Plasma Cutter in LIDL - £149

4,626 · February 17, 2022

Shamelessly nicked from another forum.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/diy-tools/parkside-plasma-cutter-with-compressor/p49910

Have no immediate need, but is meant to be a decent piece of kit and better than the last one they sold as this has its own compressor.

Thought it might be of some use if you can find one.

4,744 · February 17, 2022

I'll go and look locally if someone wants one but can't find one near them .... If there actually is any stock anywhere ...

38,083 · February 17, 2022

I have one that they had previously that needed an external air compressor. Very disappointed with it as struggled on thin steel usually used for bodywork. Grinder/nibbler/jigsaw/tin snips are still my preferred choice.

13,259 · February 17, 2022

hmm just seen this in the write up

This Class A welding device is not intended for use in residential areas where the power is supplied via a public low-voltage supply system. Both conducted and radiated interference can make it difficult to ensure electromagnetic compatibility in these areas

38,083 · February 17, 2022

25 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

hmm just seen this in the write up

This Class A welding device is not intended for use in residential areas where the power is supplied via a public low-voltage supply system. Both conducted and radiated interference can make it difficult to ensure electromagnetic compatibility in these areas

That's fine as a lot of kit won't be either. Its just to do with the Type Approval on EMC tests. Nice to see they actually bothered, given most stuff sold from eBay/Amazon hasn't been.

Just don't plasma cut right next to your medical device and you'll be fine*.

27,556 · February 18, 2022

Given I've got a project involving a bit of welding coming up soon I'm definitely going to have a nose around and see if I can find one of those. It something you'll use every day but can be bloody handy to cut out fiddly shaped smaller patches.

20,278 · February 18, 2022

I would have thought it would need more than a 13a plug.

24,369 · February 18, 2022

My experience of plasma cutters is that the cheap ones aren’t worth the money .

19,395 · February 18, 2022

they had a few of them in a local branch i was i yesterday, i didn’t look closely but the photo on the box was of a round plug, the sort you see on building sites and need a transformer for

(edit) one of these

12,816 · February 18, 2022

16 amp innit.

Can be wired from mains, most garages will have it already

Many welders/tyre machines etc need similar supply.

4,744 · February 18, 2022

2 hours ago, Mally said:

16 amp innit

Looks like 110v 🤔

12,816 · February 18, 2022

Is 110v not yellow?

8,856 · February 18, 2022

Yep, blue 230v and yellow 110v.

4,744 · February 18, 2022

Just testing , whack a plug on it see what happens 🙄

22,759 · February 18, 2022

34 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Just testing , whack a plug on it see what happens 🙄

Would probably work really well on 230V.

27,556 · February 18, 2022

Listing clearly states 230V, so should be fine there. Imagine it might be like the one welder a friend has which *just* runs on a 13A outlet so long as you're not in a low voltage area, and needs the fuse replacing now and then.

I've been planning to put a 32A outlet in the garage at some point anyway...

38,083 · February 18, 2022

It knackers plugs and sockets if you run at or above the 13A limit for long periods of time. The fuses won't pop at dead on 13A (it's quite a bit over when they do), so you can over current them.

22,759 · February 18, 2022

1 hour ago, SiC said:

It knackers plugs and sockets if you run at or above the 13A limit for long periods of time. The fuses won't pop at dead on 13A (it's quite a bit over when they do), so you can over current them.

Good way to make sure the socket is wired correctly.

If it burns the left hole you've got the L and N transposed inside.

17,672 · February 18, 2022

Given it only weighs 11kg I bet it's an inverter unit, so inside the box the gubbins would probably run on 110V but the max current draw would require a hefty transformer and an equally hefty cable.

27,556 · February 18, 2022

38 minutes ago, PhilA said:

Good way to make sure the socket is wired correctly.

If it burns the left hole you've got the L and N transposed inside.

Surely it would make no difference... exactly the same current will be going through the two pins, and being AC you wouldn't get any preferential heating. The L pin will always tend to run hotter in high current situations as the fuse is attached to the pin inside the plug.

If I can find one near here I'll probably pick one up tomorrow as an experiment. Was planning on it today but deemed going out for something that trivial today a really bad idea.

22,759 · February 18, 2022

36 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Surely it would make no difference... exactly the same current will be going through the two pins, and being AC you wouldn't get any preferential heating. The L pin will always tend to run hotter in high current situations as the fuse is attached to the pin inside the plug.

If I can find one near here I'll probably pick one up tomorrow as an experiment. Was planning on it today but deemed going out for something that trivial today a really bad idea.

Thought so too but even on a non polarized socket here the L always gets hot and the N doesn't.

27,556 · February 18, 2022

1 hour ago, PhilA said:

Thought so too but even on a non polarized socket here the L always gets hot and the N doesn't.

