Welding Tips and Tricks

I know Hypertherm and Lincoln have plasmas with the built in compressors and I was just wondering if anyone has really put one to the test. I saw Chucke do a review on a Hypertherm model but you know,,, everything that's free is always better. A guy at one of my LWS said they were a bad idea because the outside air wasn't clean enough and would tear them up quick. I guess on a jobsite the air could be pretty dusty so what do you guys think? If he's right that is a good thing to consider if I'm gonna consider one but he probably never pulled the trigger on one to have a serious opinion.

How much cutting do you plan on doing? Where do you plan on doing it? Most cutters with on board compressors are generally a little smaller so how thick do you want to cut?

I have a Hypertherm 30Air that works great. Onboard compressor has a built-in air filter and moisture trap. 120/240 volt capability makes it real versatile. It's a 30 amp unit so cut thickness is limited compared to larger units, but it's done everything I need it to do so far. I like it.

I was intending on using it for gouging and cutting smaller stuff at my shop. If I go out in the field to work on some of the heavy equipment stuff I have a torch set up for that. I thought having the gouging capability would help on some of the repairs where an old weld needed to be took out too. Probably not so much of a field use but more for fabrication in my little shop at the house. I do handrails and smaller jobs but you never know. I just wanted to know if they were worth the money for the work you can do with them. I hope I get to use it a lot but it won't be a all day every day kind of tool.

Do you already have a decent air compressor at your home shop to use? If so I would go with like a hypertherm powermax45. A little more power and you aren't paying for an on board compressor when you already have a compressor. No compressor-do you plan on getting one anyways? If not you may want to get one with its own compressor


For gouging, does it require any more air or just the different consumables?

I also have a Hypertherm 30air . Sounds like your work is on the same scale as mine and this is a great machine for that type of work. I have done a decent cut on 5/8 bucket edge but slow. Piercing to 1/4 in is easy and cuts like butter. For slicing old welds and rough cuts I use older consumables that I have saved and keep a good one for fine cutting. I wanted to have a portable unit and with the built in air and moisture filter and chances are the air is as good or better than many shop compressors. Not cheap but worth it in my opinion plus parts and service are readily available.

I don't have a compressor at home but the portability of the Hypertherm is the key for me. I may get a compressor either way at some point but I won't have to have a compressor on my trailer to use the plasma in the field too. The torch should take care of any big stuff. A future air compressor would be either for air tools or a CNC plasma is that's ever possible.

jroark wrote:I don't have a compressor at home but the portability of the Hypertherm is the key for me. I may get a compressor either way at some point but I won't have to have a compressor on my trailer to use the plasma in the field too. The torch should take care of any big stuff. A future air compressor would be either for air tools or a CNC plasma is that's ever possible.

Shoot jimcolt a PM. He's the most knowledgeable guy I know for plasma cutters, and he works for Hypertherm. (I'll tell you up front, if there's a competitor's unit that will suit you better, he'll be honest about that.)

Steve S

Ok. Thanks

Otto Nobedder wrote:

jroark wrote:I don't have a compressor at home but the portability of the Hypertherm is the key for me. I may get a compressor either way at some point but I won't have to have a compressor on my trailer to use the plasma in the field too. The torch should take care of any big stuff. A future air compressor would be either for air tools or a CNC plasma is that's ever possible.

Shoot jimcolt a PM. He's the most knowledgeable guy I know for plasma cutters, and he works for Hypertherm. (I'll tell you up front, if there's a competitor's unit that will suit you better, he'll be honest about that.)

Steve S

But... There probably isn't one better than hypertherms-just saying

Just a thought after reading concerns about the air pump working in dusty air. When I was doing my research I read several reviews on the Lincoln model about pump problems. I heard of no pump problems with the Hypertherm. Better pump - better filter system -don't know. In Ontario Canada a Hypertherm 30air list price is 3 times the price of a Lincoln on sale so it took a bit of pondering to pull the trigger. Worked out well.

Hypertherm has two different 30 amp output air plasma cutting systems. The Powermax30 XP does not have an onboard compressor, the Powermax30 Air does have an onboard compressor.

-30 XP is severance rated (operating at 230 volts) for severing 5/8" steel, and production rated for 3/8" steel. When you operate on 120 volts it is downgraded a bit from those specs. You can operate it off any compressor that can produce 90 psi air pressure, the flow rating is 4.5 scfm @ 90 psi.....if your compressor can only produce 2.0 scfm @ 90 psi you can still cut, but when the compressor drops below 90 he plasma will shut off and give you a low air pressure indication. I have used a small nail gun style compressor (2.9 scfm) in the field and would get about 45 seconds of cut before I had to wait for the compressor to build pressure.

-30 AIR is severance rated at 5/8" )operating on 230 volts), but expect it to cut a fair amount slower than the 30 XP.....this is because the power supply has to share input power with the compressor. Production rating is at 5/16" on 230 volt input and is downgraded a bit when running on 120 volt power. You need a full 20 amp circuit (nothing else plugged in) when cutting on 5/16" steel, though you can turn down the cutting power and run on a 15 amp circuit if only cutting thin gauge material (say cutting up some old roofing.) We have a lot of 30 Air units in the field, we do not seem to have any issues with compressors. The compressor is a high efficiency active automotive suspension unit...very reliable. To make the compressor more effective and more reliable we designed a special low flow, low pressure torch that allows for a more efficient lower pressure compressor....this is what other plasma systems with onboard compressors do not have!

The 30 air has less cutting power than the 30 XP, the 30 Air costs more than the 30 XP. (the 30 Air has a compressor, adds cost and uses power!)

If it was me, and I was going to use the plasma a lot, especially in the shop....I would use the money I saved buying the 30 XP and would apply it to a compressor. However if I always needed a plasma on my truck to dismantle things in the field where there was power but no compressed air.....then the extra cost of the 30 Air would be my choice. We sell about the same number of each. There is a noticeable cut power/speed advantage with the 30 XP.

They are completely different units and different torch and consumable designs....each designed for specific use! Jim Colt Hypertherm

Thanks for that info Jim. Really appreciate the good break down of both models.