You get better consumable performance from clean dry air as others have stated...
But at that point I will disagree with the comparison between a trafimet consumables being anywhere near as good as Thermal Dynamics and Hypertherm..
I've owned a 40 amp import plasma unit with a trafimet s45, I now own a thermal dynamics cutmaster 52 and have operated a 200amp hypertherm which was set at 100amp due to input power availability... All were used on a cnc plasma table, the Trafimet s45 was on the 40amp import plasma cutter (on my table) and it doesnt hold a candle to the thermal dynamics cm 52 with the sl60 torch (I recently bought the TD52 to replace the 40amp import unit).. If you hold both consumable sets in your hand comparing them, the trafimet consumables compared to the Thermal dynamics sl60 consumables you can feel and see the difference in quality and even the density in the materials used and also the quality in machining of the consumables, the thermal dynamics consumables are hands down superior in every way, and you can tell by looking at them that they isolate heat in the tip far better than the trafimet consumables... The hypertherm consumables are along the same lines as the thermal dynamics, even the pm45 consumables compare with the thermal dynamics, but the hypertherm consumables are a bit heavier and thicker, which I think would isolate heat at the tip even better..
as far as consumable life as a total, the trafimet s45 sucks compared the TD 52 with sl60 torch, and the Thermal dynamics sl100 machine torch is suppose to be even better for consumable life.. Referring to the hypertherm machine that I set up, I stopped by and was talking to the owner a few weeks ago and he was amazed how long the consumables last in his machine, but it is a heavy duty industrial unit and the machine torch is huge.
The 40amp import unit I owned was one of the more popular import brands and a direct rivalry of everlast, my machine was black, if that tells you anything.. It served its purpose, and it worked fine.. I used it to set up my home built plasma table then used it light duty on my cnc table, then after a while I simply needed more capacity.. I chose the td52 because of my limited budget and couldnt afford the hypertherm pm45, plus the td52 is actually a 60amp machine and has more kw output than the pm45 and the TD is much cheaper, and I was tired of the lacking support of these import resellers..
For an example, I can over quadruple the output of a compared part count with the cutmaster52 compared to the 40amp import.. In no way am I downing the import unit, it did its job and for what I had in it it was a great machine, and the new owner also loves it.. I should have kept it and used it as my dedicated manual plasma cutter..
I have found out in the plasma cutter industry, you simply get what you pay for, I think the quality and design of the torch is what makes about 80% to 90% of the overall cut quality and consumable life of a plasma cutter.. The Trafimet s45 is just old technology and it shows.
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