Hypertherm consumables

Information on plasma cutting nozzles, electrodes, and other consumables.
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metalworxfabricators
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Hypertherm consumables

Post by metalworxfabricators »

Just curious, has anyone tried the knock off consumables on E Bay? If so, how do they hold up against OEM consumables?
Harris Welding is the cheapest Hypertherm OEM supplier I have been able to find. Hypertherm 45 consumables are costing me about $5-$6 per set. The E Bay consumables are about half that price. I love my machine but, the OEM consumables are costly.

Any Input?
Metalworx
Metalworx Fabricators
ArcLight Dynamics
Hypertherm Powermax 45
JEd
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Re: Hypertherm consumables

Post by JEd »

I've not tried the, but I've heard that don't last nearly as long and that there are possible issues with the torch body getting too hot, killing the torch.
Stout
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Re: Hypertherm consumables

Post by Stout »

Don't waste your time or money!

I tried them with the Hypertherm PM1250 and they are just junk! About half of the nozzles would not fit into the shield so I complained and they paid for return shipping to China. The other half did not last nearly as long as the OEM nozzles. The electrodes constantly misfired, probably due to them being out of spec and not moving inside of the swirl ring during ignition. And the material they used to make the parts was not even close to the OEM Hypertherm parts. Just junk!

I also purchased a pack of 5 shields on Ebay that the seller claimed were OEM Hyperthem. They arrived in the standard packaging and I thought nothing of it until I started to use them last week. I usually go through a shield about every 100 nozzles, about 6 in the past year. These were chewing up about every 2 nozzles and all 5 were gone in a week. They literally just melted away. I went back and looked at the packaging and it doesn't say Hyperthem on it!

I have not tried them, but the LWS said that the ProFax parts don't even do as well as the OEM parts.

I only buy the OEM parts from my LWS, Young Welding Supply, right here in Helotes, TX! I'm much happier now.
Victor Simonis
Grey Forest MetalCraft
Helotes, TX 78023
210-872-2622
Sector Technologies Photon 5x10 water table machine with Hypertherm Micro Edge Controller, Powermax 105
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trucks1948
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Re: Hypertherm consumables

Post by trucks1948 »

i buy from harris ,i tried some off ebay and they worked but didn't last near as long .now i only buy from Harris.Jim
planetxfred
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Re: Hypertherm consumables

Post by planetxfred »

Be realistic and calculate the cost of the consumables into your cost of cutting, If you are following the manual and doing it right, the cost (of the nozzle and electrode) is very very low. Sure, a nozzle costs around $6, How many inches of cutting do you get out of it?
As a general rule, my cutting charges are calculated by taking the inches of cut, add the number of pierces and multiply by the thickness. Material gets added on to that, but my main customer provides the material for his jobs.
At that formula, say for cutting 1/4 inch hrs material ( a recent job was about 300 inches of cutting. That came to $75. The nozzle was still like new, probably would do at least 3 or 4 more similar jobs.
I would gladly pay $6 for a nozzle that will return me $200 to $300 in error free cutting rather than try to use a $3 or $4 knockoff nozzle and risk poor cutting (especially with customer supplied material, It needs to be cut clean and right the first time.
Fred
jimcolt
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Re: Hypertherm consumables

Post by jimcolt »

The primary company that is selling knock off consumables on Ebay is in court already for multiple counts of patent infringement as well as copyright infringement. They continue to sell consumables in original equipment looking packaging. These Chinese knockoffs have ben tested and are produced with incorrect materials, incorrect manufacturing process and produce excess stack up tolerance errors.

While they are priced lower....they will not (as Fred descibes in his excellent post) perform nearly as well in terms of cut quality and parts life. Further, the stack up tolerance and manufacturing materials issue will (under certain cut conditions) cause torch overheating and potential failure.

The cost of genuine cutting consumables in my Powermax85 works out to less than 1/2 cent per foot on 1/2" steel. If you buy copies at 20% lower prices....and they do not last as long (and they don't) then you are effectively spending more on your consumables based on cost per foot of cut. Is it worth the risk of torch damage? Are you willing to support illegal knockoff parts that displace American workers? Seems like a simple decision to me!


Jim Colt
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