sabre arc

[chrisg3103]

been lurking a while now and gleened some usefull info from this forum but cant find anything on my latest acquisition.
its a BOC sabre arc PW200, the most i can find from google is this advert - http://www.ridgequest.co.uk/boc sabre arc pw200 welder.htm

havnt actualy picked it up yet but its been advertised as a plasma cutter, dosnt look like a plasma cutter to me? 2 flow meters and 2 foot pedals. has anyone any information on this? TIG welder, plasma welder?
the joys of ebay

 

[Archie]

I think I saw that one on there. Wasn't it described as 'plasma not arc' or something like that? Anyway, I had a quick look around the net when I saw it 'cos I didn't reckon it looked much like a plasma cutter. Murex/BOC certainly seem to market a plasma cutter under the name 'Sabre Arc' but it's nothing like this. Anyway, assuming you probably took a punt and didn't pay too much for it it'll be useful either way (provided it works; one of the less joyous things about eBay ).

 

[chrisg3103]

tis indeed the one you were looking at got it for the price of a chinese plasma, just a bit miffed that it might not even be a plasma cutter! going to pick it up on sat, other factor for buying was its not very far

just trying to gather as much info as i can about it, emailed BOC to see if they had any information and they sent the enquiry to the sales department, probably so old they wont know what it is though
why do i do this to myself could of bought a cheap chinese plasma cutter with about 100 tips

 

[Archie]

Well if it turns out not to be a plasma stick it back on eBay with a few decent photos and a proper description and you're bound to make your money back. If it is a plasma then it'll almost certainly be of better quality than the Chinese ones. So worst case scenario is a bit of a hassle, best case is a good quality plasma (assuming, again, it works)! Maybe get the guy to demo it first.

 

[shenion]

I get the feeling it is a plasma welder. Used by jewelry makers. very small arc.

 

[chrisg3103]

did ask the guy to show it working but he says that since the company moved premises they lost the tool room (hence the sale) and no comp air. plus hes the quality control guy and dosnt know how it works said the guys used to cut metal with it? can just make out little pictures on the flow gauges that show the first one for plasma flow and 2nd for shielding gas. can plasma welders be run as a cutter?
if not like you say can probably sell it for a lot more to fund cutter anyone want a plasma welder

 

[chrisg3103]

its a shambles! took it to a welder chap i know and he says it should have a transformer that the foot pedal and what not plugs into. seeing as there is nowere for the pedal to plug into and there are a few other plugs me thinks hes right, also there is a huge heavy cable coming from the welder that should plug into something, theres no earth and the torch only has gas and water pipes running to it? no electrical supply at all. ebay chap says he will check the tool room on monday

on the up side its a beast! and im 99% probably certain its maby a plasma welder , got water cooling and 2 gas supplys, here are some pics -

thankfully it had a lifting eye

pipes round the back

the front

and whatever this means

torch (smashed the shroud in transit )

torch gubbins

should have just bought a cheap chinese one :lol:

 

[shenion]

Looks to be an add-on for a TIG or arc power supply.

 

[Paul.]

Looks like you've got yourself an antique plasma cutter I haven't seen one for years, you need two gas cylinders to run it, the plasma gas is usually nitrogen, or sometimes argon / hydrogen mix, and the secondary gas would be CO2 or compressed air, you need tips specifically for the type of plasma gas used.
The large red pedal looks like it belongs to a BOC ADR or similar Tig set, if this is an add on unit the ADR was probably the power source , the small one is most likely the remote for the sabre arc, its a bigger machine than the one we used to have, that was a self contained unit 3 phase and nothing but trouble, I bet you'll have difficulty getting torch spares for it, to be honest its probably just a museum piece now,

 

[chrisg3103]

begining to see the horrible truth here look what else came out of the same tool room - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=190256515538&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=009

by the looks of it the two were hooked up together, sellers a genuine guy though and is doing his best to sort it out. ive given him the recent information and hes going to have a word with the new tool room chaps to see if they remember. i might have the tigs foot pedal then can hold it to ransom thanks for the help, been invaluable!

 

[Paul.]

Almost certainly that red pedal belongs to that Transtig welder, and is a pretty expensive thing to buy as well, maybe you can do a deal and get your money back on the pedal alone

 

[chrisg3103]

the only thing i got working today too was siezed so striped it and freed it up, just a huuge wire wound variable resistor and everything made of lovley brass. except the steel pivot shaft which rusted

 

[chrisg3103]

ok, just drag this thread back up and see if there is any good advice on dual gas plasma cutters.
had a chat with a chap who filled in all the blanks with regards to the spare plugs and what not on the cutter, and cleared up that it is indeed a dual gas cutter. seeing as everything is actualy there after all i quite fancy giving it a go at firing it up ad seeing exactly what it can do! (if anything) from what i have managed to reaserch: there is a tungsten electrode in the torch, if i try and fire it up with air as the plasma gas it will burn out in no time? appears the recomended gases are argon/hydrogen, nitrogen, CO2 or argon. will argon/co2 (argoshield) work? i can maby get access to nitrogen but would need to lug the thing to work, if i can run it on shielding gas it would be handy
also just something that has been puzling me, there dosnt appear to be any electrical conection to the torch, just 2 gas pipes and 2 water pipes. im assuming there is some kind of way this will work but i just cant see were the torch power will come from
anyway, if i can run it on shielding gas i just need to find a new ceramic cup and ill give it a go

 

[stevies205]

pw200 connections

Hi,

only just joined this forum but looks like it will be very handy.

found this thread whilst googling to find info relating to the pw200 plasma cutter.

ive just bought a murex transtig 350 and whilst looking through the manual found a page which lists the connections required to hook up the pw200 to the transtig 350!


i know very little about the technicalities of welding and welding equipment but from the diagram i have it shows a contactor control cable, a welding cable?? and the earth all returning to the transtig unit?

Does that mean the pw200 was sold specifically to work with the transtig 350??

And anyone any idea how old a transtig 350 is? have a feeling its early nineties??

Cheers

 

[stevies205]

sorry im late!!

ok. so ive just noticed that my first post was a year late!!

out of interest though - did anybody manage to get the pw200 plasma working??

thanks

 

[RapidResponse]

As a plasma welder maybe. It will cut up to 2mm just because the plasma stream will be hot enough. bUT YOU NEED TO SET THE GAS PRESSURE MORE IRRATICALLY THAN YOU ALREADY MAY HAVE DONE. This is a plasma welder, not cutter.