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How to Make Your own Plasma Cutter.... (Plasma Cutter Kits Coming Soon!!) by Plasanator Plasanator on on March 21, 2011
Table of Contents How to Make Your own Plasma Cutter.... (Plasma Cutter Kits Coming Soon!!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Intro: How to Make Your Your own Plasma Cutter.... Cutter.... (Plasma Cutter Cutter Kits Coming Soon!!) Soon!!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Step 1: Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 2: Parts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 3: Warning Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 4: Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 5: Another View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 6: Another schematic schematic to looksy at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 7: Board Lay Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Step 8: Transformer I used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
Step 9: Transformer connected to to board Terminals. Terminals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Step 10: Power to Cont Contactor actor Terminals Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Step 11: Reed Current sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
Step 12: Low Voltage side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Step 13: 13: Relay Connections By Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Step 14: Chevy HV Transformer Transformer Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Step 15: Arc tip assembly to to head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Step 16: Head air coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Step 17: Air filter/ Element and solinoid Hook up View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Step 18: Final power power connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Step 19: Extra Photos Photos of Past Cutter Projects Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Step 20:
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Step 21: 21: Plasanator 3's First First Cut Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Step 22:
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Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Author:Plasanator Homemade Tools & More Hi I'm Joe and welcome. I love to make Homemade Tools & More. I will have many things to put on the i nstructables for you to gander at. I hope you enjoy there educational value and have fun. Come se my home site if you get a chance. http://theplasmacutterman.com/ Take care and God Bless.
Intro: How to Make Your own Plasma Cutter.... (Plasma Cutter Kits Coming Soon!!) Check out new video of the Plasanator on utube.com http://youtu.be/enELHZ7dP2I This Ebook is designed for Guys and Gals who like to create tools and machinery. I hope my Ebook gives you hope that no matter how hard a project may seem, keep plugging away until you finish and you will succeed. I spent 3 years putting this together and now finally all my hard work and research has paid off. I studied diagrams from commercial venders, but to no luck. They tend to leave a lot out – on purpose - so it’s hard to reproduce their design. I’ve see different attempts at people making their own on You Tube and other sites, but what a death trap. Messy water resistors and wiring like a darn Christmas tree. So I began reading books and articles on their workings and took my home schooled-knowledge of electronics to build my own plasma cutter. I was determined; failure was not an option. I started by collecting parts from old microwaves, stoves, water heaters, air conditioners, car parts and more in the hopes of creating a low budget way to create a plasma cutter for myself. I mounted it all on a simple piece of scrap wood; well it’s scrap wood now. We, didn’t need that table anyway (shhhhhhh don’t tell the wife). Then one day it all came together. I hit the power switch, placed the head to the metal, started the arc, felt the air kick and then a second hard kick (the current being drawn into play). Then BAM, it was sli cing through quarter inch steel like a hot knife through butter. How sweet it sounded! I felt the amazement of completing a project that I just couldn’t let go of. So, take your time, enjoy and be safe. The Plasaman
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 1: Assembly 1: Assembly When I started assembling my cutter, I began with taking a good look at my parts. As shown in Section 5 and Section 6, my parts are laid out so I can begin checking off from my parts list. Once this was accomplished, I would study each the parts pictorial to get familiar with each part/componen part/componentt and they would be placed. The next step was to study my schematic and create a layout diagram. My board layout diagram is the most valuable piece in the building, repairing, and modifying process of my cutter. As I began mounting my parts, I organized my board into four sections. Those sections are Power Control, High Current DC, Low Voltage DC and High Voltage Arc Start. Power Control 3KVA step down transformer and contactor. The transformer is mounted off board because it is big and heavy, as you can see in Section 13. The contactor became my first part on the board. I wired i t so when the head trigger is pressed, it turns the contactor on and allows my DC components to come on line. Then I began with my next system, High Current DC. High Current DC Bridge Rectifier Large Capacitors Reed Switch (which I used as a current sensor), what it does is allow the high voltage arc system to fire and as soon as high current starts to travel to the head and cutting starts it shuts down the high voltage arc system while cutting since it’s not needed at this point. If you lose your fire it restarts the arc and gets you going again automatically. My next system was placed on board. Low Voltage DC The low voltage DC components are mixed with power switch and 120 volt terminals. Power Switch 120-volt terminal blocks 12 volt transformer Low voltage bridge rectifier Auto relays Terminal strip, 4 position is all I needed but 5 position was what I had in my toy box. High Voltage Arc Start Microwave capacitor or run capacitor, a household dimmer switch rated for 15 amps. A Ford or Chevy ignition coil. I used the Chevy on this cutter. As you can see, I have terminals to all parts that get an external connection outside of their