New PP70 First cuts, First Snags, Both Good!!

So, We have here The PowerPlasma 70.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...P/DSCF2598.jpg

After receiving it a week ago, it had to sit dormant while I recovered from the nastiest bug to ht me in years. So, Wednesday night I go to fire it up, on tape, for the first time. It makes a loug Grrrrtttttt!!! sound, so I immediately throw the switch in back and investigate. Here's what I found.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...P/DSCF2600.jpg

A big crack in the rear bezel. I removed the bezel and here's a shot from inside.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...P/DSCF2599.jpg

I called Everlast Customer service, and they logged my complaint. Within one hour Oleg called, apologized, and explained that it appears to be a problem with their packaging being TOO strong, which based on the fact that it arrived with the exterior box in pristine condition, is believable on all levels. It appears that when the shipper (UPS in this case) throws the boxes around, any impact that the box gets causes these bezels to break, rather than the packaging around them absorbing the impact. Everlast is working with UPS and the factory to improve packaging to "give" a little and absorb more of the shock encountered in shipping. So Oleg made sure a new bezel would be shipped to me immediately. In the mean time, I made the command decision to remove the broken bezel and try out the machine without it. I am not open to the public, have no guests, and no children or animals around to get their selves wrapped up in the exposed cooling fan, which seems to be the only thing left unprotected once the bezel is off.

First ever cut was in some thin gauge (.100 or so) aluminum, I had it set at 35 amps, 65psi, and it FLEW through, leaving a clean edge, with almost nothing on the backside to clean up before use.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...P/DSCF2597.jpg

Next, I picked up a piece of 3/4" x 4" steel just for the purpose of testing the machine on the high end. The PP 70 is recommended for REGULAR, daily cutting of this thickness, so I figured that it would represent what I can expect in general out of this machine. I turned the machine up to max, and the LED read 71. I didn't even clamp the piece down or use any type of guide or straightedge. Just a freehand slice. The pilot arc lit up, and made an excellent cut, for what it was. You can see in the parent piece where I fumbled about, I slipped a bit and lost my footing, then restarted the cut with a better stance. No struggle whatsoever penetrating the full thickness of this steel. I have some 1" material that I'll be testing this thing on in the near future.

http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/a...P/DSCF2596.jpg

Bottom line, excellent, lightning fast cutting through the thin gauge material, leaving clean edges. And effortless, clean cuts through 3/4" steel, leaving slag at the bottom edge that's as minimal as any other plasma cutter I've ever used. This machine may be overkill for many people out there, but it fits my current needs perfectly. I give the machine 2 thumbs up!!!