Hypertherm 380

Toilet paper filter is ok for low flow and low humidity. Could much better be. Don't like them that is why.

[Steve W]

Thanks Roger and Rock. I'am going to get with a guy who knows what to get me in a few days and get a better filter.

ABOUT FILTERS FOR PLASMA CUTTERS.................I'M CHIMMING IN MY 2 CENTS WORTH HERE..............I WOULD INSTALL A TOILET PAPER TYPE CANASTER...........SIMALIR TO THE ONES THE PAINTERS USE TO TRAP AND CATCH CONDENSATIONS. THESE WORK EXCEPTIONALLY WELL I USE ONE................NOTHING WILL DESTROY THE TIPS ON A PLASMA CUTTER FASTER THAN MOISTURE IT WILL ERODE THAT NEW TIP AWAY IN ABOUT 1/2 THE TIME....SO ............................I WOULD RECOMMEND ONE.......ROCK
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If your plasma cutters consumables aren't lasting expected life then you could have too much water in air to plasma cutter.

Compressed air has reduced space to hold water/oil in solution. As it comes out of solution it forms very small drops of particulant. Even more particulant is formed the colder the air (sort of like rain). Refrigerant driers work on that principal. Most water oil seperators as sold by sears, or building supply stores only filter down to 10 microns maybe 5 microns for best. Coalescing filters remove water/oil particulant down to .1 microns. They are placed after water/oil seperator. Coalescing filters are depth filters that make air follow tortuous path. Small drops combine into big drops. Better coalescing filters are plumbed reverse flow of most filter elements as flow is from center to outside so liquide drops fall to bottom of filter housing to be drained. Some coalescing filters use toilet paper filters that can only absorbe limited amount before drying filter element is required.

Desiccant driers are sometimes used after Coalescing filters to absorb water vapor getting air even drier. Often desiccant is recharged by oven drying or purge of warm dry air. Desiccant driers are not really needed for plasma cutters.

Probably most of water/oil particulant falls onto volume tank walls and pipe walls.
Compressor dealers, autobody/paint dealers and industrial supply (grangers) sell filters.

If your working on car bodies check out this link.
www.tptools.com Ask for a catalog.

[Steve W]

Junk, not sure how important it is but went ahead and put a water seperater on the air line. I'am using a 50' hose also. I'll try to explain how I fixed mine up. I put a male fitting on the inlet side of the filter, one just like the one that came with plasma cutter. I put a air hose nipple on the oulet side and clamped on about a 3' piece of air hose. Then on the other end of that hose I clamped a male nipple on and screwed a qiuck diconnect to it that fits the air connector that came with the plasma cutter. This way all I have to do when I use the cutter is connect the air hose to the filter. I just leave the other end always attached to the cutter. For now the filter just hangs on a nail to a stud behaind the cutter, but I'am in the proccess of building a cart and I will attach it to cart. Thier is a air filter in the unit were the air line hooks up and if look under the cutter their is a hole were you can drain the water out of the bowl. I hope this helps since I'am trying to learn all this. When I get the cart finnished I'll post some pics. Good luck

[Junk]

How important is a real good filter on the line leading to the plasma cutter? Right now I have nothing and the line just goes from the compressor through a 50' hose to the cutter. Do I really need a condensation trap or anything, or is that just bs?

Thanks

IF......IF THE PLUG DOES NOT FIT THE INTENDED RECEPTICLE SOME MODIFICATION MAY BE REQUIRE. LAST YEAR I CUT THE PLUG OFF OF ONE OF THESE 380'S AND PURCHASED THE CORRECT ONE (THROUGH GRANGER) TO FIT THE CORRECTLY WIRED RECEPTICLE AND DEDICATED CIRCUIT BREAKER...... THIS MACHINE IS STILL IN USE TO THIS DAY AS FAR AS I KNOW HE HAS NOT CALLED ME FOR HELP......... THIS MEETS ALL CITY AND COUNTY CODES.............................. I WOULD NOT OF DONE IT HAD IT BEEN WRONG........SORRY I THINK SAFETY ALL THE TIME AND LIABILITY, ETC..............YOU GET THE PICTURE..........ROCK
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[John Stuckey]

On my Cutmate I just cut the 120V plug off (used the same cord), installed a $3 240V plug and flipped the voltage select switch to 240. The units work just fine on 120V. If the plug is a concern I would use the 120V setup from the factory and see if you really need to go the extra expense. The real additional expense for me was running a new 240V line (breaker, wire, receptacle) to the basement. I probably spent $20 on that deal.
John

[Junk]

Hey

Wait a minute please. Are you telling me that the $1k+ machine I just ordered today (the 380) - that I'll have to cut the darn cord off and get a new one? They charge enough money for these things as it is , but now I gotta worry about the darn plug? Please tell me I'm reading this wrong.
Thanks

[John Stuckey]

Jim:
Your comments are dead-on (no pun intended). We spend a lot of time encouraging safe welding practices and rightly so. I have found that electricians and electrical inspectors require some "funny" things only to discover that they know more about my families safety than I do! They also anticipate someone else using my setups for things that I never intended them to be used for. Most wiring and electrical devices outlive their original owners.
Thanks again,
John

PS If you ever wondered why the electical code states that window a/c units have dedicated circuits (don't plug them into the nearest wall socket) ask around for stories of fires in walls in other rooms. I learned about this one the hard way and the house is only 10 years old.

[Jim Smith]

Ya just can't go wrong by consulting a professional electrician! The alternative may require the use of professional fire fighters (if your lucky) of rescue squad (not so lucky) Jim

[Steve W]

Thanks to everyone for the help. Good to know that I can count on everyone here for help. I'll probally have more as I learn to use this thing. Hope everyone has a great and safe New Years.
Steve

[Charlie in TX]

If the 20 is not tripping there is no need to change. If you do trip the 20 you can safely go to a 30, but you don't have to.

Now that you have solved your plug problem you can start making and collecting adapters as you needed to plug it into different 220 or 110 V sockets. While I know reason for different plugs for each amp outlet it makes life difficult for traveling welder.

I once had a GE 110V plug with slots for male spade flats both parallel and 90 degree so it was easy to pull the spade and insert it as needed. Wish I could find more that easy to adapt to needs.

[Steve W]

Thanks Roger and Charlie. I did try to match the plug and went to several places to find a receptical but the ones I found were oppisite to the plug. I called Hypertherm tech support and he suggested to just cut it off and put one on that will work. Even the maneul shows how to cut off the plug and put a 220 plug on.
Charlie, thanks for the information, I used 10 ga. and 20 amp breakers and mounted the receptical 5 feet from the box. The reason I used the 10 ga. is I have a 30 foot 220 extension cord with welding machine plug and receptical already fixed to it so if I need to I can use the machine futher away from the box. Charlie do you think I should change out the breakers and go to 30 amp instead?