Which Plasma Cutter

[George Erasmus]

I presume you're being facetious.
You asked whether you could get away with a 16A socket on a machine rated at 18A and above, and we gave you some options.
I presume that you're as capable as the rest of us in reading machine rating plates, so I'll duck out now. Best of luck.

What I meant is if I have to run close to 30 amp for the really thick stuff then I can easily lug the presser and the plasma cutter to my backdoor, where I will install a temp 30 amp feed so if I have to cut or weld thick stuff I have an option. The rest is based on indy4x post around the impact moling rather than digging a trench this thing will dig under the tarmac so no need for trench digging then I can run in a proper cable 2.5 mm SWA cable to the garage just might not have the funds for this at the moment but it certainly is a lot cheaper than the 15K I was quoted the last time to dig a trench and re-tar the surface

 

[George Erasmus]

I presume you're being facetious.
You asked whether you could get away with a 16A socket on a machine rated at 18A and above, and we gave you some options.
I presume that you're as capable as the rest of us in reading machine rating plates, so I'll duck out now. Best of luck.

Don't think I am making fun of the whole thing, I am being pretty serious, I am trying to draw from others experience if someone else says hey no worries I run mine from a similar set-up then I would feel more comfortable. Also where before I thought the idea of upgrading the garage wiring would be a pipe dream someone else gave me another idea and I put my thoughts down, I guess I have to be aware some people are cantankerous.

 

[Appyasme1]

Plasma machines in garages.................Makes me think of spiders!

 

[George Erasmus]

Also maybe my question is getting lost I want to know if other 30/45XP users retain these plugs or lob them off and fit a 32 amp plug with a 32 amp wall socket because this is what I am considering doing but if someone has a source for wall sockets for these weird plugs other than the Chinesium ones that I have found then I would be a happy camper

Or do they lob this end off and fit the 32 amp plug

 

[bigegg]

if you want the socket to match, it's L6-20R

the "p" stands for plug, the "r" means receptacle.
farnell sells them, but a cursory glance on Google shopping shows a fair few on the the 'bay


personally, I'd fit an EU compliant 32a blue commando plug and socket.

 

[Badger1bear]

I use a Hypertherm 45xp and it’s fitted with 32amp commando socket. The supply to the cellar is a separate cable just for that 32amp box. I use the 32 amp connection for the welder as well .
Everything else runs from the normal ring in the cellar.

 

[J1nx]

My garage is about 25 Metres away from my house it was fitted with a Armoured cable Twin cable the armour is used as earth I measured the thickness and it is about 1.5mm rated around 27Amps acording to sources online further considerations is distance and weather it is in a duct or buried mine is definitely just buried

Get a spark in to have a look mate, I’m guessing you have more than a 1.5mm supply, you use the square section of cable to rate it. Even if you have a small supply the duct sounds promising,don’t rule it out without getting it checked, could save you serious money.

 

[armalites]

fftopic: back to Topic is there any Hypertherm 30XP or even 45XP users that can chime in and advise on what Plug they use I am also considering one of these Nema L14-30R 30A 125V/250V or NEMA 14-50R but curious to know what others have done for a wall socket

I have a Hyperthem Powermax30 and that runs on a 13a pin plug so I guess the 30XP must be different.

 

[George Erasmus]

I use a Hypertherm 45xp and it’s fitted with 32amp commando socket. The supply to the cellar is a separate cable just for that 32amp box. I use the 32 amp connection for the welder as well .
Everything else runs from the normal ring in the cellar.

Thanks @Badger1bear that was what I was considering but did not want to chop those cables up, but I might just be over thinking the whole thing, I might not even have a choice, because I bought the budget 30XP 220 Volt only one which makes a £4-500 difference in price.

 

[George Erasmus]

I have a Hyperthem Powermax30 and that runs on a 13a pin plug so I guess the 30XP must be different.

Is that the Powermax30 Air the input voltage is rated 120-240 V, 1-PH, 29-15 A
The Powermax 30XP the input voltage is rated 120-240 V, 1-PH, 25-18.8 A

These values kind of confuse me slightly I think 120V @ 29Amps and 240Volts @ 15 amps if I decipher the table so you might just be slightly over the 13amps

 

[George Erasmus]

Get a spark in to have a look mate, I’m guessing you have more than a 1.5mm supply, you use the square section of cable to rate it. Even if you have a small supply the duct sounds promising,don’t rule it out without getting it checked, could save you serious money.

Thanks @J1nx Yes you are absolutely right, I ordered some 2.5 & 6mm mm wire for the home to move some sockets and the cooker, the cable arrived today this had me realise that I have been looking at the wiring all wrong and suddenly today a lot of what I have read fell into place, I expected the 2.5mm to be a really thick bugger but I was surprised that it was the same thickness as the garage so I feel a bit like an idiot tonight worrying about nothing

 

[Badger1bear]

Just buy some extra fire extinguishers and it’s win win

 

[Mattuk]

2.5mm cross sectional area should have a diameter approx 1.8mm
If you need more current could you consider an extension line for the thick stuff when necessary. I normally pull a few 6mm 3g H07 lineax to feed power amps at school fireworks night, at approx 20 meters length without much voltage drop.
If you neighbours are going to drive over it a lot then something like below might do for temporary applications without a huge investment on your part:
https://www.racking2go.co.uk/large-...MIm8Gv5Iz33AIVa7XtCh2R1wNjEAQYBSABEgJh0PD_BwE

Cheers
Matt

 

[Mattuk]

If you are looking for 32 amp plugs you may find some cheaper options using "32a ceeform" as a search term rather than commando socket. PLC make rather nice ones.

 

[George Erasmus]

Thanks for everyone's input so the Hypertherm 30XP 220Volt version arrived on Monday, arrived without the additional 110V and 240Volt extension leads and no plug fitted. Seems it is Engweld's most popular seller it is £450 cheaper than the 110V/220V 30XP I guess if you dont need the 110Volt then this would be go to machine for hobbiest looking for a quality machine. First impressions is that the power cord would get lost inside a 32 amp plug, so I have fitted a 16amp plug and using 16 amp circuit breaker, haven't run it at full whack yet, 25 amps only used it for about 30 minutes yesterday. I spent most of the week installing a garage distribution box and new wiring for the garage. Will take some pictures later after I have tidied up

My 5th attempt of ever working with a plasma cutter 3mm stainless not straight and smooth still trying to get the speed right

 

[Badger1bear]

Two little things that help with cutting is using a straight edge and running along the side of it to keep your line accurate. Cutting a straight line on a curved mild steel surface is easily achieved with a magnetic strip that you can buy off of fleabay, it takes the heat well and is reusable

 

[George Erasmus]

Two little things that help with cutting is using a straight edge and running along the side of it to keep your line accurate. Cutting a straight line on a curved mild steel surface is easily achieved with a magnetic strip that you can buy off of fleabay, it takes the heat well and is reusable

Thanks for the heads up what size would you recommend should I be looking for

 

[Badger1bear]

Thanks for the heads up what size would you recommend should I be looking for

I use this stuff https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/301362364238

With regards to the sticky side, I rub some fine dust against it and then clean it off. That’s just enough to lose the irritating sticky side and your left with a magnetic strip. Works really well on curved surfaces such as gas cylinders allegedly lol

 

[George Erasmus]

Aaah I thought you said to cut curved edges on flat surfaces but now it makes perfect sense

 

[Badger1bear]

Aaah I thought you said to cut curved edges on flat surfaces but now it makes perfect sense

If you buy the narrower magnetic strip you can curve it somewhat on a flat surface