Welding Tips and Tricks

I'm curious what you more experience folks think about the Hypertherm Powermax 190c plasma cutter. Is it worth buying or too old? What would be a good price/value if it is worth buying? (let's assume it's working) Thanks!

Edit:
I had the thought that maybe I should look at consumable prices to see how expensive they are for an old unit like this as I expected they would be more efficient now and Hypertherm is apparently known for long consumable life (these days - I have no clue about back when this machine was made). Apparently you can't get consumables or parts for this any more. I ran across a page (https://www.hypertherm.com/en-US/hypert ... ma-system/) that said this:

The Powermax190c® 12-amp plasma power supply was last manufactured in 2009, and is no longer available for sale from Hypertherm. We have stopped making replacement torches, consumables and repair parts for this system.

I wonder...can you replace the torch so you can use it with newer consumables or will this not be good as the torch isn't made to match the unit and won't be worth it? I would think not being able to get consumables should make their value almost nil.

I looked up the manual and according to the specs it has a 12 amp max output and the cut specs were as followed
Recommended Cutting Capacity...........................1/8 inch (3 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)
Maximum Cutting Capacity ...................................3/16 inch (4.5 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)
Severance Cutting Capacity .................................1/4 inch (6 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)


I could find no mention of the travel speed for each of these thicknesses, but if I compare it to a hobart airforce 12/250
which has effectively identical specs and ratings I'm given a travel speed of 10 inches per minute for 1/8 and 3 inches a minute for 1/4 with the speed for 3/16 not being given but is presumably in the middle.

I bought a Hobart airforce 12 almost a year ago and took it back almost immediately. Unless you're going to cut ENTIRELY sheet metal, with most stuff being under 1/8 and you might maybe cut a 2-3 inch piece of 3/16 a few times a year it's simply going to be way way way too slow and even if your patience is limitless, the cut quality you'll achieve traveling so slow is going to be extremely disappointing.

For 3-4 inch cuts of 1/8 and above even a 4-1/2 6.5 amp grinder with a cut off disc is exponentially faster and cleaner in comparison and any longer of a cut than that simply wouldn't be reasonable with that plasma cutter.

sbaker56 wrote:I looked up the manual and according to the specs it has a 12 amp max output and the cut specs were as followed
Recommended Cutting Capacity...........................1/8 inch (3 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)
Maximum Cutting Capacity ...................................3/16 inch (4.5 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)
Severance Cutting Capacity .................................1/4 inch (6 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)


I could find no mention of the travel speed for each of these thicknesses, but if I compare it to a hobart airforce 12/250
which has effectively identical specs and ratings I'm given a travel speed of 10 inches per minute for 1/8 and 3 inches a minute for 1/4 with the speed for 3/16 not being given but is presumably in the middle.

I bought a Hobart airforce 12 almost a year ago and took it back almost immediately. Unless you're going to cut ENTIRELY sheet metal, with most stuff being under 1/8 and you might maybe cut a 2-3 inch piece of 3/16 a few times a year it's simply going to be way way way too slow and even if your patience is limitless, the cut quality you'll achieve traveling so slow is going to be extremely disappointing.

For 3-4 inch cuts of 1/8 and above even a 4-1/2 6.5 amp grinder with a cut off disc is exponentially faster and cleaner in comparison and any longer of a cut than that simply wouldn't be reasonable with that plasma cutter.

I had edited my post as I saw no responses but you slipped yours in there while I was adding to it. Thanks for the reply, btw.

I guess I was maybe falling into the Hypertherm Hype of modern units and applying that back to all their stuff. Based on your experience and these numbers it doesn't sound so great. The consumables thing I mentioned above in my edit is a big asterisk also! Maybe they came a long way in 10 years...or maybe this unit was always a very weak one.

jtap wrote:

sbaker56 wrote:I looked up the manual and according to the specs it has a 12 amp max output and the cut specs were as followed
Recommended Cutting Capacity...........................1/8 inch (3 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)
Maximum Cutting Capacity ...................................3/16 inch (4.5 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)
Severance Cutting Capacity .................................1/4 inch (6 mm) @ 12A (35% duty cycle)


I could find no mention of the travel speed for each of these thicknesses, but if I compare it to a hobart airforce 12/250
which has effectively identical specs and ratings I'm given a travel speed of 10 inches per minute for 1/8 and 3 inches a minute for 1/4 with the speed for 3/16 not being given but is presumably in the middle.

I bought a Hobart airforce 12 almost a year ago and took it back almost immediately. Unless you're going to cut ENTIRELY sheet metal, with most stuff being under 1/8 and you might maybe cut a 2-3 inch piece of 3/16 a few times a year it's simply going to be way way way too slow and even if your patience is limitless, the cut quality you'll achieve traveling so slow is going to be extremely disappointing.

For 3-4 inch cuts of 1/8 and above even a 4-1/2 6.5 amp grinder with a cut off disc is exponentially faster and cleaner in comparison and any longer of a cut than that simply wouldn't be reasonable with that plasma cutter.

I had edited my post as I saw no responses but you slipped yours in there while I was adding to it. Thanks for the reply, btw.

I guess I was maybe falling into the Hypertherm Hype of modern units and applying that back to all their stuff. Based on your experience and these numbers it doesn't sound so great. The consumables thing I mentioned above in my edit is a big asterisk also! Maybe they came a long way in 10 years...or maybe this unit was always a very weak one.

As I thought the specs sounded surprisingly similar, I did a little more reading and found out it was in fact made for hypertherm by miller, though I believe hypertherm made the torch that went with it. Miller owns Hobart, in other words, I STRONGLY suspect that machine and the hobart airforce12/250 are indeed the exact same machine.

It's not that it's a poor quality machine, but it's just not intended for "metal work" in the way most of us here do. It's more for things like HVAC and duct work, automotive paneling in some application, thin sheet metal design etc.

sbaker56 wrote: As I thought the specs sounded surprisingly similar, I did a little more reading and found out it was in fact made for hypertherm by miller, though I believe hypertherm made the torch that went with it. Miller owns Hobart, in other words, I STRONGLY suspect that machine and the hobart airforce12/250 are indeed the exact same machine.

It's not that it's a poor quality machine, but it's just not intended for "metal work" in the way most of us here do. It's more for things like HVAC and duct work, automotive paneling in some application, thin sheet metal design etc.

Thanks for looking into it. I'm glad I did some research first and didn't jump on it relying fully on the Hypertherm name.

I'd rather have a newer Chinese one than that. I have seen them cut well.

I'll hold out for a while and see if I can stumble upon a decent Hyperthem used unit.

Edit: I reached out to George of http://www.georgesplasmacuttershop.com as he was mentioned numerous threads I came across here in my research and he kindly shared with me some recommendations on good budget plasma cutters. I'll leave that here and maybe someone will stumble on it and it could help them.

Harbor Freight 62204 and 64808 (Chicago Electric versions)
Razorweld 45
Primeweld 60
Everlast 52i

He also said HF's Titanium isn't worth the money and that you should stay away from the cut 30/40/50/60 cheap guys.

I will probably get a Chicago model as they seem to be good according to his experience and don't command a lot of price on the used market and I'm not planning to sell it.