Thermal Dynamics

I made a big mistake. Purchasing something I didn’t intend to immediately use. Something that had electronic controls.

I used a light duty, plasma cutting system in my company for several years without any problems. In 2010, I changed careers and bought a Radnor Cutmaster-52 for any future projects I might need one for. I plugged it in and test cut a couple scrap pieces of metal, and then it quit. I didn’t have the time or need the cutter while changing jobs, so I put it on a shelf where it has been for about 6 years.

I need it now, so took the like new, unused, Radnor Cutmaster-52 off the shelf and tried to find out what I might be doing wrong that stopped it from working. Neither myself or the company I bought it from (Airgas), could get it to work. Seems this was a problem model and now not under warranty. It will cost more than a new machine to repair. As soon as the Radnor Cutmaster-52 is plugged in, it displays a fault light and won’t spark.

I sent an e-mail to ESAB, who apparently now owns Thermal Dynamics, and actually got a response from the technical support manager. He offered to look at the machine to see what might need to be repaired.

I took it to Airgas who said they sent it to ESAB for repairs. When they returned it to me, Airgas said ESAB told them the consumables were improperly installed. That’s strange. I originally took the new machine out of the box and tried it as assembled by the factory. It worked for a few minutes, then quit. When I tried it again 6 years later, it still wouldn’t work. The technician for Airgas who repairs welding equipment for a living, couldn’t get it to work. There are only (4) pieces to the consumables and it’s impossible to assemble them improperly.

I took the repaired Radnor Cutmaster-52 out of the box and tried it. The Cutmaster-52 still didn’t work. The fault light was no longer on, but the machine won’t spark to start cutting.

I bought a different brand plasma cutter, plugged it in, and immediately started cutting metal with no problems at all.

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