system so all I have to do is run a piece of wire in-between. Now look at the pictorial of board mounted parts in Section 11. It shows all the wires on the board, but here you can see all terminals and parts mounted, as I wanted. When wiring all my components, I used my Chevy board layout diagram to run my wires. I checked and re checked all wires before mounting external parts. If you go to the final wiring section, you will also find pictures of my rigging of these parts. I could have done it many different ways, but this is what I chose at this time. It took me about 3 hours of procrastination to finally assemble it all. You know how it is on a project, once you are ready with all your parts, your mind starts giving you a million ways of doing something. And, at last you just pick a way and go with it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Once I got it all together, I connected my air tank hose and put the pressure setting at 28 for a safe point to start. I fired it up and BAM - that baby didn’t need any more adjusting. It was cutting! You can imagine all the relief and pride I felt when the Plasanator started kicking ass. Yea, I said it Kicking Ass Baby. Oops Wife just told me I need to stop, hee hee and for all you creators – ah ah ah ahhhhhh. I hope you enjoyed riding along with me in my journey. Take care and be safe. The Plasmaman
Step 2: Parts List Parts List
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 3: Warning Warning
Step 4: Schematic Chevy Pictorial Schematic
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 5: Another View
Step 6: Another schematic to looksy at
Step 7: Board Lay Out Now this is to demenstrate how I set it up before putting it in a case configuration. So dont think you would leave it like this for it would be to dangerous to do so.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 8: Transformer I used Its a control transformer I got off ebay for 50 bucks. It's 220 to 120 3kva 25 amps and works great in power isolation.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 9: Transformer connected to board Terminals.
Step 10: Power to Contactor Terminals These are the contactor terminal conections on the transformer side and then the contactor to large bridge rectifier connections. Also you will see Bridge rec to Capitor connections and how they are connected. This is your Main Current set up.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 11: Reed Current sensor
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 12: Low Voltage side
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 13: Relay Connections By Color
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 14: Chevy HV Transformer Connections
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 15: Arc tip assembly to head
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 16: Head air coupling here is where you will connect your air line to your head if you dont have a fitting to do so then hook to board connections.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 17: Air filter/ Element and solinoid Hook up View Just showing temp hook up.
Step 18: Final power connections Ok now you can put all your final connections together and keep going over your schematic to double or triple check everything.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 19: Extra Photos of Past Cutter Projects Here are some photos of past cutter projects for you to enjoy. Now remember that you will need to put in a case for safty. It can be would metal or plastic just enclose it. My photos are in a testing stage and that is why you see them exposed. The photos of the red cutter was a china one that burnt up on my neighbor and I ripped out the guts and replaced it with my design. He just loves it. The black box on side is the housing for 2 elements to draw more current. You will also see here some other designs where I used a chevy control module as the hv arc start and my first plasma cutter on test stand using stove coils as current resistors. Have fun and be safe ya'll. Joe
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Step 20: The new Plasanator (5) coming alive!. It has better electronics, auto air off delay, more case room and more cutting power. It also has voice module power on check and complete homemade head. High frequency power and better stabilization dc control. Onboard fault detection circuit and no more heavy transformer. Plasanator (5) is not for pussies, it's for men and woman who want to get the job done right the first time. If your afraid of power, then you need to be devoured.
Step 21: Plasanator 3's First Cut http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA6zWHNn6zU Goto link and watch it's first cut while listening to the mission impossible song. Thanks for stopping by and God Bless.
Step 22: Related Instructables
How to Use a Plasma Cutter by newdetroiter
Sheet Metal Flower to Practice Plasma Cutting and Welding by newdetroiter
Projects With Plasma Cutter Using PlasmaCam Software by happylue
7 Foot Axial Flux Wind Turbine by brokengun
Homemade Motor Arbor for your Wind Generator or other needs by Candroma
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
How to- Wind Turbine Made from Scrap Metal... by Pushthatbolder
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Comments 50 comments Add Comment
JakubE says:
view all 140 comments Jan 25, 2015. 10:28 AM REPLY
Hello, please, have you some plans of Plasanator (5)? I need something with little more cutting power.
JakubE says:
Jan 26, 2015. 7:40 AM REPLY
Is it possible to use two 6kW heating elements with 230V?
bettina-sisr says:
Jan 2, 2015. 10:43 PM REPLY YOU ROCK! (Or cut )with style! This is great, gotta a extra one of you? Anyway thanks for this i nspiration, I'm not smart enough to create this, but I love that other hard working people are!
Upaa27 says:
Dec 17, 2014. 8:29 PM REPLY Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't something like this work? T1-3 are microwave oven transformers. If we wind these for 200v each, the rectification should push the voltage to almost 300v to charge the caps. C2 dumps through T4 to ignite plasma and C1 can then discharge through the plasma. I would imagine with 3000uf, it should maintain continuos discharge with 15 amps even if only 60hz. I used 3 ac mains so that no breakers blow. The air flow and fan could be easily incorporated into the schematic I just didn't find any symbols for them. What do you guys think?
