Has anyone purchased the Hypertherm cartridge reader for the sync consumable? It is used for the non-sync machines, so can retrieve info from the sync cartridge.
I purchased one I never tried it yet but in the brochure for the adapter it says it doesn’t work with the adapter it only works on the sync PowerMax units.
Last little Asterix and note.
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That makes sense to me. The system would have the means to read and adjust to the cartridge info as well as write back usage information. Without that key piece of the loop, the cartridge is just another nozzle.
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The cartridge reader, not the adaptor. The reader reads the info from the cartridge then you use the app on a smart phone to display the info. The reader is for the non-sync machines( powermax 45xp) .
The cartridge reader is $57.00 and the adapter for torch to use a sync cartridge is $ 120.00.
You are right, that a non-sync machine won’t read or adjust settings. The cartridge reader will read the cartridge then info from reader is sent to smart phone app and displays hours, pierce count and amount of material cut on sync cartridge.
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Ah well, some of that makes sense. It can read what is WRITTEN to the cartridge. So, if the cartridge was used in Sync machines, it would be chock full of information. If it’s used in Non-Sync machine, my expectation is that it would show only the static information written at the factory.
I am very interested to hear what you find 
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Well I have a reader and a cartridge I should hook them up and see what happens.
I have a old cartridge I just switched out that I ran until it would not cut anymore and one I’ve used for three sessions be interesting to see if the reader will show any difference.
I could also try a brand new one
Try it and verify that tiny kerf for me!
I have tried it and I have not been able to reproduce the kerf mentioned in their charts.
Still trying… I have been using it my regular cutting but I’ve been setting the kerf to .04"
That was on my PowerMax 85.
I have a PowerMax 45 XP but it’s still in the box. As soon as I got some time I’ll pull it out and try with that machine.
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So I tried the reader and it will give me the ID number and the date manufactured and any of the data that would have been written to it on the assembly line. They do do a single test fire on these but that doesn’t show up in the list .*edit it must be the manufacture test status Pass line.
Without a SYNC power supply no new information will get written to the cartridge.
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In the words of Monty Python, “Now for something totally different…”
“In smart mode there is RF communication between the cartridge and the torch, and between the torch and the Powermax SYNC.”
Uh, not your Grandfather’s plasma cutter consumables…
Golly, that sounds like they’re using near field communications (AKA NFC, used in RFID tagging, etc) to read and set the cartridge data. That is gonna be one hell of a patent!
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You’re 100% right
I had to turn ON the NFC on my phone. And then hold the cartridge very close to the reader on my phone. The black piece of plastic (card reader) must be some antenna? I’m not sure what the reader actually does it’s very light and seems to be a solid piece of plastic.
Here’s the instructions from the box.
I noticed this on the bottom of the box you could probably find out what patent number it is and read it from here.
There is a little PCB in the cartridge
And a few more pictures of the cartridge reader
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So, no data swill record without using a sync machine, the reader is pretty much useless ?
As I said, one hell of a patent. Unfortunately for them they made it specific to replaceable cutting head (Claim 1) and all other claims are built on that one. If they had made it broader they could be in a great position to license the patent to other industries. Still, they’ve locked the Plasma Cutter market.
Clever invention. It will be interesting to see how reliable it is. Given the solid positioning of the NFC antenna with respect to the reader, it should be very reliable (assuming lots of Plasma arcing doesn’t kill the electronics).
@rat196426 you can still use it to read the part number 
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Hell, I can read the part # on package. Hahahah. Don’t want to waste money on something that doesn’t work. I bought the Hypertherm powermax 45 xp over the 65 sync because of cost of cartridges and the new technology … Not sure if the new cartridge will be much better than the tried-and-true old consumables.
Awesome. I don’t imagine hypertherm advertising an incorrect spec. Not their style.
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