Ramsond CUT50DY Plasma cutter...

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Anyone own a Ramsond CUT50DY plasma cutter? I found them while looking around on Amazon of all places. It got great reviews from hobbyist (which is what I am). I figured I'd at least find a little info on here about it, but didn't come up with anything...So what do you all think?http://ramsond.com/proddetail.php?prod=CUT50DY It's on Amazon for $500 and free shipping...[ame]http://www.amazon.com/RAMSOND-CUT50DY-Voltage-Inverter-SHIPPING/dp/B001OHTQO4[/ame]
Reply:58 looks and nobody has any comments?Come on guys what do you think?I think I'm going to order one and give it a try.....
Reply:If I'm not mistaken, folks are avoiding commentting as it will start more of the sort of "ranting" that we're trying to avoid regarding brands of particular geographic origins...............which, if is the case, is due a round of applause.That or no one has used one, and you'll have to be the fist to give a reveiw.200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:Hmmm, interesting theory....I wish I could afford the purchase of an American made plasma cutter right now, but as a hobby welder it's not justifiable. If I was making my living doing metal work, you can bet I've have the finest tools and equipment available. That's not the case....I just bought a Miller MM252 last month and my tool budget is pretty much spent.
Reply:OK...here goes, and I'll be careful!The unit appears to be of a very similar design as compared to many other plasma systems of various brands that are imported to the U.S. I particularly like the words about the "German Cooling System" (fan produced in Germany). It claims to be 60% duty cycle....although there is not duty cycle rating criteria (duty cycle claims cannot be made unless the tests were done at a given ambient air temperature at a given output killowatt rating). So the duty cycle means nothing.The unit says it is a 50 amp output and will operate on 120 or 240 volt input power. I suspect that it will not be able to achive more than 25 to 27 amps output on a 120 volt input circuit. So the 50 amp output will only work on 230 or 240 volt circuits. It is a Mosfet power supply design, which is ok, but generally not as reliable as an IGBT (Mosfet is metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor, an IGBT is insulated gate bipolar transistor, these devices are what control the output amperage by cycling on and off as much as 16,000 times per second at a varying pulse width modulated duty cycle)It is funny that there is little mention of the torch....the torch on a modern plasma system is pretty high tech, and accounts for cut quality in terms of edge angularity, dross, cut speed and most important, consumable life. The torch appears to be another copy of a 30 year old Esab PT31 torch design.....which is a high frequency scratch start torch (no pilot arc for burning through paint, rust, etc.). The torch is a decent torch for a 30 year old design, which is why it is so often copied, but by todays standards will eat through consumables at a fairly rapid rate. Fortunately the consumables are rather cheap to buy.I suspect this unit will cut metal just fine, and looking at the specs (50 amp output at 100 volts) that puts it power wise (when used on 230 volts input) at about 25% lower kw output as compared to a Hypertherm Powermax45, and about 10% higher output as compared to a Powermax30). Without testing the unit, but being familiar with other branded units that look almost identical and use the same torch...I would say it will cut 3/8" fairly respectably, and likely will sever about 5/8", but with short consumable life (they are cheap). Probably the biggest concern is with after sale parts and service availability...as Ransome is an importer, not the factory that designed and built the unit.Hopefully I did not step too far out of bounds....if someone wants to send me one I'll fire it up right next to a Powermax30 and a Powermax45 and run the same cut tests with all three!Jim Colt  HyperthermLast edited by jimcolt; 01-25-2011 at 07:55 PM.
Reply:My bet is on Bert's #2 guess:  No one here owns one and therefore cannot comment.I'm always a bit suspicious when I only find reviews at one site.  But, that's just me.
Reply:Originally Posted by jimcoltOK...here goes, and I'll be careful!The unit appears to be of a very similar design as compared to many other plasma systems of various brands that are imported to the U.S. I particularly like the words about the "German Cooling System" (fan produced in Germany). It claims to be 60% duty cycle....although there is not duty cycle rating criteria (duty cycle claims cannot be made unless the tests were done at a given ambient air temperature at a given output killowatt rating). So the duty cycle means nothing.The unit says it is a 50 amp output and will operate on 120 or 240 volt input power. I suspect that it will not be able to achive more than 25 to 27 amps output on a 120 volt input circuit. So the 50 amp output will only work on 230 or 240 volt circuits. It is a Mosfet power supply design, which is ok, but generally not as reliable as an IGBT (Mosfet is metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor, an IGBT is insulated gate bipolar transistor, these devices are what control the output amperage by cycling on and off as much as 16,000 times per second at a varying pulse width modulated duty cycle)It is funny that there is little mention of the torch....the torch on a modern plasma system is pretty high tech, and accounts for cut quality in terms of edge angularity, dross, cut speed and most important, consumable life. The torch appears to be another copy of a 30 year old Esab PT31 torch design.....which is a high frequency scratch start torch (no pilot arc for burning through paint, rust, etc.). The torch is a decent torch for a 30 year old design, which is why it is so often copied, but by todays standards will eat through consumables at a fairly rapid rate. Fortunately the consumables are rather cheap to buy.I suspect this unit will cut metal just fine, and looking at the specs (50 amp output at 100 volts) that puts it power wise (when used on 230 volts input) at about 25% lower kw output as compared to a Hypertherm Powermax45, and about 10% higher output as compared to a Powermax30). Without testing the unit, but being familiar with other branded units that look almost identical and use the same torch...I would say it will cut 3/8" fairly respectably, and likely will sever about 5/8", but with short consumable life (they are cheap). Probably the biggest concern is with after sale parts and service availability...as Ransome is an importer, not the factory that designed and built the unit.Hopefully I did not step too far out of bounds....if someone wants to send me one I'll fire it up right next to a Powermax30 and a Powermax45 and run the same cut tests with all three!Jim Colt  Hypertherm
Reply:Originally Posted by Country1Hmmm, interesting theory....I wish I could afford the purchase of an American made plasma cutter right now, but as a hobby welder it's not justifiable. If I was making my living doing metal work, you can bet I've have the finest tools and equipment available. That's not the case....I just bought a Miller MM252 last month and my tool budget is pretty much spent.
Reply:Hi Country1 if you go to the SEARCH FORUMS function in the upper right corner  and type in Ramsond you find that there have been sixteen (16) threads on that particular manufacturer. After reading the info on that link that you posted  my recommendation would be to save up your money. In the meantime try wandering into the Shop, Trade, Sell Forum and see if other members might be selling a good used plasma cutter. Craigslist is also another good place to search for a plasma cutter! Upon entering your local craigslist type in plasma cutter! You might be pleasantly surprised to see what pops up. Many times folks get bitten by the plasma bug then buy one only to find out its not for them, or they find the lower powered unit will not make the cuts they need!! So they upgrade to a more powerful unit.Co-Own CNC shop:Miller :1251 plasma cutter, MaxStar 700 TIG/Stick, & XMT 456 Multiprocess Welder.&  2 Hypertherm HPR260's Plasma CutterSorry I had a bad stroke but now I am back.
Reply:Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate your thoughts on this purchase. I'll do some more research on other options.Thanks again,Rick