Esab PowerCut 1125 Plasma Cutter

Jan. 01, 2003 By Glenn R

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ESAB (stands for Elektriska Svetsnings-Aktiebolaget) started out in Sweden in 1904, so they are by no means new to the welding/plasma cutting world. They have been in the US for some years and produce a high quality product. They are a true world company. Follow along as I review the ESAB PowerCut 1125 plasma cutter. For those of you who have not heard about plasma cutting, or have heard of it but do not know what it is. Here is a brief description.

Most everyone knows of the three most common states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. The little talked about fourth state of matter is Plasma. To give an example, water in its natural state is in liquid form, when frozen (ice) it's in the solid state, boil water (steam) and you have the gas state. Super heat it and you have Plasma. Without getting into the super technical terms, plasma cutting was discovered by Union Carbide in the 1950's while they were experimenting with TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas, a.k.a. Heliarc) welding. Plasma cutting started seeing commercial use for the first time in the 1960's. It originally was very expensive and you saw little or no home usage. After years of refinement and technological advancement the price has dropped dramatically and units are now much more affordable and they are showing up more and more in small shops and home hobby shops at a record rate.

Plasma cutters will cut any metal that will conduct electricity. Steel, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, copper, brass etc. With the right contact tip and electrode, you can not only cut, but plasma gouge as well. This means you can gouge out a weld or a rivet with little or no (depending on your skill) damage to the surrounding parts. This is an awesome time saver when having to remove parts that are had to get at with a hand or air grinder. Cutting mild steel (as stated above) is like a hot knife through butter. Plasma has several advantages over Oxy/Acetylene, there are no flammable gas's involved in the cutting process, it is a cleaner cut with less or no dross (again depending on your skill and the machine settings). It will cut any metal that conducts electricity (oxy/acetylene only cuts steel). There is no pre-heating to red hot before you can cut, and the heated zone is more localized for less impact on the surrounding metal.

Now you ask, so what does the plasma cutter require to cut? Two key things: Electricity and good, clean dry compressed air. The air can be supplied from an air compressor or from high pressure compressed air tanks. There are also some plasma cutters that come with their own on board air compressor so all you have to do is plug it in (these are usually limited to cutting 3/16" or thinner material). There are some consumables involved, the most common ones are electrodes and the nozzle. These are made of closely machined copper and due to the high heat the plasma process works at, they get worn down (actually kind of a melted pit) and have to be replaced every so often.

Now that you have a little better understanding of what Plasma Cutting is, take a look at what the ESAB PowerCut 1125 can do. I obtained a PowerCut 1125, and the following optional accessories for it (torch wrap and kit holder part number 0558003013, wheel kit part number 0558003014, torch guide kit part number 604608, and the plasma flow measuring kit part number 19765 as well as some spare consumables). The PowerCut 1125 comes with the new PT-32 torch. You can get a 25 foot or 50 foot long manual cut torch in either one of the two voltage ranges that the machine comes in (208/230 volt or 460 volt). The PT-32 torch is newly designed, it has two activation buttons, one on the front and one on the back. This gives a lot of convenience and cutting comfort, in addition to this, the consumables last longer helping out with the costs of cutting. I got the model with the 25 foot long torch in the 200/230 volt range. The unit is set up to run at 230 volt from the factory, it also comes with a pre wired and installed 3 prong plug. If you need to run it off of 200 volt input, you need to remove a panel and change a few jumper wires. The unit will also auto adapt to a 15 volt +/- voltage difference. Full specifications are here.

Just as it arrived

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Cart before assembly

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Torch wrap before assembly

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Front trigger button

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Back trigger button

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Included 3 prong plug

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The 1125 has an included air/water filter/regulator. Its on the back of the unit along with the large red power switch. On the front of the unit is the air pressure gauge, power and fault lights, switches for AIR test/operate, TRIGGER lock/unlock, and finally the power output control knob. The unit has an output range from 20 amps up to 70 amps. This lets you cut thin sheet metal all the way up to a quality cut in 1 1/8" mild steel. It also has a 100% duty cycle at the full 70 amps. What this means is you can cut continuously without pause. The PowerCut is very sturdy with a Fiberglass/Aluminum main body construction. The input and output wires are high quality with good protection where they emerge from the case. It comes with handy carry handles on either end and is made for hard use. It is a Pilot Arc start unit, which means that you can use it around computers or in a CAD controlled plasma cutting table without worry of hurting the computer. High Frequency start units are not suitable for these type applications.

