Questions for TBN members who own plasma cutters

[TMGT]

Another Hypertherm 45 owner, best plasma I've ever used and consumables seem to last a long time and are reasonably priced.

Was looking at buying a larger Hypertherm when I build my table, IOC welding seems to have some of the better pricing.

For air i have a seperator on the main line, another smaller seperator on the inlet and use one of the small orange paint gun filters on the inlet.

Next setup is going to be a bit more complex

 

[BTDT2]

FWIW - I added a second air line for air tool use only, using 50' of loosely coiled 1/2 inch Pex to cool the air ($29). I routed the last ten feet down the wall with a ball valve drain at the bottom and than back up to the filter system. I added a second regulator/separator ($30), and whole house water filter ($25) converted to use loose desiccant ($15) for a total of less than $100. I can bake any water saturated desiccant in our home oven at 275 for three hours versus buying expensive cartridges from the air-dryer vendors. Works great and I still use the 'old' shop-air system for cleaning and other non water sensitive use

 

[downsizingnow48]

I've had a Hypertherm 45 for a couple years now. I also got an Ingersoll-Rand dryer. I put a filter/separator on the inlet side of the dryer, and another one together with an air pressure gauge on the machine stand right before the machine. No issues at all. I got the Hypertherm for two reasons. One is the option of a machine torch that I might want in future. The second is I did not want to have to figure out if a problem was caused by something to do with the machine or something to do with the operator. Now I know if there is a problem it is caused by me!

 

[Jeepnford]

Another vote for the Hypertherm PM45XP. It's a beast for it's small size. I built an iron pipe cooler similar to shield arc's except my long pipes are horizontal and I angled the entire thing slightly down on one end and put in drain valves on the low end. I also put the Hypertherm air filter on the machine and my consumables seem to last quite a while.

 

[yomax4]

I am considering investing in a plasma cutter.
I would seldom be cutting material over 1/2 thick and generally like to purchase American made quality equipment. My preference would be either Miller or Lincoln however, I could be swayed to other brands with enough TBN endorsements.
Now a few questions. How well does plasma cutting work on rusty, dirty, or painted steel?
How fussy are they in regard to compressed air? I have plenty of shop air capacity but no drier on the air network.
What about cutting vertical or overhead? Thinking trailer or grain box repair.
Are consumable parts expensive or more or less fall into the same catigory cost wise as mig welding tips?

Thanking all for whatever insight however trivial. I recognize a plasma cutter is not a casual purchase and will not replace my mid century Kalamazoo 8 x 16 horizontal band saw but for cutting notches, panels, miters or plate, it appears plasma cutting solves a lot of problems.

B. John

Lincoln and Miller don't manufacture plasma cutters in the USA. They are only assembled here from sourced parts. Pretty much how all of the brands do business these days. Doesn't mean they are Bad by any means.

 

[TMGT]

I believe Hypertherm was making the torches for a number of other name brand plasma units at least up until a few years ago, Miller comes to mind but I can't remember for sure.

 

[Budweiser John]

Well, TBN members what an amazing endorsement for Hypertherm. Thanks for all the reply’s.
On the trail now to find the best deal as i’ve Several projects on the docket in the near future.
Thanks to Shield Arc for the pictures of his air system and to others who commented on the importance of clean dry air.

B. John

 

[muddstopper]

Just wondering if anybody has tried to adapt a big truck air drier to their shop compressor. I have a airbrake international I am robbing parts off of and it has a air drier to prevent brake line freeze ups. I want to use the dryer for my compressor, just havent gotten around to hooking it up. Looks like it would be a siple plug it into the air line between compressor and tank, but I havent even looked at whether it is feasible or how hard it would be to actually do.

 

[FredH]

Just wondering if anybody has tried to adapt a big truck air drier to their shop compressor. I have a airbrake international I am robbing parts off of and it has a air drier to prevent brake line freeze ups. I want to use the dryer for my compressor, just havent gotten around to hooking it up. Looks like it would be a siple plug it into the air line between compressor and tank, but I havent even looked at whether it is feasible or how hard it would be to actually do.

Hmm , Interesting Thought . I usually rebuild the drier on My semi , cheaper than buying a rebuilt one . I know most have 12 volts going to them , But I can't remember What exactly that did , But was told that is would work without it . Only issue I foresee is when ever it pops off at cut-off pressure , I would hope that it would be enclosed in a box if in the shop , or located remotely , Otherwise that constant pop off noise would get to be annoying at the least .


Fred H.

 

[shaeff]

I bought an Ingersoll Rand air dryer. Believe it or not the garbage can full of water works better! At the bottom of the after cooler you need to install ball valves, so you can drain the water out of the pipes. Also a drain at the bottom of the copper coils, to drain the water out.

Thanks for the details, looking forward to getting more life out of my tips. I have a motor guard filter and desiccant dryer, I also drain the compressor before every use with the plasma. I live in NY, it can get quite humid in the summer so having dry air can be challenging at times.

I'm no artist, but sometimes people ask me to make stuff for them. Cut this out freehand as a gif or a coworker's daughter. She loves solar system stuff.