plasma cutter

D

DATEC

Member
I bought a plasma cutter for this truck project I'm just finishing. After reading different reviews and being on the Miller welds forum, I also had to replace my dead Solar 2175mig and went with a Miller 211. Everyone on that forum and others all hands down said get a Hypertherm. Well after much thought either the Powermax 30air (has it's own compressor), the 30 (both can use either 110v/220v) or the 45 (220v only) I went with the 45 and also got the 3" extension nozzles. It can cut and gouge the gouging tip is real handy for removing welds from your work piece without totally destroying the item you are saving. As for cutting this thing is a beast. It slices through frame thick metal like nobody's business. I cut 10ga metal so fast it didn't have time to get hot and that was at 1/2 power 30A, you have a power dial to set the power needed. I'm still new and learning the machine and what it can do and how to get the cleanest cuts. Everything I seen with this unit (YouTube) showed even though it has a cut rating of 1/2" it was demonstrated that it will cut 1-1/2". So
I figured the powermax45 was for me also because it can be used with a cut table if I deside that might be something worth getting into.

Anybody else have a plasma cutter? If your looking or have thought about one look into the Hypertherm great reviews and so far I'm very pleased and impressed.
 
We have a older powermax 800 in the shop and it works great, I don't think you can go wrong with this brand. Never tried gouging? any pictures of the results?
 
Chad.S;n78067 said:
We have a older powermax 800 in the shop and it works great, I don't think you can go wrong with this brand. Never tried gouging? any pictures of the results?
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I'll take some tomorrow for ya. I gouged the welds off the hitch that was welded to the bed I'm reinstalling. The guy who built the bed for me (a couple years ago) also built the hitch and stick welded everything even the bed to the old frame (I'll bolt it to the truck). Worked slick as hell, I know you'll like it if you have a need. I gouged all the welds off the old frame attaching the bed and there were alot and in tight places that would have been troublesome doing any other way.
 
not much feedback for ya on the cutter but i myself bought a 211 this summer. sold my 10 year old 135. not sure what deals they have going on right now but at the time they offered a $200 rebate off the dealers already awesome price and a free spool gun so i can do aluminum now...structural stuff anyway. by the time i sold the 135 and the cost difference i couldn't turn it down. no brainer. so far its really a bad ass welder. love the thing.
 
I have a Hypertherm 30xp and absolutely love it. One year on my truck frame project, and I finally changed the consumables. It cuts 10g and 1/4" like butter.
 
Since you guys are on the subject, I have a Hypertherm Powermax 900, was given to me this year, it's a used unit. Don't have much experience with plasma cutters. There is no chart suggesting air pressure and amps for thicknessess. And the machine stops cutting and resumes a few seconds after the trigger is depressed. I tried replacing the consumables but that didn't fix it. I was wondering if I was doing something wrong or the unit is defective. It's a big machine and from what I hear it's a good one, I would like to have it running nicely, could come handy.
 
Chad.S;n78067 said:
We have a older powermax 800 in the shop and it works great, I don't think you can go wrong with this brand. Never tried gouging? any pictures of the results?
Click to expand...


Here ya go.

These are of the hitch that was welded to the frame of the bed. it is the remaining of the 1/8" thick C channel that was stick welded. I didn't care about knocking off the slag which is excessive from the heavy rust I didn't knock off before gouging but still left the main frame pretty clean as you can see. The lower edge that you see missing just infront of where the removed piece is is where he had welded it to the old frame, I just cut that off and discarded it. A quick hit with a hammer or grinder removes the hanging slag.
 
Here's a couple more shots of other pieces I gouged and cut. I gouged the tube of the reciever open because the pintle hitch was rusted solid inside it did it with no problem at all and no damage to the hitch at all, although I can't get the pin out I will have to deal with that later. As you can see the hitch was thick metal and weighed about 110lb way over kill but it held up to the 14K it pulled. the slag cleans off easy enough with a smack of a hammer and or chisel.
 
Jim C;n78075 said:
not much feedback for ya on the cutter but i myself bought a 211 this summer. sold my 10 year old 135. not sure what deals they have going on right now but at the time they offered a $200 rebate off the dealers already awesome price and a free spool gun so i can do aluminum now...structural stuff anyway. by the time i sold the 135 and the cost difference i couldn't turn it down. no brainer. so far its really a bad ass welder. love the thing.
Click to expand...


Mine came with the rebate only, later they gave both, that's my luck LOL. I did buy the spool gun and sent it to a guy I met who with the blessing from Miller mods the gun to use the tips the welder uses and also makes the gun behave when using it. It has an issue with burn-back and spotty welds and he corrects that with the work he does to it. If you have an issue or would like it done let me know I can get you in touch with him he does it for free or if you want too a 12pk of diet Pepsi, I gave him 2 for doing mine.

Also if you have an issue with your welder welding silly read my post at Millerwelds it might be the answer, it corrected my issue I had when I first took it out of the box but made this correction and now am completely happy with it it is a beast. I think Miller underated the power of this unit no doubt, I had it blow holes in 1/8 angle and it wasn't even trying hard.
 
yeah i have had no issues with my welder. it welds far better and cleaner than my 135 ever did. i will admit i havent really given it much of a workout though. havent tried the spool gun yet. its sitting in the case. i need an argon bottle for it still. never got that all set up. i dont really do a ton of welding. its one of those tools i pull out 4-5 times a year.
 
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