Intriguing. Your plugs aren't fused either are they? Which obviously removes that as a factor. Likewise the lack of switched outlets means it's not impedance in the switch contact creating heat.

My brain is trying to figure out the physics of why that would be now!

6,229 · February 19, 2022

13 hours ago, gm said:

they had a few of them in a local branch i was i yesterday, i didn’t look closely but the photo on the box was of a round plug, the sort you see on building sites and need a transformer for

(edit) one of these

16A 230V, as others have said. Commonly used for stage lighting among other things.

If it was yellow it would be 16A 110V, as mostly seen on building sites.

If it was blue but bigger it would still be 230V but rated 32A.

If it was red it would be 3-phase (and would have 2 extra pins).

As you can probably guess I have to deal with all these at work...

20,579 · February 19, 2022

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Intriguing. Your plugs aren't fused either are they? Which obviously removes that as a factor. Likewise the lack of switched outlets means it's not impedance in the switch contact creating heat.

My brain is trying to figure out the physics of why that would be now!

on a NEMA 1-15P/5-15P (aka polarised US plug/socket) the neutral pin is a bit larger then then the live pin

so my theory there would be the same as for why its always the Live pin that melts down here (due to the fuse in the UKs case/ and a smaller live pin in the US case)

but Phil says non polarised *socket*, which chucks that theory out the window

2 hours ago, PhilA said:

Thought so too but even on a non polarized socket here the L always gets hot and the N doesn't.

unless @PhilA did you actually mean to say non polarised plug, rather then socket? (because even with a non polarised plug, when plugged into a polarised plug socket, the neutral will have slightly more thermal mass protecting it by way of the larger contacts in that pin socket)

Im just double checking because while I have seen plenty of US non polarised plugs, I have not seen many non-polarised sockets apart from really old installations, I have a 1950s Chrome F14T12 Bathroom mirror light from the US and even on that the 2 pin US plug socket on the end of that is polarised

22,759 · February 19, 2022

7 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

on a NEMA 1-15P/5-15P (aka polarised US plug/socket) the neutral pin is a bit larger then then the live pin...

...Larger contacts in that pin socket)...

The metal contacts inside are common, just the hole in the plastic outer is larger on the N on a 2 prong polarized plug.

Which merely prevents a polarized plug from being put in backwards.

There's very little additional material on the N.

Compared to a non-polarized plug.

Phil

19,395 · February 19, 2022

40 minutes ago, Dan_ZTT said:

16A 230V, as others have said. Commonly used for stage lighting among other things.

If it was yellow it would be 16A 110V, as mostly seen on building sites.

If it was blue but bigger it would still be 230V but rated 32A.

If it was red it would be 3-phase (and would have 2 extra pins).

As you can probably guess I have to deal with all these at work...

blue plug on the photo on the box, might mean something, might mean bugger all, i bought an angry grinder instead (quite a bit cheaper )

6,454 · February 19, 2022

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Intriguing. Your plugs aren't fused either are they? Which obviously removes that as a factor. Likewise the lack of switched outlets means it's not impedance in the switch contact creating heat.

My brain is trying to figure out the physics of why that would be now!

It's to do with voltages. While current across line and neutral will be the same, as it's AC, the voltage on the neutral will be 0 and the voltage on the line will be 240.

The reason for this is because your local transformer is fed 3 phase electricity in delta, so there's no neutral. The transformer then converts the 3 phases to star configuration, adding the neutral, which comes from an earth rod going into the ground at the transformer base. This is done because you need something to complete your circuit at a different potential than the live. Having your neutral essentially connected to the ground means it will be at 0V all the time, creating a potential difference when connected to the live wire, enabling current to flow.

This is why the live is switched and has the overload protection in your consumer unit. It's also why your fingers fizz if you hold a live wire as opposed to a neutral wire. The live wire has 240V (a dangerously high potential) behind it, so a lot of energy. The neutral has not much to no energy behind it (because it's at a low potential), which is why you don't get a shock off it and why it's directly connected to the supplier's neutral through the neutral bar. The neutral wire from your appliance goes through your plug, then socket, then neutral bar, then meter, then cutout unit, then all the way back to the substation, back into the ground where the transformer is and back into the transformer.

I recommend watching this to get a visual representation (and good explanation) of it

Just skip to 21:10.

9,179 · February 19, 2022

8 hours ago, Dan_ZTT said:

16A 230V, as others have said. Commonly used for stage lighting among other things.

If it was yellow it would be 16A 110V, as mostly seen on building sites.

If it was blue but bigger it would still be 230V but rated 32A.

If it was red it would be 3-phase (and would have 2 extra pins).

As you can probably guess I have to deal with all these at work...

And purple is 24 volt, or it was in our industry.