Counterfeit Coolant in the market.

Counterfeit alert: Coolant market

July 29, 2019

Recently, Hypertherm has received an increased number of reports of counterfeit coolant.
Utilization of the required coolant in Hypertherm plasma cutting system is essential in ensuring both the proper operation of the system as wellas achieving the advertised life of the components.

Use of any coolant that does not meet Hypertherm’s required specifications may result in poor consumable life, overheating of the torch, and damage to components such as pumps and
hoses. Using genuine coolant ensures the proper composition of the mixture. Hypertherm is unable to certify the compatibility of any coolant composition that isn’t made by Hypertherm and sold to a Hypertherm authorized distributor.

Though the dangers of long-term use of counterfeit coolant are unknown, recent reports show significant damage to copper components withthe build-up of a pink “goo” caking the parts (shown below). Other fake coolants may contain anything from water with pink dye to unknown harmful chemicals.

Counterfeit products look nearly identical to the Hypertherm brand coolant to the everyday customer.

Many of the counterfeit coolant products are easy to identify. Other recently discovered counterfeit products, however, look nearly identical to the Hypertherm brand coolant to the everyday customer.
The best way to ensure receiving only genuine Hypertherm coolant is to only buy from an authorized Hypertherm distributor. Online suppliers and sellers with prices that seem too good to be true should be avoided.

To assist in identifying potential counterfeit Hypertherm coolant, we’ve provided an example of a recent evaluation of a bottle of counterfeit coolant and a guide of what to look for.

Recent reports show significant damage to copper components with the build-up of a pink “goo” caking the parts.

Coolant label evaluation

While the color of the labels in the example shown below look different, this could be primarily due to lighting conditions when the images were taken.

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How to identify counterfeit coolant

Examine the Hypertherm logo closely and look for misspellings, such as those shown below.

Hypertherm is adding Timestamp to Consumable Labels

In the coming weeks you will notice the addition of a timestamp to all heavy industrial consumable labels. This change will affect both the circular label (pictured below) and the electrode label. This addition was made to enable Hypertherm operations teams to more precisely track any non-conformances through our value stream.

John B. Goodenough The University of Texas at Austin, USA

Press release: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 to

JOHN B. GOODENOUGH

Born 1922 in Jena, Germany.
Ph.D. 1952 from the University of Chicago, USA. Virginia H. Cockrell Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Ph.D. 2005 from Osaka University, Japan. Honorary Fellow at Asahi Kasei Corporation, Tokyo, Japan and Professor at Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan.

M. STANLEY WHITTINGHAM
Born 1941 in the UK. Ph.D. 1968 from Oxford University, UK. Distinguished Professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA.

AKIRA YOSHINO
Born 1948 in Suita, Japan.

“for the development of lithium-ion batteries”

They created a rechargeable world

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 rewards the development of the lithium-ion battery. This light- weight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. It can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society.

The Official Press Release

Friendly reminder regarding the HPR130XD

Lately the technology in our industry seems to be changing over night. This is definitely something we like to bring up with our clients. Contact us to see how our CNC Cutting Edge Plasma has been designed to flow with the industries changes and upgrades.

Subject: HPR130XD obsolescence scheduled for end of 2019

This is a reminder notification that we plan to stop taking orders for the HPR130XD as of October 31, 2019 and will no longer produce or ship HPR130XDs after December 20, 2019.

We have seen an enthusiastic response to the XPR170 among our partners and end users it continues to do very well in the market. We provided initial notification of our plans to stop taking orders for the HPR130XD cutting system last October at the launch of the new XPR170 and announced the October order deadline and end of the year obsolescence in a notification this past April. This is a short reminder notification of that decision.

As with all our products we will continue to support the HPR130XD with service, consumables and replacement parts for a minimum of 7 years after obsolescence. In the HPR family, the HPR400XD and HPR800XD will continue to be available for sale.

XPR Nozzle Cap Material Change

A small note from Hypertherm regarding the XPR Nozzle Cap.

Subject: XPR Nozzle Cap Material Change

In the coming weeks you will notice visual changes to the outer material of the 420365 XPR nozzle retaining cap. Due to feedback received from the field where cap failure was observed under extreme applications, Hypertherm engineering has been evaluating an alternative insulating material that meets specifications. This new material has been found to better handle extreme conditions with no loss in performance in comparison to the current material.

The picture below illustrates the difference in appearance between the current cap material and the new material.

Inviting everyone to our June 3rd Open House

Counterfeit consumables

A lot more trouble than they are worth

According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the value of global counterfeit goods is expected to exceed USD 1.7 trillion in 2015. And if you are thinking this is only a problem in the consumer marketplace, think again.

Counterfeiters are also targeting highly engineered, high-value industrial products, and our industry has not been immune to this growing threat. Plasma cutting consumables — nozzles, electrodes, swirl rings, etc. — are now being seen in all regions. Be alert, be smart, and don’t let counterfeit consumables compromise your work, or your safety.

Five reasons you should always buy genuine products through authorized distributors and avoid counterfeit products:

1. Quality
   Counterfeit suppliers have one thought in mind: a quick profit. They use the lowest cost materials and the cheapest, fastest production techniques; no stringent manufacturing processes, no quality control. Their products are inferior, inconsistent, and unreliable.
2. Performance
   Plasma torches are precision devices requiring precision consumables. Any deviation from specified tolerances will impact overall performance. Result: poor or inconsistent cuts, reduced cutting speed, and significantly shorter consumable life. Or even a ruined or damaged torch.
3. Safety
   The low quality metals used in counterfeit manufacturing may not be able to withstand the thermal demands of plasma cutting, putting equipment and, more importantly, operators at risk.
4. Aftersales support
   If unknown parts have been used in a damaged torch or plasma system, it will make troubleshooting difficult, if not impossible. The use of unauthorized parts may also affect your warranty coverage.
5. Overall operating costs
   Those “low cost” counterfeit consumables can be a lot more expensive than they look. For starters, they do not last as long as genuine parts — often only a fraction of the cutting life. Poor quality cuts may require costly rework, and valuable equipment could be irreparably damaged. There’s also downtime to consider, not to mention the risk to your business or your brand.

The only real bargain is real value

Counterfeits are usually very close copies of the genuine product, so it is easy enough to be misled, and think you are getting a good bargain. But this is one bargain that can be a major liability to your business.

The answer, of course, is to be alert for counterfeit scams, and to mistrust any consumable offer that sounds too good to be true. Be sure. Only purchase genuine Hypertherm consumables and only through an authorized distributor.

Genuine	Counterfeit

It’s not always easy to spot a counterfeit. Packaging is relatively easy to copy. Quality and performance are not.

How to make sure you are getting original consumables

To avoid being scammed by counterfeit consumables, here are a few things to watch out for:

• A claim of “genuine” consumables from an unauthorized distributor, an unknown agent, or off the internet
• Suspiciously low pricing for “genuine” consumables or software, or any offer that sounds too good to be true
• Discrepancies in the physical appearance of the label, packaging, or product, compared to that of the original consumable
• Poor or inconsistent consumable performance when compared to a genuine product — only 50% of usual service life, for example, or any abnormal signs of burning, metal deformation, etc.

Original article posted on Hypertherm Website