R-Tech P50HF or PlasmaPart CUT 50 Pilot Pro?

[Paul99]

Having finally scraped enough money together I find myself unable to decide which of the two machines would be the better investment. Their similar spec and similar price though the R-tech uses HF start pilot whilst the Plasmapart uses mechanical pilot arc and try as I might I can't seem to see a general consensus as to which system is better / more reliable. So anyone have any thoughts as to the most sensible buy?

 

[mfletch]

A HF start will start easer on painted surfaces

EDIT

Just read the specs on the PlasmaPart CUT 50 Pilot Pro and it says full pilot start!

 

[Paul99]

A HF start will start easer on painted surfaces

EDIT

Just read the specs on the PlasmaPart CUT 50 Pilot Pro and it says full pilot start!

Yep both have a pilot arc but their started in a different ways. Just can't decide if the electrical (HF) start would prove to be more reliable than a mechanical solution long term or is it just another electrical part that to go wrong.

 

[mfletch]

If its any help I have the R-TECH 40 plasma cutter and had no problems with it

 

[Paul99]

If its any help I have the R-TECH 40 plasma cutter and had no problems with it

I see that r-tech have removed the 40amp machine from their site after a long time being out of stock - I noticed as it was originally the 40amp r-tech that I was saving towards. I initially thought that by the time I have money together they'll likely be back in stock but that hasn't happened and so I started looking elsewhere. I now get the news that a nice Christmas bonus is on the way (in reality only being paid up to date for loads of overtime ) so thought I'd up my budget to one of the 50amp models - that's if I ever do make a choice on which to go for...

 

[Bristolbulldog]

R-tech are down the road from me. I've got their super dooper digital tig. Its great. I've heard of them fixing bits on an 8 year old machine no charge. They have second to none support.

They also have in-house component level servicing, so compare that to the other one that I know nothing about so can't comment.

 

[Shox Dr]

R-tech are down the road from me. I've got their super dooper digital tig. Its great. I've heard of them fixing bits on an 8 year old machine no charge. They have second to none support.

They also have in-house component level servicing, so compare that to the other one that I know nothing about so can't comment.

Interesting comment, so what made you buy the POS that you posted about that was DOA?

 

[Bristolbulldog]

I started on a clarke mig, which now needs upgrading. I've singled out a portamig or more likely an oxford (saving right now!)

The tig I wanted as I wanted to fab certain bits and it was on offer, 3 year warranty etc.

To complete my list I wanted a plasma, but £420 ish? For a branded, supported in the uk one I couldn't justify.

I saw the 312 on eBay, location was a Plymouth importer, 3 year warranty. Mad, but I really needs plasma for the amount of cutting I'm doing, but I can't do the mig and plasma at the same time.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

I have the plasma part cut40 pilot pro.
I've had it for about a year now and it's been tremendous. I got a 5 metre earth clamp and a proper Trafimet S75 6metre air start torch, which is the mechanical torch your on about. I love the air start torch, if the compressor isn't attached or you lose enough pressure down to say less than 20 psi the torch will just stop rather than frying consumables. I find that the air start is kinder on the consumables but that might just be me I've been going 8 months on the same set now and I'm cutting up alsorts of steels 5 or 6 times a week from 3/4 plate to 1mm sheet and it's never let me down yet (touch wood) I have used an r tech pilot arc and didn't like the torch it cut fine and worked well but I didn't like that it wasn't built into the torch just cable tied on. I like the Rtech Tigs as one is on my shopping list. But if I had to choose a plasma cutter again I'd buy a plasma part again without hesitation. I phoned up, but can't remember who I spoke to, but I got the earth clamp thrown in and they were far cheaper than the Rtech with free delivery to Orkney, which never happens haha.heres 2 pictures of mine, one before I added the compressor to the cart and one after.

 

[Paul99]

Thank you both for the input. Given what I've read so far I'm not surprised that there is not a clear cut case for one over the other. Warrantee wise both companies appear to be similar 2yrs on parts and labour - which I think is minimum EU allows on electrical goods isn't it?. After warrantee both appear fully capable of repairing their own machines and I dare say both would be good with backup parts for DIY fixes. I was starting to sway a little towards the R-tech as Gloucester isn't all that far away should things go wrong but what M4TTDUFFY has said about the torches was the one thing I thought the plasma parts had going in their favour all along - I've read several times about the R-tech torches being the weakest part of the package and there can be no doubt that A proper Trafimet would be far superior. Also 8months with that sort of use on the same consumables is impressive and puts my mind at ease a little as I've read all sorts of things about plasma tips lasting only a few hours in some cases .

