Welding Tips and Tricks

I am in need of a new bigger plasma cutter. My current setup is a cut master 38, 30amps. Cutting .090 aluminum it’s awesome. 1/8 or more and it makes very rough cuts. I was interested in the Everlast 62 (out of stock, Hypertherm 45xp (out of stock everywhere) and then started wondering what the capability of the Hypertherm 30xp is on aluminum. Also thermal dynamics has a few in the 58-65amp range but I really like the hypertherm by what I’ve been reading. I wanna be able to do up to 1/4 as clean as possible, I hardly ever do any steel. I just don’t want to get something too small that I outgrow quickly. I havnt had a need to do 1/4” aluminum but I do use 3/16. But im sure as soon as I can easily cut it I’ll use it. Any other recommendations are welcomed as well!

I'm a fan of HTP as you can tell by my sig, and they have a good 55A plasma cutter. Consumables are inexpensive as well.

Oscar wrote:I'm a fan of HTP as you can tell by my sig, and they have a good 55A plasma cutter. Consumables are inexpensive as well.

How do you like it on aluminum? I really want to limit the amount of cleanup after the cut. Ive seen some leave a fairly porous cut which would mean a lot of grinding. I’m sure there’s more to it then the machine power but I just wanna make sure I’m making a one time purchase. Ive also seen some people say that some machines are more capable of thicker cuts at the same amperage so that makes it tough as well to decide.

Adam35C wrote:

Oscar wrote:I'm a fan of HTP as you can tell by my sig, and they have a good 55A plasma cutter. Consumables are inexpensive as well.

How do you like it on aluminum? I really want to limit the amount of cleanup after the cut. Ive seen some leave a fairly porous cut which would mean a lot of grinding. I’m sure there’s more to it then the machine power but I just wanna make sure I’m making a one time purchase. Ive also seen some people say that some machines are more capable of thicker cuts at the same amperage so that makes it tough as well to decide.

amperage and air pressure make all the difference on cut results. It really doesn't matter the brand, they ALL need "tweaking" to create best results.

cj737 wrote:

Adam35C wrote:

Oscar wrote:I'm a fan of HTP as you can tell by my sig, and they have a good 55A plasma cutter. Consumables are inexpensive as well.

How do you like it on aluminum? I really want to limit the amount of cleanup after the cut. Ive seen some leave a fairly porous cut which would mean a lot of grinding. I’m sure there’s more to it then the machine power but I just wanna make sure I’m making a one time purchase. Ive also seen some people say that some machines are more capable of thicker cuts at the same amperage so that makes it tough as well to decide.

amperage and air pressure make all the difference on cut results. It really doesn't matter the brand, they ALL need "tweaking" to create best results.

I guess my biggest question is what kind of amperage am I gonna need for a clean cut on 1/4” aluminum?

Less than 60 amps. But a 60 amp will do quite nicely if that's your next "step" from where you are now. But I think I use closer to 40-45 amps for that material on mine.

cj737 wrote:Less than 60 amps. But a 60 amp will do quite nicely if that's your next "step" from where you are now. But I think I use closer to 40-45 amps for that material on mine.

I’ve seen that all machines aren’t created equal as far as amperage and their capabilities, is that correct? Like a 45 amp in one brand isn’t necessarily the same as a 45 in another? Something to do with the output voltage?

More or less, they are all the same. How they "rate themselves" in their technical literature differs. If you compare those figures, nuances will surface. But it is my experience with many machines, 45 amp-rated is pretty much equal as long as you are dealing with reputable brands.

The cheapest machines on Amazon do NOT qualify in this scenario, but some of the new, Chinese inverters do just fine. Not as full-featured as Hypertherm, ThermalD, Miller, etc but... what's your budget, what's your requirement? My eldest just bought a PrimeCut 60 for his garage. Works perfectly well so far on steel and aluminum. Adjust the amps, adjust the air pressure, cuts as well as my $3k unit.

cj737 wrote:More or less, they are all the same. How they "rate themselves" in their technical literature differs. If you compare those figures, nuances will surface. But it is my experience with many machines, 45 amp-rated is pretty much equal as long as you are dealing with reputable brands.

The cheapest machines on Amazon do NOT qualify in this scenario, but some of the new, Chinese inverters do just fine. Not as full-featured as Hypertherm, ThermalD, Miller, etc but... what's your budget, what's your requirement? My eldest just bought a PrimeCut 60 for his garage. Works perfectly well so far on steel and aluminum. Adjust the amps, adjust the air pressure, cuts as well as my $3k unit.

Budget is kind of open ended because of availability. I have an Everlast 210EXT and really like it so I was gonna try their 62i but it’s not available, my next option was the Hypertherm 45xt but again, not available. I did find one of them but it came with the 75 and 15 degree torches and I have no use for the 15 and that thing was quite pricey at 2800$. I looked up the HTP and it’s not available either. I have seen some Thermal drynamics in the Custmaster 58 and new 60i. Just not sure what the differences are in them.

Adam35C wrote: I’ve seen that all machines aren’t created equal as far as amperage and their capabilities, is that correct? Like a 45 amp in one brand isn’t necessarily the same as a 45 in another? Something to do with the output voltage?

That is correct but many seem to use around the same voltage so comparing current often works. I assume that Miller is an exception as they talk about the issue in this article.

Many people erroneously judge a plasma machine solely by amperage. While this is an important indicator, remember that total output power (in watts) equals amperage times voltage. Do the math to obtain a more accurate product comparison. The cutting capacity of a particular size plasma machine varies greatly by manufacturer.


https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/a ... sma-cutter

The trick is to discover the voltage - it is not the open circuit voltage, it is the rated voltage - say 60A @ 120V.

Jack