Speedway series 30 plasma cutter

If the plasma cutter has a good handle, the cheapos make excellent boat anchors.
Steve

I'll bet they do make good boat anchors. In addition, for really light users, such as myself, they also substitute nicely as a plasma cutter.
Simon Shabtai Evan

Hi, I suppose you would rather someone send you the parts for free. Rotty

Most people would rather, but that isn't what he asked for.
Steve

I will type this slowly this time.
Look at your plasma cutter.
Is it working?
If not, are you waiting for spare parts from the North Pole?
If you're waiting on parts, and it is not working, it is a better boat anchor than a plasma cutter.
Sooner or later, you're going to run out of cadavers from which you can scavenge spare parts.
No piece of welding equipment is anything more than a useless piece of crap if you can't turn it on and go. Or get parts or service within a couple of days. In life, 80% of life is showing up. Good weldors aren't worth much if they are unreliable. And a so so weldor is valuable if he shows up every day. With machines, 80% of its worth is its reliability.
Hope you got it that time. I just can't type any slower.
Steve

Welding and creating things is fun. I can't understand why anyone would want to spend more time on the equipment than the practice.
But that's just me.
Steve

HI Gentlemen,
I appreciate everybody trying to help me communicate the intent of my original post. Members of this group tend to be so knowledgeable that the meaning of the original post can be lost.
It is very simple. I bought a cheapo cutter for my very limited hobby use. It will fail sooner or later. I am a EE type that has scrounged electronic parts since I was nine years old. Old habits are hard to break. Sooo for when the POS fails, I thought I'd get a jump on spare parts.
I really do appreciate everybody's responses. This is one of the best newsgroups around. And I know, cause I've been using the Internet since it was a DOD project.
Good health all,
Simon Shabtai Evan
Steve B wrote:

Hey- Al Gore stole your internet!
What parts do you need? A lot of things can be interchanged between manufactured units. Trust me I have seen some stuff that looks plain scary work just fine. Sounds like you have the background to give it a shot at least. My buddy has a box we call the "FrankenWelder" half a ESAB half Radio-Shack. Works just fine.....
rob
Fraser Competition Engines Chicago, IL.

The OP clearly stated he is a hobbist. This is the definition of someone who does things for fun, does not have a schedule to keep, is trying to keep his total costs down, and doesn't mind (or likes) exploring other technolgies (like what is inside his welder or plasma cutter)
2 days of downtime (make that 2 hours for a critical job) in a production environment are unacceptable. You have backup machines, you buy a new one, etc. 2 weeks or even 2 months downtime is accpetable to a hobbist if it keeps the overall cost within the budget SHWMBO allows.
Different strokes for different folks.
Steve B wrote: