Plasma cutter buying advice

[Leeboy]

Hey everyone. I was loaned a spectrum 375 dual voltage plasma cutter for a year. My friend finally took it back, and now im lost with out it. I really cant afford a new miller , so i've been googling around and found these 2. I know they are probably not that great, but what do you think? The price looks good. Here they are..

http://www.plasmametalcutter.com/pro...products_id=32

http://www.amazon.com/RAMSOND-CUT50D...pr_product_top

[Bob Miller]

Parts

Leeboy, Make sure you can get the consumables for those machines first.
Good Luck,
Bob

[jontheturboguy]

Both of those machines are from China. From the other fabricators that I know, some of them are hit & miss.

From what I have seen, most of the failures are the circuit boards themselves or the guns.

[Leeboy]

Good point on the consumables. I would only be using it as a hobby, mostly sheet metal and stuff. Is there any other affordable brands anyone can think of?

[cat]

Leeboy

what part of the country are you in? I have a hypertherm powermax 350 that was acting up a year or so ago but was told it would be a few weeks to look at it and figure out what was needed. I couldn't be without a plasma cutter that long so I bought another one and have been using that. Don't know what the repair would be-maybe a lot of $$, maybe a little $$-I seem to remember it would be at least $75 for diagnosis. I'm in AZ - would you have any interest? I'd have to look up when I purchased it but I'd say it has an average total usage time of maybe 5 hours/week. cat

[Leeboy]

Im in the part of the country north of you guys.... Canada (British Columbia) Thanks anyways, shipping would be a ***** im sure.....How bout them Coyotes?

[cat]

yes, shipping would be ridiculous. sorry-not into hockey or baseball-absolutely hate those. but hubby is into cardinals so i try to be interested in them (unless they really are playing awful) and i enjoy the suns.
good luck on the plasma cutter-it's hard to be without one. just had to have a little work done on my compressor so haven't been able to cut for over a week. the last plasma cutter i bought was the little 110 volt hypertherm-nice little unit but limited on thickness of metal i can cut. i think that was still $1200 when i bought it a couple of years ago. cat

[Sammy]

Whats your budget? Just easier to look around for you when we have a price range! Let us know!

[Rbeckett]

Just a thought, the smaller units that have the on board compressor do not seem to hold up well. I had a Hobart AF 250 with compressor built in and it was pretty puny for anything except the thinnest sheet metal uses. Used Plasmas do come around and a lot of the time it is a decent unit that was inproperly used and the owner became disgusted and sells it. I picked up one that way on the cheap, but my Hypertherm PM 1000 was bought new with machine torch for my Torchmante 4x4 and it is a beast. I think it was around 2 grand though. What is your budget and target thickness and we will help you decide the best machine for your app.
Bob

[Leeboy]

Well, Budget could be anywheres up to $1000 perhaps? The reason i thought of a offshore or cheaper unit, is because the one i borrowed for a year, i probably used it maybe 20 times. I race stock cars , and only use it if i cut up a parts car, skim out sheet metal, cut a quick hole or some tin. Also, the reason i thought a cheaper powerful unit, just in case something thick came into my yard i could blow through it, but it wouldnt be very often. Heck, it might even sit all winter and not get touched. Thats the reason i dont want to put out $1500 for a machine to collect dust. What do you think? ( P.S. I have lots of good advertising space on my race car for a good deal..haha)

[ArcBurn77]

Try your local welding supplier to see if they sell any used machines from their rental fleet (better than buying a used personal machine). They'll have a history of the machine and sometimes you can get a good deal on a Miller that still has factory warranty left. Otherwise, if you buy an off brand unit, be sure you have a source for consumables!

[Leeboy]

No luck on the welding stores, they said those get snapped up the day they come in...Darn....There must be some in-expensive one i can cut some stuff up with....

[mikecwik]

post examples of the twenty times you used the cutter. might be you dont need one at all.

[SLO Iron Man]

what do you think about this? http://cgi.ebay.com/Hypertherm-Power...item53e2359081 it's the best plasma cutter in the world, and almost in the range of your budget

[davinci2010]

I have a NuTecsys plasma. I bought it in used working condition. It lacks a lot of the bells and whistles that newer and better units have, but it works for what it's supposed to do. The consumables are readily available and the unit was made in the U.S.A. You can find them used for less than you were thinking of paying for a Chinese unit. Mine is a 30 amp unit and runs on 230 volts single phase power. Quality cut is limited to about 1/4" but it will sever thicker. Check Ebay as they come up from time to time.