Lidl Plasmas Coming Soon!

[OJCar]

Check you have sufficient air coming out of the nozzle.
Just because you have a 100 litre tank on the compressor doesn't necessarily mean your compressor is coping.

I found out the hard way that the nozzles burn out fast with insufficient air.
First time when I forgot to turn the compressor air tap to on.
Second time when the Aldi compressor died ...

 

[GRW]

Did you fit the first ones yourself?
If factory fitted they might not have been tightened correctly.

Also, the quality of the cheap consumables seems to vary with each one so I wouldn't be surprised if simply swapping them over improves things.

They don't make a massive issue out of cutting 3mm thick. Get a bit of 8mm and see what happens before judging it too much..

Good shout! You're bang on - I just tried it with the fitted bits - it never occurred to me that they might not be fitted correctly (dumbass mistake in hindsight). They did seem only finger-tight when removing now I think on it.

The OH did get a box of spare consumables as well when she picked it up, so I have a couple of spare ceramics (heat shields?) as well as a few extra centre nozzley thingies.

My brief play did highlight it needs a bit of practice and some sort of guide fence if you hope to get clean straight cuts - I was all over the place!

 

[GRW]

Check you have sufficient air coming out of the nozzle.
Just because you have a 100 litre tank on the compressor doesn't necessarily mean your compressor is coping.

I found out the hard way that the nozzles burn out fast with insufficient air.
First time when I forgot to turn the compressor air tap to on.
Second time when the Aldi compressor died ...

I do have my 50yo 150L (I think, though it might be 200L) Ingersoll-Rand model 30 which I can hook up to it - I tried on the 100L Clarke as its a lot more portable - but yes, next time I'll try running it off the hefty lump

 

[HughF]

Are these blowback pilot ignition? Asking because my powermax30 air is scrap with a board fault and I’m thinking about making a frankenmachine whilst Lidl still have them in at £149

 

[Turbo]

Are these blowback pilot ignition? Asking because my powermax30 air is scrap with a board fault and I’m thinking about making a frankenmachine whilst Lidl still have them in at £149

The inner electrode of the torch is live & the outer is connected back to earth, when you pull the trigger an arc starts between them turning the air going past into the plasma jet.

 

[Smouser]

There was about 5 plasma cutters left at Lidl Blandford yesterday.

I did not get one as the the plasma cutter with the integrated compressor seems to be a better buy. Hopefully Lidl will get them in at some point.

 

[HughF]

The inner electrode of the torch is live & the outer is connected back to earth, when you pull the trigger an arc starts between them turning the air going past into the plasma jet.

HF pilot ignition then… might still pick one up and fit a hypertherm blowback torch.

 

[HughF]

There was about 5 plasma cutters left at Lidl Blandford yesterday.

I did not get one as the the plasma cutter with the integrated compressor seems to be a better buy. Hopefully Lidl will get them in at some point.

Big stack of them in Poole last night too.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Has anyone fitted a quick release connector to a plasma torch?

Mine has a single threaded fitting for air ^ power. occasionally I take it out in the van and it would be nice to remove the torch quickly for transport.
I suppose you could split out the air and power and mount a dinse + qr air fitting but what about just putting a rectus style connector onto the existing one?

Anybody ever tried running power through a rectus connector before?
Is it just going to weld itself shut?
Would a plain brass or stainless or something be better than a plated brass rectus?

I've seen some plasmas with a euro connector (plus an American type qr) but haven't seen components/prices for the parts you would need for a conversion..

 

[JMS1972]

I blame you lot! You're a bad influence.

I thought I was safe leaving my shopping until today but no they had loads left

 

[Bki26]

I blame you lot! You're a bad influence.

View attachment 388683
I thought I was safe leaving my shopping until today but no they had loads left

Wish they had spare consumables when they brought out the built-in compressor one will have to get around to ordering some off eBay lol

 

[Gragson]

Bought these for non pilot arc

Pardon our interruption...

And these for the pilot arc torch

WSD-60 Air Plasma Cutter Cutting Torch Consumables WSD60 AG60 CUT 50P 60P Pkg-40 | eBay

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Seem ok

 

[finyuk2005]

Has anyone fitted a quick release connector to a plasma torch?

Mine has a single threaded fitting for air ^ power. occasionally I take it out in the van and it would be nice to remove the torch quickly for transport.
I suppose you could split out the air and power and mount a dinse + qr air fitting but what about just putting a rectus style connector onto the existing one?

Anybody ever tried running power through a rectus connector before?
Is it just going to weld itself shut?
Would a plain brass or stainless or something be better than a plated brass rectus?

I've seen some plasmas with a euro connector (plus an American type qr) but haven't seen components/prices for the parts you would need for a conversion..

Anybody ever tried running power through a rectus connector before?

i skim read that, and read something quite different!!

 

[knighty]

why not just use a mig torch euro connector?

 

[hotponyshoes]

why not just use a mig torch euro connector?

Because I've not seen the torch side of the connector available anywhere.
Could take one off an old mig torch I suppose

 

[HughF]

Because I've not seen the torch side of the connector available anywhere.
Could take one off an old mig torch I suppose

plenty available on aliexpress. Although personally I'd use a gas-through dinse and a separate 2 pole for the trigger

 

[HughF]

Here you go Luke, trafimet style connector:

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Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[hotponyshoes]

plenty available on aliexpress. Although personally I'd use a gas-through dinse and a separate 2 pole for the trigger

I remember why I didn't consider a mig torch connector, I've got a cheap plasma with the moulded style front panel, like this,


Don't mind hacking it about but it might be a long-winded job to grind out the plastic and fit a mounting plate.
Could mount the connector elsewhere on the case though I suppose..

Hadn't even thought about a gas-through dinse, what's the chances of them being available in the smaller 9mm size?
Although I'm not sure if the housing would be any smaller on them?

The 2-pole for the trigger is not really an issue as that plug is secure enough without screwing up the locking ring so quick enough to remove anyway.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I suppose another option would be to put an extension onto the threaded connector and 3d print a grip to go over the nut on the torch so I could fit it by hand.

 

[charlysays]

Just bought one of these green plasma cutters in Lidl last week. When I see special buys which look potentially good I just buy on the spot knowing I can research the purchase later on and return it unused within 30 days if it doesn't seem like a good buy.

I'm just wondering how much I might actually use it, is it much use for car or chassis work? I don't do a huge amount of fabrication tbh so I'm considering returning it. A cut off grinder and some good reciprocating saw blades might be more use. Can buy a lot of grinding discs for £150.

I have heard you can use plasma cutters to cut out chassis sections which are difficult to access with a grinder... but right next to a GRP body shell? looks like the heat would spread a lot so I probably wouldn't be able to use it on this job welding up my scimitar chassis.