Interesting also to hear your cutting up to 3/4" (19mm) plate on 40amps... it was based on cutting around this sort of thickness (once in a while) that I figured on getting a 50amp machine as I assumed it would be painfully slow with 40amps and would risk reaching the max duty cycle on anything more than short cuts? . If though the machine does it fairly comfortably? I may just save myself a little money and opt for a 40amp over 50amp machine.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

Thank you both for the input. Given what I've read so far I'm not surprised that there is not a clear cut case for one over the other. Warrantee wise both companies appear to be similar 2yrs on parts and labour - which I think is minimum EU allows on electrical goods isn't it?. After warrantee both appear fully capable of repairing their own machines and I dare say both would be good with backup parts for DIY fixes. I was starting to sway a little towards the R-tech as Gloucester isn't all that far away should things go wrong but what M4TTDUFFY has said about the torches was the one thing I thought the plasma parts had going in their favour all along - I've read several times about the R-tech torches being the weakest part of the package and there can be no doubt that A proper Trafimet would be far superior. Also 8months with that sort of use on the same consumables is impressive and puts my mind at ease a little as I've read all sorts of things about plasma tips lasting only a few hours in some cases .

Interesting also to hear your cutting up to 3/4" (19mm) plate on 40amps... it was based on cutting around this sort of thickness (once in a while) that I figured on getting a 50amp machine as I assumed it would be painfully slow with 40amps and would risk reaching the max duty cycle on anything more than short cuts? . If though the machine does it fairly comfortably? I may just save myself a little money and opt for a 40amp over 50amp machine.

The 3/4 plate is at 80psi I wouldn't say it was fast by any means but it's still far quicker than the grinder and cutting gas, if you have the spare cash to go for the 50 amp I'd go for it bud. I'd treat it like a welder buy the biggest you can afford. I've never hit the duty cycle yet to be honest, but then it's always cold here so helps any duty cycle. Longest cut I've done is 6metres on a 3/8 girder. The air should be dry for the plasma cutter if it isn't any plasma cutter will eat consumables with wet/damp air, but you don't need any fancy drier, I have a damp atmosphere here surrounded by sea and all I use is the desiccant stuff you get with shoe boxes and stuff or fleabay, works an absolute treat in the water trap for the vapor. Also practise helps the tips last longer, my first set only lasted about a week while I was hovering and getting the pressure just perfect,( I'm a bit of a perfectionist and getting the most out of my money) but I pretty much drag cut everything now with drag tips far quicker and easier. Ha I could sit here and type tips and tricks for cutting and helping consumables last, so I won't bore you anymore haha

 

[Shox Dr]

The torch assembly is replaceable a SG55/AG50 fit and are less than 20quid

 

[Paul99]

The 3/4 plate is at 80psi I wouldn't say it was fast by any means but it's still far quicker than the grinder and cutting gas, if you have the spare cash to go for the 50 amp I'd go for it bud. I'd treat it like a welder buy the biggest you can afford. I've never hit the duty cycle yet to be honest, but then it's always cold here so helps any duty cycle. Longest cut I've done is 6metres on a 3/8 girder. The air should be dry for the plasma cutter if it isn't any plasma cutter will eat consumables with wet/damp air, but you don't need any fancy drier, I have a damp atmosphere here surrounded by sea and all I use is the desiccant stuff you get with shoe boxes and stuff or fleabay, works an absolute treat in the water trap for the vapor. Also practise helps the tips last longer, my first set only lasted about a week while I was hovering and getting the pressure just perfect,( I'm a bit of a perfectionist and getting the most out of my money) but I pretty much drag cut everything now with drag tips far quicker and easier. Ha I could sit here and type tips and tricks for cutting and helping consumables last, so I won't bore you anymore haha

You're right - I bought the Mig welder which was a lot bigger than I thought I needed but in only a few months I've found myself running it flat out a few times already. It does make sense to buy the bigger whilst I can afford it. Odd you say about the silica gel desiccant I've collected the packets for years for use in other things so have plenty to use once it's been baked.

When you say drag tips - are these a different design to standard tips? I've taken a quick look and unless I'm missing something obvious there only seems to be long or standard (short) tips for the trafimet torches on the plasmapart site and searching for drag tips just brings up people asking where you can get them.

 

[mfletch]

The torch on the 50 R-TECH is different to the older 40amp the 50 is a better torch with a safety feature
Drag tips are the same but if you use the drag it wears out the tips faster its best to have a small gap between tip and metal

 

[Paul99]

The torch on the 50 R-TECH is different to the older 40amp the 50 is a better torch with a safety feature
Drag tips are the same but if you use the drag it wears out the tips faster its best to have a small gap between tip and metal

Ah got it - totally misread M4TTDUFFYs last post and thought I'd missed something important.
Cheers all still got plenty to read and think about it seems.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

You're right - I bought the Mig welder which was a lot bigger than I thought I needed but in only a few months I've found myself running it flat out a few times already. It does make sense to buy the bigger whilst I can afford it. Odd you say about the silica gel desiccant I've collected the packets for years for use in other things so have plenty to use once it's been baked.

