Purchasing a Waterjet Need Help

[Hogpaw]

My company is looking for 1-2 more waterjets. We currently have a Techni with a 5x10 bed. I understand that Flow makes a good waterjet. I am unfamiliar with OMAX. We have some software issues with the Techni and getting a service man out to the office can be slow. It was explained to me that Flow has a very strong service department and I know that is something that is important to my company. I am very open to your comments good or bad. I just need to get the ball rolling in the right direction on this project.

[jetman]

hi hogpaw
i am reliably informed that flow need a good service department
all waterjets need a lot of maintanence some more than others, the omax software is about as good as software gets for waterjets.

[glenholiday]

I will tell you what I know About Water Jets ......Get the best machine that your company can afford.......I.E. Flow. The reason For this answer is support and spare parts. The company that I just left had an Omax and the best that we could get the pump to last was about 250 cutting hours. The problem was the pump.....If the machine is going to cut net part dim's then by all means buy the Flow product and make sure to get as much options that you can afford......You will see what I am talking about after you start cutting ..............Later.

[smoke]

I don't own a jet currently but am interested. My study would indicate that Omax is tops in software. If you are better off with an intensifier or pump probably depends on your situation. Could be you want to go off shore. How about Dardi? I talked to one user and he indicated that his Dardi came with a copy of a Flow manual! Lots of study to do. Good luck.

[Hogpaw]

Any idea on how the support is on a Flow?

[gman]

I currently have an omax and so far so good--have over 700hrs and still have not rebuilt the pump. It was a toss up between Flow and Omax but when I asked each manufacturer for their best numbers Flow said that we have their best price--Omax came back with some better numbers. The Flow saleman called the next day for an update and told him I was going to buy the Omax--He said give me 5 minutes--came back with very competitive numbers--I felt like I was buying a car (which I cannot stand)--he lost the sale.

Good Luck

[Hogpaw]

I have heard that about flow from more than one person. How far were they off and how far did they move? Did you buy one machine or more than one? I would think that if we purchased a couple they would really drop the price.
Phillip

Originally Posted by gman I currently have an omax and so far so good--have over 700hrs and still have not rebuilt the pump. It was a toss up between Flow and Omax but when I asked each manufacturer for their best numbers Flow said that we have their best price--Omax came back with some better numbers. The Flow saleman called the next day for an update and told him I was going to buy the Omax--He said give me 5 minutes--came back with very competitive numbers--I felt like I was buying a car (which I cannot stand)--he lost the sale. Good Luck

[gman]

With their new numbers they were about $10,000 lower then Omax and they also lowered the financeing rate, it just didn't sit right with me, I felt that with the new numbers they were ripping me off. Also Omax does not charge for software updates and you can have as many software seats as you want.

Gary

[Verfur]

we curently have two Omax machines one is 10 years old and going strong. We did start out with a 20 hp pump and have sence went to the 40 hp pump.
And the newer machine we got with the big pump. If you want longer pump life you need two things (RO system) clean water and a chiller (cold water) then that should put you in the 600 plus hrs of use. The only reson to go to a intensifier pump is for pressures above 50kpsi. And just like racing the faster you go the more it cost. We have bin very happy with the Omax machines and there tech help (for upgrades and advanced maintenance) like I said one machine is 10 years old.

The real pluss to the Omax is with few tools and little understanding of how things work the machines are simple and easy to maintane. Short of Buying a new machine and the Tech coming out to set it up we have not actualy needed a tech to come to our site.

Oh they send out little pamplets with tid bits of new ways or helpful info, how to's as they compile from other people (tech tips) real cool to see how
to cheat and get more for less

PM if you want any tech info I can supply

Hope this helps

Very happy Omax user

John