A review of the cheapest plasma cutter on ebay.... the Colossal Tech Cut 50

[Muddy Oval]

I went with the Powermax 30 and love it. What sold me on spending just a little more than the Chinese units was the amount of information Jim offered, as well as having local support. When the rep from Airgas delivered the unit, he spent three hours in my shop showing us how to use it- which was worth the difference in price right there. I learn better by watching and doing, and we skipped the experiment/learning curve right from the start. Even the little Powermax 30 can cut just about anything I could ever want and warranty service and support is in English and only a phone call away. The one time I called with a simple question was met with genuine concern over my happiness with the machine and the performance of it. We don't use it all the time, but when we need it- downtime can be a major expense. Nothing worse than having something you can't get done and nobody to call for help.

[rusmannx]

a friend of mine pulled the trigger on this unit last week and we got it on Friday. it goes through sheet like butter. we did some 3/8" and i was shocked at the speed and quality of cut. yeah it needs some work with a sanding disc to clean it up, but after chipping off the slag i was not displeased at all.

i realized right away we need to use some kind of straight edge as neither of us have steady hands, but a piece of 5/16" plate worked perfectly. I can't speak as to quality or reliability as we only have 30 minutes on it, but so far we're happy.

[DRM]

Originally Posted by Todd W

the point is when it dies, and you can't get it repaired or a part for it don't come here,

Really? Because according to you:

Originally Posted by Todd W

The point is that the same ones rebadged have been for sale on here for years now

So which is it?

[DRM]

Originally Posted by Todd W

My point is just because it works now I doubt it will in 2 years...
"Look I bought the cheapest junk I could find and it works for now"... in 2 years please update this thread.

FYI, I just checked my email records, and my "cheapest junk" plasma was shipped to me on June 10, 2006.

It has cut what I needed cut since the day I received it, despite feeding it dirty air and letting people borrow it who really didn't takre very good care of it.

I assume this meets your "2 year" request, would you like me to update you in 4 months when I reach the "4 year" mark?

[Todd W]

Really? Because according to you:

So which is it?

Do you work for the news because you sure like to misquote Here's my quote you hacked to make it look like I was saying two different things. (RE: Availability of parts, and same sellers)

The point is that the same ones rebadged have been for sale on here for years now and they all have problems sooner or later.

It's still my opinion when it dies or starts acting up (and it will) good luck getting a part, warranty, or any assistance from the people you bought it from. Let alone expecting them to have any knowledge of the workings of the system if you can't get it to work, or have a problem with it. If you are lucky you MAY be able to hit up another china plasma seller who has filled the shoes of the many on ebay who've been banned.

If you are buying it with the expectation that it won't last too long then go for it. It just seems like we have these threads "AWESOME CHINA PLASMA" then a few months or years later it completely dies and can't be repaired without paying nearly the cost of a new one, and by then you could have gotten a TD or Hyper therm.

Obviously there are people who will have the china unit working for 10 years but they either got lucky or use it a hell of a lot less than the others here

[PTSchram]

And, my AMERICAN made plasma with Hyper-Therm torch sits in a corner not working.

I knew I should have bought a Chi-Com unit, it couldn't be any worse and would only have cost about twice as much as my AMERICAN made junk plasma!

[Todd W]

Originally Posted by PTSchram

And, my AMERICAN made plasma with Hyper-Therm torch sits in a corner not working.

I knew I should have bought a Chi-Com unit, it couldn't be any worse and would only have cost about twice as much as my AMERICAN made junk plasma!

Was it plugged in when your panel caught fire

[PTSchram]

Originally Posted by Todd W

Was it plugged in when your panel caught fire

No!

Nor when the light switch box caught fire, nor when the outlet in the machine shop caught fire.

Of course, my house belonged to an electrician before we bought it.

I had to replace a switch last night. When I took the cover off the box, the box fell inside the wall...

[jimcolt]

PTSchram,

Which American made plasma with a Hypertherm torch are you refering to? There are Millers, Century, Snapon.....that had Hypertherm torches. Maybe I can help you with it?

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[PTSchram]

Originally Posted by jimcolt

PTSchram,

Which American made plasma with a Hypertherm torch are you refering to? There are Millers, Century, Snapon.....that had Hypertherm torches. Maybe I can help you with it?

Jim Colt Hypertherm

It's a Dayton/Century, the same one that they rebadged with Snap-On, Matco and Mac-according to their website. The torch had a tag on it that said HT and lo and behold, when I took the bits into my LWS, they said the part numbers on them were HT.

When I bought it, Indiana Ozygen fixed it by replacing ne of the big-ass voltage divider resistors. It worked for about ten minutes and quit. All of the resistors are continuous, all of the diodes on the circuit board only conduct in one direction, the three-terminal voltage regulator on the board is not shorted to ground, none of the caps are open or shorted. When power is applied, air flows continuously, regardless of controls. When power is removed, air flow stops. All of the LEDs on the board light up when they are supposed to.

I have what they provide for a circuit diagram but haven't had any luck and less time to fawk with it, but I could use it for a rpoject that starts soon.

TIA!

(I'm not serious about the poking at ToddW, just wanted to poke him like DRM!)

