Whats this Hypertherm HD-3070 worth?

[douglasco]

I hope the maintenance guy got electrocuted when he cut the wires. But it makes for a good deal. Lots of newer-better torch options available anyways.

Talked to the hypertherm tech dept(and showed them the pics) and they said it shouldn't be too much of a big deal to reconnect. He said that HighFreq box under the gas control was optional so the powersource could be farther away then the torch cable could reach, and that it couldn't operate w/out that hf box...does all that sound right? Why do some of the gas controls have 4 sight glasses and some only have 3? The unit is 1995 vintage, said it retailed for about $25,000.

[douglasco]

Gimme your two cents even if thats all you got. I'm sure its more then i have(esp by the time i get this thing back in running order). I have to tell the guy something tonight.

[jimcolt]

The HD3070 pictured was probably closer to $30K when new. It was the first generation of HyDefinition systems from Hypertherm......it is no longer manufactured....replaced by the HPR130 system. There is an upgrade to install the new style HPR torch for better cut speeds, better cut quality and longer consumable life. Here is the link to info regarding this upgrade: http://www.hypertherm.com/en/Product...ch_upgrade.jsp

All parts are available for this system...and the service and operators manuals can be downloaded from www.hypertherm.com under the library tab. It is still a good quality system...there are thousand in use out there!

The high frequency (ignition) box is needed with all HD3070's.....the older vintage units had a gas console with 3 flowmeters....newer versions had 4. The reason for the gas console change was that more processes using different gas combinations were added. To cut steel...this unit uses Oxygen as the plasma gas and a mix of oxygen and nitrogen as the shield. Stainless can be cut using air/air, nitrogen/nitogen, argon-hydrogen/nitrogen, air/methane. Aluminum is often cut using air/air, or air/methane.

When integrated to a good quality cutting machine with a good height control...it is hard to beat the cut quality of this plasma!

Jim Colt

[douglasco]

Thanks Jim. I went ahead and bought it. I figure he torch kit will be about $2000 and hopefully under $1500 to fix the rest the cut lines. If i'm going to upgrade the gas console should i try to find the automatic or just the manual 4 gas?

[jimcolt]

Stick with the manual gas console....The auto version uses motorized valves...is quite complicated...and provides not cut quality advantages. The advantage with auto gas is only realized when it is interfaced to a cnc control that has all of the serial data programmed to automatically choose gas settings.

The newer HPR systems have eliminated the motorized valves and now use pulse width modulated valves...better accuracy, better reliability...and almost instant gas settings.

Jim