Technical Arc captain Plasma cutter

I have a water separator on my air compressor and one mounted on my plasma cutter, and I drain the compressor tank every day when I turn it on.
The air into my plasma cutter is clean and pretty dry.

 

I’m teetering on the edge of buying one. I don’t need it, I can do with an angle grinder but $200, it’s so tempting. There are some in the $150 range for Black Friday.

im building my car on a $100 per week budget, including tools I need to buy

 

My advice do not buy one with out pilot arc

 

"I got a 625 x-treme works good on the 220 side."

I also have the miller 625 extreme that is 30 years old now. works great.

 

Thanks for all the input people, I learned alot !!!!

Truth be told, I bought one from Amazon for $400.00
They sent me three, I contacted them, and they said: Keep them, cost more to send back and reprocess them, than their worth.. that kinda of value sorta scared me.....

Six months ago, I ordered 4 12 volt deep cycle batteries for my Ryobi riding lawnmower,
I got one, then a week later, 2 more, then within a month FOUR more came.
Same story keep them...

 

Save up for a few more weeks and get something decent...........sometimes you have to learn to recognize is when a cheap tool still isn't worth what you gave for it. It will still disappoint you...... Take a look at the Primeweld 60. They have developed a very good reputation with their welders and they have a 3 yr warranty that they stand behind. Bout $600 from Amazin............It will cut anything you ever want to cut. I've got a Hypertherm that I bought years ago and does about 5/8 thick, and it cost way more than the Primeweld. If I was buying a new one today, Primeweld would get my money. That said, I do own a Primeweld Tig and a Miller Dynasty 200DX Tig. I'll sell the Miller and keep the Primeweld if someone decides they are willing to buy the Miller. No problems with the Miller, just don't need it now. Primeweld wasn't available when I bought the Miller. Once again..........one of the biggest problems builders have is trying to convince themselves when they need to spend a decent amount of money for a decent tool. They buy (like I also do) some tools that are cheap BUT do a good job..........and then think that logic will work for all tools. Convince yourself to buy a decent Plasma Cutter and you won't regret it.

 

I simply don’t really need it which is why I probably won’t get it. I have a handful of things I could use it for, but an angle grinder and a cut off wheel will do just as well.

I have 2 Hitbox welders, one is a multiprocess that does Arc and MIG and I also have a tiny one that does just arc. That multi process welder works as well as the Snap On mig that I use at work. It’s Synergic and just dials in so easy. It replaced a Neiko tools welder that was the same as the Eastwood 135 that I used to have. The tiny stick welder I bought because it has more Arc features, being it has arc force. J learned to run an old tombstone when I was 16, and I used that until it was no longer safe to use. The little Hitbox cost $62 and is the smoothest arc weld I think I could get for that price.

 

As long as you are only working on thin stuff, it probably does. If you need to cut a plate of thicker steel, its a different thing. You also can't cut many shapes that way and make it look decent. I've been there, thats why I bought a plasma cutter. People just won't admit that they need to spend some money sometimes. If you didn't think you wanted/needed one, why ask the question to begin with?

I looked up the most expensive Hitbox to see its specs. The one I saw was multi process and cost about $250. The Tig feature is "lift" Tig, and a Tig torch is not included. So you would have to buy a torch that fit that brand just to be able to use that feature. The Mig torch uses flux core wire instead of a bottle of gas. Flux core wire is problematic. Warranty was 2 years......but you probably can't get it fixed if it breaks because shipping and parts and labor will cost as much as a new machine. It may weld just fine for a while, but history shows that most of the time they end up on a shelf in a dusty corner.


I'm simply trying to get you to rethink things and admit that better tools will help you do even more and better things. While money is a factor in most of our decisions, you have to recognize when a cheap tool will do a job ok and when its better to climb a little higher up the ladder for something that will last a long time and make things easier for you. They often retain that value years later.....so its an investment as well as a purchase.

 

The MT 2000 welder that I have is the no frills Version and cost me $150 shipped. But it does use gas, and the synergic function is sweet. I agree it’s probably not going to last that long but for what I paid, it’s doing quite well and allowing me to put money into my project instead. If it quits I’ll probably upgrade. Thats the reason why I’m holding off on the plasma. Angle grinders and cutting wheels will work as well minus a bit extra time. But it’ll only cost the consumables

 

Don’t discount a used welder either. I’ve bought two, first wire feed a Miler Matic 35. The fella let me run it at his place.
2nd a 3 in one Airco DP-something, knew nothing about Tig welding, the guy let me take it to Airgas and have it checked out. It’s a scratch start though, but the shop set up the high frequency box and that over comes the need to touch the metal to start it.
I know your question is about Plasma cutters, and yes, both of my PC’s are “used” purchases as well.

 

I bought the Bestarc BTC500DP last year around this time and have been happy with it.

Why this one? Well, it was just over $200 (currently $219 on Amazon). It was also the only one in the price range that I could find any youtube reviews that the person didn't have the unit given to them. It has pilot arc, dual voltage, an internal air regulator, and a 1/2" steel rating. I have cut 5/8" cast iron with it, and 1/2" steel. I just finished cutting a boatload of 1/4" wall tubing without much issue. Consumables are dirt cheap and available on amazon as well. I have not used at on 110V, so I cannot comment on that.