The Benefits of Hypertherm’s Powermax SYNC Technology

December 12, 2022 ·
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Peter Germanese

Why Choose a Plasma Cutter To Cut Metal?

While plasma cutting has a few safety considerations, like protecting from electrocution, eye and physical injuries, toxic fumes, and fire hazards, it’s one of the most accessible manual and automated metal-cutting methods.

Plasma cutters are lightweight and portable thanks to their IGBT-inverter cores. Therefore, cutting metals on-site is straightforward. In addition, it’s often not necessary to make any metal preparation, especially if the plasma cutter supports a pilot arc. You can cut painted, dirty, oily, or rusty metals because the pilot arc doesn’t rely on the contact between the nozzle and the workpiece to establish an arc.

You’ll achieve the best results with conductive metals. So, you can easily cut plain carbon steel. But the plasma cutting process also works with stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and other conductive metals that cannot be cut with oxy-acetylene.

Benefits of Hypertherm’s Powermax SYNC Technology

Hypertherm’s new SYNC technology was developed to make plasma cutting easier and foolproof. So, let’s discuss the SYNC technology’s main advantages and how these Hypertherm’s units compare to conventional plasma cutting equipment.

SYNC Technology Simplifies Process Setup

The SYNC technology platform includes the automatic setup of SYNC Viper and Python Hypertherm plasma cutters, SYNC-capable cartridges, and SmartSYNC plasma torches. The entire system is designed for automatic power source and process setup based on the task at hand. For example, if you wish to gauge, choose a gouging cartridge, apply it on a SmartSYNC torch, and the Hypertherm SYNC-capable power source automatically sets everything for plasma gouging.

The innovative single-piece cartridges combine all individual consumables you’d typically see in a plasma torch, like an electrode, nozzle, swirl ring, retaining cap, and shield cap. So, instead of setting up each consumable part individually, you can attach just one consumable to your torch and be ready to cut in less than 10 seconds.

In addition, you won’t have to partly mix old and new consumables since they are all ingrained into one cartridge. This can result in more reliable performance because you won’t have any worn consumables acting as a performance bottleneck. In conventional plasma cutting consumable systems, the nozzle and the electrode wear out faster than other components. So, replacing individual consumables as they wear out and using a mix of old (partially worn) and new consumables can compromise the entire torch tip and reduce performance.

However, the new Hypertherm single-piece cartridges bring much more to the table than just simplicity in design. Each cartridge includes an RFID chip that can communicate with the SmartSYNC Hypertherm torches. In addition, single-piece cartridges are color-coded and laser-marked for easy identification based on their application. So, if you attach a yellow, 45A drag-cut single-piece cartridge to the SmartSYNC torch, your Hypertherm SYNC plasma cutter will automatically use the cut mode at 45A. If you need to, you can also modify the amperage manually.

Provides Cartridge Usage Data

The RFID chip inside Hypertherm cartridges can also be read using the Hypertherm cartridge reader and the Hypertherm Cartridge Reader smartphone app. This allows you to read the data stored in the cartridge, like arc starts, pilot arc and arc-on time, transfers, and other valuable data.

The provided data can help you identify bottlenecks and better understand cartridge utilization. This consumable innovation takes what used to be a “dead” piece of equipment that serves its purpose until it’s too worn and turns it into a valuable asset. Since each single-piece consumable can provide data and help you optimize its use, this system might help you improve your production and enhance operators’ performance.

Maximum Simplicity and Ease of Use

The Hypertherm Powermax SYNC technology was designed to be foolproof. While Hypertherm SYNC plasma cutters support manual adjustability, it’s often unnecessary. Using the SYNC system, you can reduce operator training time, improve cutting time, and simplify consumable inventory.

The SmartSYNC plasma torch includes amperage adjustability, so you’ll rarely need to return to the power source. You can switch the plasma mode between cutting, gouging, and flush cutting, just by replacing the single-piece consumables and modifying the amperage right at the workpiece. You don’t need to go back and forth with the power source.

If you are training a plasma cutter operator on a traditional plasma cutter and you need to switch between gouging and cutting, you’d usually need to disassemble the torch tip and equip a different setup for gouging. Using Hypertherm’s single-piece cartridges is far faster. Just switch between gouging and cutting cartridge. In addition, you won’t have to walk to the power source and apply changes; everything is ready as soon as the cartridge clicks into place on the torch.

Cut, Gouge, or Flush

Hypertherm’s Powermax SYNC plasma cutters offer high versatility. You can perform manual or mechanized cutting using a gray, mechanized cartridge.

The SYNC plasma cutters support drag and fine cutting, gouging, and flush cutting. Switching between these processes is as simple as replacing the Hypertherm cartridge at the torch’s tip.

The flush cutting is especially interesting, and something other plasma cutting systems don’t support. You can flush metal parts off the metal’s surface with minimal or no damage to the base material using the Hypertherm’s patented FlushCut cartridge. For example, you can easily split apart a double-side welded “T-joint” or slice bolt heads off a bolted plate. In addition, flush cutting reduces the need for grinding and increases the opportunity to reuse pad eyes, attachments, various profile parts, and temporary weld supports.

The FlushCut cartridge can be particularly useful in construction, fabrication, general repair, and automotive industries. And thanks to the SYNC system, you can quickly switch between flush and standard drag cutting by changing the cartridges.

Diverse Product Family

Hypertherm Powermax SYNC Technology is available with a number of Hypertherm Viper and Python plasma cutters. You can check out our whole range of rental plasma cutting equipment, but let’s quickly discuss some specs of Hypertherm SYNC machines.

Hypertherm Viper 65 SYNC Plasma Cutter is a lightweight, portable machine that can easily cut up to 1-inch thick steel with a pretty clean edge. You can push it if you want and sever up to 1-1/4″ at speeds of 5 IPM, but severing such a thickness may leave some dross on the edge that you’ll need to grind off. The Viper 65 SYNC outputs up to 65A and offers a 100% duty cycle at 46A, making it a solid choice for intensive work on-site or for light, mechanized cutting when strapped to a table.

Hypertherm Python 105 SYNC Plasma Cutter is heavier than the Viper 65 but still relatively portable. It’s much more powerful with the ability to cut clean up to 1-1/2″ thick material and sever up to 2″ at speeds of 5 IPM. If you’ve got a three-phase 480-600V input source, you can get a 100% duty cycle at 94A, making it an excellent choice for high-end production in a developed shop. But, if all you have is a three-phase 200V outlet, you can still get 74A output at 100% duty cycle or a 50% duty cycle at its maximum power of 105A.

All Hypertherm SYNC models support the benefits discussed in this article. But, some models are more powerful than others. Therefore, you should choose your SYNC plasma cutter based on its power output, rated cut capacity, and specified cutting speeds.

Rent Or Lease Plasma Cutting Equipment From Red-D-Arc

Red-D-Arc has a wide selection of rentable Hypertherm plasma cutters. So, no matter the job, we’ve got a cutter that can slice right through what you are cutting. Hypertherm is a market leader in plasma cutting equipment, and we stock many Hypertherm machines with a wide range of abilities.

It’s not always feasible to purchase your welding or cutting equipment, especially from high-end brands. If you need a plasma cutter for a specific job or don’t want to deal with long-term maintenance and storage, you can rent your equipment from Red-D-Arc. We have a vast rental fleet strategically placed across North America so that we can provide equipment to almost every location.

Contact Us today, and we’ll gladly assist you in choosing the suitable plasma cutter(s) depending on the available power input, gas system, material type and thickness, and duty cycle.