Max 100 torch upgrade

[matttargett4]

Hi,

Ive heard conflictng reports on this so i thought i would ask experts, is there or isnt there an upgrade available for a max 100?

would there be any difference in speed or quality when using a 100d torch but still with air?

could a max 200/ ht2000 troch be fitted and still used with shop air and would it yield any benefit??

I look at newer machines with cut speeds double what mine are and better consumable life and im jealous.........!

Matt

[jimcolt]

Matt,

The Max100 is a 25+ year old high frequency start, air cooled torch design. Hypertherm discontinued the Max100 plasma system many years ago. There are no torch upgrade options from Hypertherm, and there are not any in our future plans.

The Max100D is also an older technology torch...the primary difference in comparison to the Max100....is that it is a dual flow torch. This means that you can use one gas as the plasma gas, another as the secondary, or shield gas. The primary reason for its development (back in the 1980's) was to provide cut quality improvements on non-ferrous materials by using unique gas mixtures such as argon/hydrogen as the plasma gas and nitrogen as the shield gas. While this technology worked well in its day, it is no match for the air cooled torch designs that are available today in terms of overall cut quality, cut speed and consumable life.

Can you put a Max100D torch on a Max100? No....the Max100 gas flow control only has one channel. I suppose you could modify a Max100 by building a gas flow control.....but the gains in performance would be minimal.

The Max200 and HT2000 torches are liquid cooled dual flow torches designed for cutting at up to 200 amps at 80% to 100% duty cycle. Can these torches be adapted to a Max100? No. Once again, anything is possible. A new gas flow control could be built, however with these torches I think that the pilot arc current circuitry would also have to be modified in order to get the larger torches to start reliably as well, and a recirculating liquid cooling system that operates at 185 psi would alsohave to be designed for these torches.

Hypertherm works very hard to improve all facets of performance with each new plasma system introduction. The reason that our newest systems often have a completely new torch design...is because we have discovered nd developed new technology that improves performance in terms of cut quality, cut speed, consumable life or reliability.....actually in almost all cases, all of the above!

It also does not make sense to offer replacement torches for technology that is 20 years old. The numbers of Max100 systems that are still in use are very low, and development costs to properly adapt a newer technology to an old system would be substantial. Probably not worth the effort from a financial point of view.

Best regards, Jim Colt

Originally Posted by matttargett4 Hi, Ive heard conflictng reports on this so i thought i would ask experts, is there or isnt there an upgrade available for a max 100? would there be any difference in speed or quality when using a 100d torch but still with air? could a max 200/ ht2000 troch be fitted and still used with shop air and would it yield any benefit?? I look at newer machines with cut speeds double what mine are and better consumable life and im jealous.........! Matt