When you say drag tips - are these a different design to standard tips? I've taken a quick look and unless I'm missing something obvious there only seems to be long or standard (short) tips for the trafimet torches on the plasmapart site and searching for drag tips just brings up people asking where you can get them.

My thoughts exactly. Haha I did the same but had no use for them till I got my plasma cutter.
Sorry I meant to say it depends where you buy the consumables from, I have bought some from other places that weren't drag tips, erm a drag tip is the ones that plasmapart sell, I've bought some cheap ass ones from eBay which I will never do again. They weren't drag tips and lasted no time at all. The drag tips for Trafimet have 4 gaps around the edge of the copper consumable to let sparks fly through so they don't get stuck to the tip as much, the cheap ones I bought were just a solid ring no gaps and utter fubar tbh.

 

[Paul99]

My thoughts exactly. Haha I did the same but had no use for them till I got my plasma cutter.
Sorry I meant to say it depends where you buy the consumables from, I have bought some from other places that weren't drag tips, erm a drag tip is the ones that plasmapart sell, I've bought some cheap ass ones from eBay which I will never do again. They weren't drag tips and lasted no time at all. The drag tips for Trafimet have 4 gaps around the edge of the copper consumable to let sparks fly through so they don't get stuck to the tip as much, the cheap ones I bought were just a solid ring no gaps and utter fubar tbh.

I originally started keeping the gel packets to store with some reasonably expensive camera lenses the plan was to buy a small bag of the expensive colour change stuff and mix it in with the free colourless stuff that way it would be easy to see when it needed replacing / re-baking but with so much to hand it was just easier to replace every few weeks whether it needed it or not and I never did spend any money on the idea.

I can see them on the plasmapart site now - listed as high power/gouging tips - useful to know about when I eventually need replacements - thank you for the tip .

Nice work on the trolley too I'm sure I'll be pinching a few ideas from it when I get around to making one myself

 

[Paul99]

After more reading around there was even less between the two machines than I thought - my main concern of the r-tech torch being the weakest link is no longer true being replaced with a much better version than was found on the 30/40amp models - as pointed out above. The placement of the pressure gauge on the front of the r-tech machine maybe a slight bonus and the addition of a feature to stop the arc if the pressure drops too low hopefully addresses the issue of burning out consumables.

I could well have gone for and been perfectly happy with either machine. The strength of the after sales care that is mentioned here on the forum (and the rest of the internet to be fair) countless times coupled with the slight saving made buying one of the shop soiled r-techs off ebay and having the company within driving distance in the end just swung it slightly in the R-techs favour. So after a few minutes of still wondering whether I had come to the right conclusion I bit the bullet hit the buy button. Hopefully come Tuesday I'll be the proud new owner of a R-Tech P50HF.

Thanks to everyone for the input, hopefully I've made the right decision and it proves to be a worthwhile purchase.
Paul

 

[doubleboost]

After more reading around there was even less between the two machines than I thought - my main concern of the r-tech torch being the weakest link is no longer true being replaced with a much better version than was found on the 30/40amp models - as pointed out above. The placement of the pressure gauge on the front of the r-tech machine maybe a slight bonus and the addition of a feature to stop the arc if the pressure drops too low hopefully addresses the issue of burning out consumables.

I could well have gone for and been perfectly happy with either machine. The strength of the after sales care that is mentioned here on the forum (and the rest of the internet to be fair) countless times coupled with the slight saving made buying one of the shop soiled r-techs off ebay and having the company within driving distance in the end just swung it slightly in the R-techs favour. So after a few minutes of still wondering whether I had come to the right conclusion I bit the bullet hit the buy button. Hopefully come Tuesday I'll be the proud new owner of a R-Tech P50HF.

Thanks to everyone for the input, hopefully I've made the right decision and it proves to be a worthwhile purchase.
Paul

I have one on loan trial review
It wont be going back
http://www.youtube.com/user/doubleboost
John

 

[Paul99]

I have one on loan trial review
It wont be going back
http://www.youtube.com/user/doubleboost
John

Ha I never realised that was you - I've watched a number of your videos in the past but didn't realise you used the forum. I stumbled upon and watched the two videos of the plasma cutter earlier today just before committing to buy. They answered a few things I wasn't sure about so they were helpful thank you. It's good to hear that after a hands on trial you've decided it was worth buying I hope I feel the same next week.