Chinese Plasma Cutters

[inVERt'D]

Been researching Chinese plasma cutters that will give me a severance cut of at least 1".

A couple of years ago I pretty much wrote off the cheapies because of all the bad reports I found on the web. However, it Seems that a few quality suppliers have emerged/ proven themselves since then. Here are the ones that I'm considering at this time.

• Riland - Good rep; More expensive; website sucks
• Longetivity - Good rep; 3-5 yr warranty; loc in CA
• Gianttech - Good rep; 3 yr warranty; 100% eBay Feedbackl; loc in NH
• Parker Metalworking - Good rep; more expensive; loc in AZ

I had been considering Everlast, but dude has made an ass out of himself on at least two forums that I'm aware of. On CR4 he attempted a phony testimonial in response to some pretty heavy criticism; an admin called him out, at which point he deleted the post. He has also been banned from Pirate.

[Ol Man]

Wow, a one inch cut.

I bought a Plasma from Parker and it has been ok for me, but I have only cut 3/16-3/8. I have not used it much, so my cuts have been so so. I think it takes a while to really get the hang of it.

Good luck on your search.

[inVERt'D]

Wow, a one inch cut.

I bought a Plasma from Parker and it has been ok for me, but I have only cut 3/16-3/8. I have not used it much, so my cuts have been so so. I think it takes a while to really get the hang of it.

Good luck on your search.

Yeah, I expect most of the stuff I'll be cutting is going to be 1/4" max, but for clevis mounts, etc., I'll need 1/2" to 3/4". One of my first projects will be a transmission adapter plate that may be up to 3/4". I don't want to be doing a lot of work in the max range of the machine; If I wanted it to be a PITA, I wouldn't be buying one.

Looks like Longetivity might be out too--they got caught apparently posting two phony testimonials on a forum. The posts were from two new users, whose other posts happened to be the same, and that happened to be sent from the same computer/ IP address.( :oops: )

[inVERt'D]

Well, I took the plunge...eBay hails me as the winner of a Gianttech 520D 3-In-1 50 amp Plasma Cutter/ 160 amp DC TIG/ 200 amp stick arc. Cost $592.25 w/ Free shipping. You know, seems like a lot of eBay sellers are using shills to bring their prices up. Frikin dishonest. Whatever, can't wait until I can fire her up.

Now I just need an air compressor on the cheap side; machine requires 4cfm @ 70psi. Anyone have any suggestions?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280359777627

[Double AA]

I also have a 220v Parker and it works fine. It has a 3/4" rated cut, but the thickest I've tried so far is 3/8", and it did a good job. I think for hobby use it's a good unit.

[inVERt'D]

Parker may be a great way to go; seem like they're a full-service house and they're not way the heck out in New Hampshire like Gianttech.

In the last couple days I've been reading posts by individuals who are making a living with some of the better Chinese machines--welders and cutters. i guess you could say I'm cautiously optimistic, but I wouldn't be spending that kind of money if I thought it was Harbor Freight quality.

[bruce p]

Well, I took the plunge...eBay hails me as the winner of a Gianttech 520D 3-In-1 50 amp Plasma Cutter/ 160 amp DC TIG/ 200 amp stick arc. Cost $592.25 w/ Free shipping. You know, seems like a lot of eBay sellers are using shills to bring their prices up. Frikin dishonest. Whatever, can't wait until I can fire her up.

Now I just need an air compressor on the cheap side; machine requires 4cfm @ 70psi. Anyone have any suggestions?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280359777627

The Harbor Freight one I bought has held up well. 8 gallon, 3 HP and it will run 4 cfm stuff all day long. Got it for $80 on sale. Good luck.

[inVERt'D]

The Harbor Freight one I bought has held up well. 8 gallon, 3 HP and it will run 4 cfm stuff all day long. Got it for $80 on sale. Good luck.

Haha--there's just no escapin Harbor Freight for a po boy like me! :bonk: Thanks, I'll check it out.

[scherf68]

Bought the Longevity brand and it has been doing great, no problems that I know of, novice at cutting.

[sahara0207]

i also went with longevity and happy i did.

[inVERt'D]

Update

Time to update this thread.

The Good

My GiantTech 3-in-1 plasma cutter turned out to be a whole lot of machine for the money. Cutting 3/4" is no problem, but takes some skill and technique to get a fairly clean cut--plan on some grinding. Most of my work has been 3/16 and 1/4" or so, and it blows through that like nothing. The stick arc function has plenty of power for 1/8" electrodes. 3/32" 7018 (for instance) require the power be turned down quite a bit or it's just too hot. Impressive for a little 27# box! The TIG function also seems pretty powerful and produces plenty of heat for mild steel fab. I wouldn't hesitate to weld 1/4" with it, but I'm just learning the black art of TIG. It produces a nice, steady, strong "flame." It's a DC machine, so it's not what you want for aluminum, but the other day a pro TIG welder was telling me it could work.