Upaa27 says:
Dec 17, 2014. 8:59 PM REPLY
Sorry I mean to say the total voltage output is 200v from the transformers not 200v each. I'm really tired right now :O
astral_mage says:
Mar 12, 2014. 1:57 AM REPLY
this pic should've been fist page not third or forth in line.
Benjamin.M.Withrow says:
Nov 22, 2014. 7:51 AM REPLY
After all of this man's hard work, that's what you get out of this? Please, for your own sake, don't try building this l mao
Benjamin.M.Withrow says:
Nov 22, 2014. 7:47 AM REPLY This is so helpful, Sir, thank you for sharing your hard earned knowledge. My buddy and I are in the collecting parts phase, and this is already very helpful. Thanks again! PS: I'm sure I'll be back with questions at some point, hope you don't mind!
dthompson32 says:
Oct 15, 2013. 8:53 PM REPLY great job,, where can i salvage the high voltage bridge rectifier. i can't seem to find anything that uses one that can handle this much voltage,,other than just buying a new one, thx
Plasanator says: eBay has them for about 16 bucks.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Sep 23, 2014. 10:05 PM REPLY
Plasanator says:
Dec 2, 2013. 9:25 PM
(removed by author or community request)
Plasanator says:
Sep 10, 2014. 8:50 AM REPLY
yhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/231266189909?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT This is link on eBay where I bought some rectifiers. These work great and will handle all your power needs.
experimenter4life says:
Sep 21, 2014. 1:04 PM REPLY Great project. I am in the works of constructing my own working from your design. I have two questions. Is the isolation transformer necessary? Also, what are you using for your compressed air source? Just an air compressor? Thanks in advance!
Plasanator says:
Sep 22, 2014. 1:13 PM REPLY
I don't use one since all is shut down by gun trigger never had a problem or safety issue. I just use a regular air compressor bigger the better if you have a lot of cutting to do air last longer and I use a 50 gallon hot water tank made in to an air tank secondary.
experimenter4life says:
Sep 22, 2014. 7:28 PM REPLY Great thanks. Sorry I have one more question I forgot to ask. When you turn the unit on, does it blow the breaker while the capacitors are charging up? Seems like they would pull a looot of current to charge being so big and all. If so how do you work around that problem?
Plasanator says:
Sep 23, 2014. 10:04 PM REPLY
I have never had that problem. Make sure you have a 30 amp breaker for 120 and at least a 50 amp for 220 use. Also make sure the 120 power that comes out of your relays is not connected to the other side of ac connection. Follow the yellow that goes to the two joined relays and comes out blue to high voltage set up and to air solenoid .
PetrieJ says:
Sep 15, 2014. 9:29 AM REPLY Is is possible to make a 1A plasma cutter? I need to cut very thin pieces of 304, but because of the geometry and composition of the parts I am currently stuck chemically etching the material away.
Plasanator says:
Sep 16, 2014. 7:45 AM REPLY
I wouldn't think so and plasma cutting would leave spray all over pcb board. I recommend using A laser or Drexel tool.
V4V says:
Sep 1, 2014. 5:06 PM REPLY i cant understand why you connect the caps at this strange way. after the bridge you have a plus and a minus full rectified source. so the caps should take this dc voltage. why do you connect the caps back to the AC line?
Plasanator says:
Sep 2, 2014. 7:36 AM REPLY
It forms a voltage doubler circuit.
rodalino says:
Sep 1, 2014. 2:05 PM REPLY
Can this cut aluminum and stainless sheets?
Plasanator says: Yes it can and does very well.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Sep 2, 2014. 7:34 AM REPLY
swampfox440 says:
Aug 23, 2014. 8:01 AM REPLY
What is the water heater element for ? Don't see it anywhere in these pictures.
Plasanator says:
May 9, 2014. 8:28 PM REPLY
Hey all just solder a wire to the hv coil instead of zip tying it and cover solder with silicone of any kind.
wkdavistx says:
Mar 13, 2014. 4:33 PM REPLY If i am putting 240v to the contactor does that mean I'm putting 240v to the air solenoid? I am also reading 650v on the dc side of the rectifier. I am replacing both of these parts (fried the 110v sole noid). Thank you.
