Welding Tips and Tricks

So i have a powermax 30 now, and i wouldn't say i have buyers remorse. but for day to day use its kinda of a pain in the butt. the 18ga ground clamp is damn near impossible to keep tidy, and is constantly a trip hazard for me. Their cable management hooks on the unit are pretty useless, as one holds the torch and one holds the power plug, and you kinda have to clamp on the ground clamp around coil of itself and onto one of the hooks. The large bag that came with it is also a pain as it is very difficult to get the unit into the bag with out it catching in the opening and popping the cables off the hooks, and when its in its like a hockey bag all floppy and such. Also it is constantly grounding out to any straight edge or any of the material that gets too close to it, then sticks and i have to fight it off mid cut. It does not have a drag tip, although they say you can use it like it has one. I has an optional "deflector tip" that says it helps with keeping the 1/16 work distance, and prevents arc outs when using guides or templates. its doesnt really help with the work distance, as it slides back up and makes it hard to to even tells what the arc is doing as it also traps any sparks that might tell your that you are traveling too fast.

Ok so sorry for the wall-of-text, but those are my beefs with the PM30, It does exactly what it says, it cuts what it says. But I do not find it user friendly.

So looking at the 375 extreme, hard carry case with room to spare, thicker ground clamp for less tangles, comes with drag tip, is also 110-240VAC with auto switching voltage tech. according to the specs the severance cut is actually 1/8 larger (5/8") than the PM30 at 1/2". I know the duty cycle is lower on the Miller aswell at 35% compared to PM30s 50%

When I asked my dealer if i could exchange my unit cause I've only had it a month and not really 100% satisfied, he suggested i stick with the hyperhterm, I asked why and he just said "cause they are the leaders of the industry" which isn't really an answer to me, its either part of their sales training fall back method or its just fanboyism, that hurts peoples experience with their products. I have never tried a Miller product, I would like to.

Does anyone own a 375 E-Xtreme, and do they wish they had gotten something else? other than a lack of power issue?

well tomorrow I'll ask the salesman to bring by a 375 E-xtreme so i can do a side by side comparison.

EDIT: also, I have read that Hypertherm makes the consumables for the XT30 torch, but that doesn't mean it is so. I have google'd that but no real references to it at all other than a PDF from hypertherm that says they makes consumables for ESAB, Miller, Lincoln and Thermal Dynamics ect. Can anyone confirm this for this Torch specifically?

I have a 375 x-treme and its fabulous. I have the hard case too. I've never ever had my cutting tip "stick" to the metal as you described and I don't even have the "drag tip." I'll agree that Hypertherm (HT) is fantastic, because I've used the larger powermax 45 at work. But to say the powermax 30 is "better" than the Miller 375 x-treme is like saying Chevy is better than Ford or Dodge. They are both in the same class (PM 30 and 375 x-treme) and it's basically a personal choice.

I personally LOVE the Miller. I like the fact that I can go to my LWS (Sims Welding supply and/or Industrial Metal Supply) and purchase Miller plasma consumables right off the shelf. Those two big companies don't sell HT consumables "on the shelf."

good to hear. the PM30 was my first choice because they did have all the parts on the shelf, at least it looked that way. They had a whole section on a wall called powermax 30, but when i started trying to buy from them everything in the section and all the other sections were all mixed up. And i had to order my consumables anyways.

And when i say "better" what I am really asking is for, ease of setup/storage/actually cutting something.

Everywhere I go i read, people comparing the name of the product, with the name of another, not the actual units them selves. Or they are spouting a bunch of made up crap the "heard" somewhere as fact. I knew there was nothing wrong with the 375 X-treme, but I had a feeling the PM30 was right for me too. Turns out no one i talked to actually used it they were just Hypertherm fan boys.

So i may have read what i wanted to hear, but i feel better now.

Oddjob83 wrote:good to hear. the PM30 was my first choice because they did have all the parts on the shelf, at least it looked that way. They had a whole section on a wall called powermax 30, but when i started trying to buy from them everything in the section and all the other sections were all mixed up. And i had to order my consumables anyways.

And when i say "better" what I am really asking is for, ease of setup/storage/actually cutting something.

Everywhere I go i read, people comparing the name of the product, with the name of another, not the actual units them selves. Or they are spouting a bunch of made up crap the "heard" somewhere as fact. I knew there was nothing wrong with the 375 X-treme, but I had a feeling the PM30 was right for me too. Turns out no one i talked to actually used it they were just Hypertherm fan boys.

So i may have read what i wanted to hear, but i feel better now.

Yeah I'm not bashing HT. In fact, if I move up to something bigger, I'd probably go with them, unless they were way more expensive than Miller. But most people I run into at two of my LWS, have never even touched a HT or Miller extreme. Yet they talk like they've been using one or the other for years. I've tested people with questions about the product to where I already know the answer. I want to see if they know what they're talking about, before I ask them a legitimate question I have about the product. (I do that at gun stores too). Weird, ain't it?