The Bad
About 4 (or was it 5?) months back the plasma cutter function stopped working. The TIG and stick functions continued to work great. The bad part is the GiantTech guy is not honoring his warranties or communicating with his existing customers about them. Apparently he has some personal problems or something. This has been going on for months, but he's still selling on eBay, with an updated, slick format, still claiming the same warranty. I notice his claims of great customer service are no longer there. Whatever, as far as I can tell from my experience (and from others on the forums) his warranty is worthless b.s. right now. For this reason, I would not recommend GiantTech.

I went on weldingweb.com, and both ESAB and Longetivity offered me deals on new machines, but no one seemed to be able to service one. I feel that Longetivity's offer was especially generous in terms of price with a new 5-year warranty if I traded my broken machine in.

The Good Again
It works again! No really--I'm actually that happy! Feels like Christmas in August! I guess I had some more dues to pay with the cutting discs and such, but that's ok--thank you, Jesus!

"Long story" follows for the possible benefit of someone else. When it first stopped working I opened up the box and found some loose and questionable connections. It sputtered in a way that that was reminiscent of two things: bad electrode, and insufficient airflow. One was in the plug itself (the neutral wire had come undone), and the other was where the power plugs onto the main board (i'm calling it such, because that's where the power goes first). I also blew the dust off the boards and such, as I have to do regularly here. There were no signs of damage on the board at all. Still no worky, but stick function worked flawlessly (no way to test TIG at that time). I blew out the torch and cable with compressed air and did a continuity test on it (it passed fine). Still no worky. The airgap had a beautiful, clean arc, but the torch would sputter until it got too hot or something, then it would do nothing until it cooled down again. Fearing that my connection problems had burned something out that I couldn't see or that I I might end up causing more damage by monkeying with electronic stuff, I tried for some time to get troubleshooting or warranty help from GiantTech or someone else. Unfortunately, no affordable (to me) options came up. In the meantime, I had a lot of work to do and no time to fret about the plasma cutter, so I used cutting discs of different sorts, nibblers, whatever.

Today I decided to take another crack at fixing the plasma cutter, since I felt it had to be something simple and stupid. At one point, Longetivity had expressed similar suspictions about the airflow, so this time I broke the whole air/ gas delivery system down (really quite simple) and did my best to make sure it was clean. At some point during my past trouble shooting I had put a MIG electrode on to make it easier to do a continuity test on the torch and cable (stupid tester needle moving around). I almost forgot I'd done this, however, and of course, the torch still sputtered because there's a hole in the electrode where there shouldn't be, and also the electrode is too short. :bonk: After replacing the MIG electrode with a new plasma cutting one, the plasma cutter works again. :cake::beer::present:

[jonah]

Glad to hear you got yours fired up again! I am really wishing that I would have bought one before starting my project. It really would have made things easier. Plus what I have spent in gas for the cutting torches I would be well on my way to buying one.

[aw12345]

For Jeep building a plasma is the ultimate cutting tool.
It's quick, easy, cheap to work with and minimal cleanup and grinding. For brackets and such you cut around a socket and the radius comes out quite nice.

[inVERt'D]

Glad to hear you got yours fired up again! I am really wishing that I would have bought one before starting my project. It really would have made things easier. Plus what I have spent in gas for the cutting torches I would be well on my way to buying one.

Do you own your oxy-acetylene set, or is it your friend's? Acetylene is expensive, but oxy-acetylene welders/ cutters are incredibly versatile--and very dependable (don't underestimate the value of that!) You've done a very nice job with what you have, and that's part of the "fun," right?

You're right though, inverter plasma cutters kick a$$, and they're not only more economical, but easier to use than a gas cutting torch. If had you paid a few hundred $s for a better import, you would not be regretting it.

For Jeep building a plasma is the ultimate cutting tool.
It's quick, easy, cheap to work with and minimal cleanup and grinding. For brackets and such you cut around a socket and the radius comes out quite nice.

Yeah, those rear link brackets of yours are coming out real nice. I'm gonna have to make me a circle cutting jig for larger circles. And I agree about it being the ultimate cutting tool for Jeep building. Something about being able to slice steel like butter kind of lends itself to a whole new level of creative freedom. :devil:

[jonah]

It is my friends, but he has two so he is letting me use it as long as I need. It has come in handy for things besides cutting, but cutting is what I use it for the most. On the upside I have become pretty good at cutting with oxy-acetylene, it just takes a little more time it dial it in just right to get a really clean cut. At first I had it running too hot for the thin stuff I was cutting (wasted the first set of tanks quick). Once I tuned it down to just enough to cut the thickness I was working on it worked a lot better and the gas lasted a lot longer.

I will probably pick up a plasma sooner or later... maybe for phase two.