Plasanator says:
May 9, 2014. 8:27 PM REPLY
No then you have it hooked up wrong. The air solenoid goes before the contactor on the input side through a relay.
pgladek says:
Oct 25, 2012. 2:12 PM REPLY Sorry, I also forgot to ask...it might be hard to find a ford / chevy ignition coil out here, so is there anything specific I should look for when I pick one out, or any minimum specs needed? Also, is there any purpose to mounting the stud on the ignition coil, other than as a place to attach the connections? And what does the water heater element specifically do?
astral_mage says:
Mar 12, 2014. 2:00 AM REPLY
its a dump load. instead of a large amount of copper or aluminum. he went with that tho it needs a bigger heat sink tho.
Plasanator says: here are some picures of one I done a few months ago.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Oct 26, 2012. 11:11 AM REPLY
Plasanator says:
Oct 26, 2012. 11:04 AM REPLY Yes the studd is just for mounting purposes but instead go ahead and solder a lead to coil and fill around it with silicone for protection. I do that now for all my cutters. The element is your load resister and is what draws and dictates the amount of current used. Two in parallel will draw more current for cutting thicker material. My new unit I used some square tubing from treadmill and a blower also from a microwave to cool coils down to last longer.
wkdavistx says:
Feb 4, 2014. 1:19 PM REPLY If you were building one that was 40A, what would you use to control the output amperage while cutting? I was thinking about a solid state voltage regulator like this one: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=produc... Thoughts? Thanks, Keith
Plasanator says:
Feb 18, 2014. 12:08 PM REPLY
I don't build them that big so I can't say, sorry.
pclifford says:
Feb 1, 2014. 7:43 PM REPLY
(Please correct me if im wrong) i was wondering if your build is using a frequency from your instructions i dont see anything that would generate a frequency other than starting arc. the reason im asking is i have a wire feed welder that im going to add the plasma cutting feature to it and use both welder and cutter. the welder is set up to use ac only witch i can convert to dc by using your instruction and the add a separate hook up for the plasma cutter but in order to for the welder to work it needs to have some sort of freq.. From my under standing a plasma cutter operates at 10khz or more how is yours working with converting it to dc it should be a pulsing dc at 60 HZ + or - and you add the CAPS in there witch would add a smoothing affect to the frequencies and bring it down to almost nothing. Thank you
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Plasanator says:
Feb 2, 2014. 12:28 PM REPLY
no just 60 hz
wkdavistx says:
Dec 10, 2013. 7:53 AM REPLY Plasanator, Thanks for all the time and effort put into this. Great job! Any thoughts on using a 208V/208V transformer from a UPS system and 2 heating elements? I figure this will give me 24A at 208V at the torch and may be able to cut 1/2" steel. Thanks, Keith
Plasanator says:
Jan 27, 2014. 4:06 PM REPLY
It will work fine if around 5kva but 3/8 inch will be most your gonna cut through.
Plasanator says:
Dec 11, 2013. 5:11 PM REPLY
Yep that's right 208v is just fine.
wkdavistx says:
Jan 21, 2014. 12:21 PM REPLY So I was able to procure a 5kva transformer (240 primary - 240/120 secondary). If I run 240 to the contactor what happens to the capacitors when connected to double the voltage? Are 350v capacitors ok? What other changes should I make besides using 2 heating elements? Thanks again!
DanW13 says:
Jan 21, 2014. 3:40 PM REPLY Joe I have to ask a few question, one is about those Heating elements which you say are just current resistors….Do these ever get hot to where a fan may/might be needed to keep them cooled ? The other is about the Capacitors you show in your phots that are Blue in color but I don't recall seeing any specs as to the size required for the plasma cutter, if you don't mind can you give me the specs on what the min/Max sizes are for those 2 Capacitors please ? Thank's, I hope to have one build by end of this month if all goes well with rounding up parts :)
Plasanator says:
Jan 27, 2014. 4:04 PM REPLY Hey Dan yes they will so I mounted my new ones in a steel tube from a tread mill and put a blower from a microwave on it to cool them down. 1800 microfarads at 350 volts minumum the lager the better.
mattc172 says:
Dec 28, 2013. 6:52 PM REPLY
what type of equipment would you find the 2 cap in
Plasanator says:
Dec 31, 2013. 11:55 AM REPLY
the big caps are on ebay many to look at around 25 to 50 bucks
mattc172 says:
Dec 24, 2013. 10:15 AM REPLY
for my run capacitor can use a ge 97f9383, in place of the one you used. if i do what would be the out come.
Plasanator says:
Dec 25, 2013. 12:34 PM REPLY
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO this is not the right kind of cap and its way to low in microfarrads.
mattc172 says:
Dec 26, 2013. 2:25 AM REPLY
can i use it in place of the microwave cap
Plasanator says:
Dec 26, 2013. 1:01 PM REPLY
Yes that would be fine.
kennethagiusmosta says: Hi kaolex, Thanks a millon
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Your-own-Plasma-Cutter/
Nov 20, 2013. 8:48 PM REPLY