AGREE. I’ve said it several times but I don’t want to be the hypertherm plasma snob on here so I bite my tongue as much as I can. The FUNCTIONAL QUALITY of the hypertherm is absolutely impressive. There’s no messing around with deciding what tip to use, there’s no messing around with what amperage to set it at, there’s no adjusting air pressure. They provide you with a comprehensive cutting chart. The consumables last a very long time. They have been pioneers in the industry and it’s too bad that people keep feeding the China companies that attempt to duplicate them. I know the hypertherm machines are expensive. A warranty don’t mean much when the best they can do is give you another one of their machines that must not have worked in the first place. I have no idea how good the hypertherm customer service is or what the warranty is because I’ve never called them and that’s the way I prefer it. Take the experiences from others on here and get the good plasma first. You buy a $775 machine and hopefully flip it for $400 after countless hours of experimenting creating scrap, looking for new tips, trying to make your own cut charts, trying to dial in the machine to some acceptable level of cut quality. THEN to go buy another $700 machine hoping it’s a better quality of China is INSANE!!.
Sorry for the rant hopefully we can all be friends even though we might not agree on machines
Any opinion on the Hypertherm 45 vs the 45XP? I can get a gently used 45 for $750 or I buy a new XP for $1900. Anything I’ll be missing with the 45? Seems like getting the 45 for that price is a no brainer but I don’t want to miss out on anything if the XP offers something more. I’d prefer this be my last plasma cutter purchase lol.
I charged my hypertherm because I didn’t want another potential issue. I personally think its not a great move affiliating your new start up with another somewhat new company. Its just too much to deal with and case in point. Langmuir shouldn’t have to field plasma issues. But… if its sold in a package I see your frustration. I honestly don’t know if RW offers any warranty, but that’s always something I look for. Even that though is risky bc companies usually try and find some loophole out of honoring that warranty. Plus you loose money and time on shipping. If I were you I’d respectfully keep pursuing RW and get a new machine, then sell the new machine worse case. But again, you are a consumer you should not have to swallow $800 for something that really isn’t working. (bare in mind, there are lots of variables on the user end I do agree with that)
Does the RW work without being used on the table?
I thought about upgrading from my Razorweld 45 but only because I have a bigger better psychotic upgrade mentality. In reality other than blowing out my first (original) tip and then also upgrading to a machine torch my machine works really well. So now I am kinda like meh unless I routinely want to cut 3/8 and up I think I will stay with the Razorweld.
I did the same. Had harbor freight machine and could not complete a complex part (signs and yard art. Got machine yesterday and wired in CPC. Will test tomorrow
just did the same. Had harbor Freight unit for a couple years for hand cutting and it worked great. Not so much with the CNC. Cut a bunch of signs and yard art and seldom completed piece without torch cutting out an having to backtrack the g code to finish. Sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. Extremely time consuming and frustrating. Picked up the powermax 45xp yesterday and did some basic stuff today (read manual, wire male plug for CPC to control box. Also did a mod on the table. Tired of adjusting the height on the x gantry after every part. Invariably sagged. Have a roller bearing setup installed and will try with the new torch. If successful I will share on Fireshare. Looking forward to trying the new machine.
Its official. Cut for almost 2 hrs with the new Powermax 45XP and my roller bearing setup on the outboard x axis. No flameouts, perfect cuts, no dross at 45amps 225ipm. Can’t tell you how much fun this was after struggling with the Harbor freight unit. Will keep that one in reserve for hand cutting.
Posting the bearing setup on Fireshare next.
For all the down time and hassle that I read in this thread, and everyone suggesting that the real solution is with a Hypertherm Powermax plasma, do the math. Downtime and poor cut quality over time costs much more than the higher purchase price of the Hypertherm. There is a reason that the Hypertherm units have close to 80% market share worldwide, and it is not because of the higher price, rather it is due to their well known reliability, the cutting performance and the lower operating cost. (less dross, grinding, longer consumable parts life, less downtime). Hypertherm also has legendary after the sale product support. Powermax units are engineered, designed and built in Lebanon and Hanover New Hampshire by employees that own 100% of the company.
To those having issues with the razor weld cut 45. I was having serious issues with the torch not firing on a 1 week old razor cut 45. I was trying out different things and seemed to have stumbled upon an improvement (not complete fix). I removed the nozzle shield from the torch and set the height with the .060" gauge. It cut so much better, although I will admit that it still has issues with starting the cuts. I also tried the plasma by hand and was having issues until I started dragging the torch on the material with the nozzle shield on the gun. Still was very difficult to get the cutting arc started though. As you can see from the pic there is a significant difference in the cuts. The middle attempt on 1/8’ aluminum is supposed to look like the cut in the 1/4’ mild steel ( it missed the first hole). The top cut is the bottle opener file on fire share. As you can see there are still issues but maybe we can solve those together.
More news for the cut 45. I opened up my cabinet on the machine and adjusted the air pressure from 80 psi which is where the factory set it and bumped it up to 100 psi. I also put the nozzle shield back on but I set the height of the torch to just off the material. This causes the issue of potential drag so your material needs to be flat. The cross was cut in 1/8" Alumium at 30 A and 118 “/min. The other was cut too slow at 37”/min. Very little dross on the cross and nice clean edges. BTW I’m using Hypertherm Duramax LT consumables P/N 420118 and 420120. They are only rated for 15 - 30 A.
You should have trouble, your using the wrong consumables.
The Hypertherm numbers for the fine cut 15 to 30 amp consumables for the X45 torch are these
220478 Electrode
220480 Nozzle
220483 Retaining cap
220479 Swirl ring
Mechanic, The consumables you listed are 30 amp T30 consumables, they are not Finecut. They fit the Hypertherm Powermax30 (not 30xp) and the Powermax45 (not 45XP). There are no Finecut consumables for the earlier Powermax30 and 45 systems. The T30 consumables are non-shielded 30 amp consumables. They will allow you to cut at lower feedrates on machines that are unstable at higher speeds, but do not cut even close to the newer Finecut technology. Jim Colt
Yes I know they will not fit the 30XP or the 45XP.! I never said they did! You may want to go back and re-read what I said! And the consumables I listed will do finer cutting then the 45 amp consumables!
To those having issues with the razor weld cut 45. I was having serious issues with the torch not firing on a 1 week old razor cut 45. I was trying out different things and seemed to have stumbled upon an improvement (not complete fix). I removed the nozzle shield from the torch and set the height with the .060" gauge. It cut so much better, although I will admit that it still has issues with starting the cuts. I also tried the plasma by hand and was having issues until I started dragging the torch on the material with the nozzle shield on the gun. Still was very difficult to get the cutting arc started though. As you can see from the pic there is a significant difference in the cuts. The middle attempt on 1/8’ aluminum is supposed to look like the cut in the 1/4’ mild steel ( it missed the first hole). The top cut is the bottle opener file on fire share. As you can see there are still issues but maybe we can solve those together.