Rear shot of unit

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Front shot of unit

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As mentioned above, ESAB is a true world company, they build and sell their products all over the globe. Having said that, the ESAB PowerCut 1125 is made and sold right here in the good old USA. In Florence SC to be exact. Matter of fact, five of the six ESAB manufacturing facilities are located in the US. Good quality products built right at home, I like it. To add to this, the PowerCut has a 3 year warranty on the main unit, and 1 year on the torch. The torch is fully repairable should you damage it, parts and new consumables are readily available through an already established network of distributors. You can check for a local distributor here. The only complaint I have on the whole unit is the ground clamp. It works well, but it is basically just a copper jumper cable clamp. In my opinion on a unit of this quality and durability a more sturdy clamp is needed. Other than that I can find no fault with the construction, durability and ease of use of the PowerCut 1125, the ground cable is 20 feet long, the torch we got has a 25 foot long cable and with a plug already installed on the power cord. After reading the instructions, all I had to do was hook up the air, plug it in, set the air pressure on the regulator, put on the proper safety equipment and I was cutting, took no more than 5 minutes (of course you will need the proper power receptacle for the plug and the one I had in the shop matched right up. It does have a couple of features that are a little different than some other plasma cutters I have used. One is the torch has a 2 second delay after the trigger (button in this case) is pressed. Air flows for 2 seconds and then the pilot arc ignites the main arc. The other feature is a trigger lock switch that I found very useful on some long cuts in flat steel. Activating this toggle switch on the unit lets you push the torch button once and it fires off the arc, it will remain on until either the toggle switch is turned off, or the torch button is pushed and released again. The unit also has a cool down cycle, after the torch button is release, cool dry air is passed trough the torch head for around 10 seconds to cool the consumables and help make the last longer.

Grounding clamp

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Air regulator/filter

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Safety equipment

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Both trigger buttons

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Cutting with the PowerCut is a breeze. Once the air pressure is set, choose your amperage output (based on the thickness of the metal) and cut away. The 1125 is powerful and had no trouble making nice clean cuts in any of the material that I used. 1/2" and 1" thick steel are no problem and the unit will cut them faster than I can accurately pull the torch across them. 1/4" thick steel and aluminum is child's play and you can draw intricate designs in them if you have a steady hand. If you're going to be cutting a lot of 1/4" and thinner material, there are 40 amp drag nozzles available that will make cutting these materials a little cheaper. The 1125 also has gouging nozzles available and with this, the unit becomes a great tool in removing previously welded, or riveted parts. It also allows you to gouge detents in metal for clearance. The consumables in the torch are fast change and easy to access. The air filter/regulator is on the outside of the unit and the water bowl and filter element are easy to clean/change with no tools required. The two trigger buttons on the torch and the trigger lock make long cutting sessions a lot more tolerable.

Playing in 1/4" mild steel

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Gouging on round tube

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Parts gouged apart

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Back to the consumables, the PowerCut 1125 uses the same electrode for all three of its nozzles, the 70 amp, 40 amp and the gouging. This makes it easier and faster to change, not to mention a little cheaper on parts as you don't have to buy a different type of electrode for each tip.

Electrode, 40 amp nozzle, 70 amp nozzle, and gouging nozzle

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Electrode, 40 amp nozzle, 70 amp nozzle, and gouging nozzle

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As you can see, the versatility and ease of use of the PowerCut1125, not to mention the power of up to 70 amp of output, really make this plasma cutter a great performer. It has cut everything and anything I've needed. Parts are readily available and it has a great warranty. ESAB has a winner with the PowerCut 1125 and I'm glad to have it. Any questions or comments about this product, please contact the manufacturer. Any questions or comments about this article, please contact Glenn R. Viveiros