keeps being recommended.

 

[tomplum]

Great reference, and thanks.
I’ve located what I think to be a fair price at Welding Supplies.com for a model 45XP.
Liquidating some used assets from my former contracting company and looking forward reinvesting the proceeds in the plasma cutter.
Worked in the wood/carpentry trades for ever but am really enjoying a new found interest in hot iron.
B. John

All the years of woodworking will give good perspective and tools that will prove useful in dealing with metal for sure. Enjoy!

 

[cabinhollow]

I have a Hypertherm 85 on my 5'x10' table.
Each of the last two years I cut 1mil+ inches with it. Had a good order. This year I am on track to cut 600,000+ inches.
As someone said on the consumables, $16 of them for a $6000 job. I do not keep track of them. I do keep app $500 of them in stock.
I do not have a air dryer, but get 7000-8000 inches of cut in 14ga per set.
The most I have cut in one day was 43000 inches in 10ga. Took 6 sets of consumables.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Another happy Hypertherm owner. I had trouble getting a new locking nut to attach the torch cable to the main unit. They gave me a brand new (upgraded) torch. Not like I was a loyal customer or anything. They didn't know be from adam.

An outfit that repairs all major brands of welders and cutters tells me that ALL these machines are getting junkier, and disposable. Lots of inverter electronics and so forth. Less copper and steel. Shame!

 

[johncanfield]

And one more happy Hypertherm owner - I have a 45 that's a couple of years old. Made in the USA!

 

[davedj1]

I have a Hypertherm 85 on my 5'x10' table.
Each of the last two years I cut 1mil+ inches with it. Had a good order. This year I am on track to cut 600,000+ inches.
As someone said on the consumables, $16 of them for a $6000 job. I do not keep track of them. I do keep app $500 of them in stock.
I do not have a air dryer, but get 7000-8000 inches of cut in 14ga per set.
The most I have cut in one day was 43000 inches in 10ga. Took 6 sets of consumables.

How do you know when you need to change the consumables while cutting a large order? Thanks, I'm just curious.

 

[yomax4]

Pierces and moisture are the consumables killers. Everyone will have a different amount of pierces due to many variables in cut height pierce height pierce time ( assuming you have a torch height control ( Lifter ) ) Also assuming your moisture is under control, Hypertherm should be able to offer a guestemation on number of pierces on a given material thickness. So now that that doesn't answer your question, The easiest way to tell when to change parts is when cut quality starts to worsen.