[JolietJames]

I have a middle-of-the-road unit made somewhere in Europe. I have the HTP microcut 625 and have had no problems in over two years. I remember it being cheaper than the Miller at the time at least. My buddy has a Miller of the same size and said the HTP works every bit as well as his. Their US headquarters is an hour north of me and customer service is top notch. I absolutely WISH it was made in the states. At the time I couldn't afford the Miller and ended up getting the 625 for the price of their smaller unit so I couldn't pass it up. Just my .02

[jimcolt]

PTSchram

Those resistors are current limiting resistors......that is the method the manufacturer used to change output power levels.....not very efficient! It is an older high frequency start unit.....and depending on the power output, has either a Hypertherm Max40 or Max100 high frequency start torch. Good torches, marginal power supply.

If the air flows without triggering the torch.....either the torch trigger switch or wiring is shorted....or the main board has a shorted output that activates the air solenoid.

If you trigger the torch...does the high frequency fire? (to get it to fire you would have to watch the spark gap assembly inside the plasma system....there will be one or two tungsten spark gaps that should energize for two seconds to ionize the plasma gas. These units are rather simple to troubleshoot and repair.

Jim Colt

[PTSchram]

Originally Posted by jimcolt

PTSchram

Those resistors are current limiting resistors......that is the method the manufacturer used to change output power levels.....not very efficient!

Antique technology that worked back in the day! LOL. One of them has a tap, hence my comment about voltage divider.

Originally Posted by jimcolt

It is an older high frequency start unit.....and depending on the power output, has either a Hypertherm Max40 or Max100 high frequency start torch. Good torches, marginal power supply.

Probably the 40 as it's only a 20 amp unit.

Originally Posted by jimcolt

If the air flows without triggering the torch.....either the torch trigger switch or wiring is shorted....or the main board has a shorted output that activates the air solenoid.

That should be easy enough to check, but I wonder if this is it as the LED on the circuit board illuminates to indicate the switch status.

Originally Posted by jimcolt

If you trigger the torch...does the high frequency fire? (to get it to fire you would have to watch the spark gap assembly inside the plasma system....there will be one or two tungsten spark gaps that should energize for two seconds to ionize the plasma gas. These units are rather simple to troubleshoot and repair.

Jim Colt

I don't think so. I'll have to look for the spark gaps and see what happens.

Thanx! My friend who has more patience for this sort of thing has been busy and I've not needed it as badly as I will in the next few coming weeks.

[KyleQ]

I have a ebay special Cut 40 in the garage and it's been a wonderful machine to work with. When we originally got the unit it wasn't working properly. The vendor was really easy to work with, payed the shipped both ways and sent us a replacement unit within 3 days.

Thing thing has been a great addition to the garage and cuts well - my brother just cut this last weekend. 5/16's free hand - turned out well. He hasn't used this machine in over a year...

Crappy cell phone pics-


I'm not a high dollar fabricator - so there is no need to purchase a more more expensive unit for little gain over what this unit does. For the price, it can't be beat - I've always been happy with this little guy.

The ebay vendor knew the unit inside and out - helped us adjust some internal parts to try and get it to work before we sent it out. I guess we got lucky, did our research and called the vendor before purchase. Very knowledgeable - would purchase another unit from him.

[tctrojan17]

You would not happen to remember the ebay seller you went through do you?

[tctrojan17]

Hey guys i am in the market for a plasma cutter and i am your average weekend warrior. From what i have read through out this post for someone like me these china ones are the way to go seeing a show i will use it occasionally. Just an FYI i found this hardwaken 50A on ebay for 299.00 plus 59.00 shipping with a 3 year parts and labor warranty. Seems you can not beat that. for that price getting guarenteed 3 years is a steal. I read people saying all this studd about the rebadging of units. These units look identical to the collosal tech ones as well as a few other brands, so im guessing it is safe to assume that these are the same machine as the collosal tech?

[compman25]

Originally Posted by tctrojan17

Hey guys i am in the market for a plasma cutter and i am your average weekend warrior. From what i have read through out this post for someone like me these china ones are the way to go seeing a show i will use it occasionally. Just an FYI i found this hardwaken 50A on ebay for 299.00 plus 59.00 shipping with a 3 year parts and labor warranty. Seems you can not beat that. for that price getting guarenteed 3 years is a steal. I read people saying all this studd about the rebadging of units. These units look identical to the collosal tech ones as well as a few other brands, so im guessing it is safe to assume that these are the same machine as the collosal tech?

If you're going cheap why not at least support the vendors on this site? Longevity and Everlast can most likely set you up with something around that price since they include shipping as part of their price.

[jc0de]

Great Review thanks a ton

[78stepsideUAK10]

Thanks for the review

I may have to get one now

[rusmannx]

here is my video review of the colossal tech cut50.
i can't figure out how to embed it so here is the link:

YouTube - Colossal Tech Cut50 Plasma Cutter

[Kamikaze]

Nice review. You have a much nicer speaking voice than I do.....

[rusmannx]

Originally Posted by Kamikaze

Nice review. You have a much nicer speaking voice than I do.....

haha.
thanks

[DRM]

HAving had my machine for almost 4 years, I guess I could do a youtube review to see how it stacks up after all this time.

[Kenny714]

Just got mine about a week ago and from the look of the reviews it should be fine for me. I've been on mids so haven't had a chance to play with it yet. Only problem I've got is we only have one 220 outlet in the shop and of course the compressor is 220 also. I guess I should have thought of that before, huh? I've got a little 110 compressor sitting in the shed so hopefully it will be able to handle the load.

[71PA_Highboy]

Uhhh... Wire another outlet?

I have the same problem....

That will teach me to never say 'enough is enough'.