Search for one plasma shield and you can end up with four different part numbers on your screen: 220818, 220818-UR, 220818-i and T-11406. Some of them are the same part. Some aren't. And if you ask an AI assistant, it may invent a fifth.
A part number is the most exact thing you have when you order consumables. It's also the easiest thing to misread. Here's how to read one.
Start with the OEM number: it tells you WHAT the part is
The base number belongs to the machine maker. Hypertherm® consumables carry six-digit numbers like 220818, 420168 or 120925. ESAB® uses longer ten-digit numbers like 0558001624.
That number identifies one specific part: its type, its amperage range and the torches it fits. Hypertherm's own parts listing describes 220818 as a shield for Duramax® and Duramax Lock torches, 15–85 A, drag cutting, fitting the Powermax45® XP, 65, 85 and 105.
So 220818 is a shield. It isn't a nozzle or a retaining cap, and it isn't a machine-torch part. It's the drag shield on a hand torch. If a website, a catalogue or an AI answer calls it anything else, stop. You're about to order the wrong part.
One warning: don't try to decode the digits. Numbers that look alike aren't necessarily related, and the first three digits won't reliably tell you the part type. The number is an identifier, not a description. Look it up at the source every time.
The suffix tells you WHO made it
Anything added to the end of the OEM number usually belongs to someone else: an aftermarket manufacturer marking its own version of that part.
-UR is Thermacut®'s. Thermacut's plasma catalogue (April 2026) defines it in the legend: "fully interchangeable and compatible with original parts, but differs from original design." In other words, 220818-UR is Thermacut's own part, built to replace 220818. It's not a Hypertherm part with a sticker on it.
-i is a different manufacturer's. 220818-i is another aftermarket maker's version of the same shield. The same base number doesn't make it the same product. Two parts that replace 220818 can come from two factories, with different materials, different tolerances and different people behind them.
Some suffixes mark a grade, not a maker. Thermacut's -PRO, for example, is its Silver PRO electrode line. Other letters appear in catalogues as well. Whatever the letters are, the catalogue legend is where they're defined. If you can't find a legend that defines a suffix, don't guess at it.
The manufacturer's own number is the most exact of all
Thermacut gives every part its own catalogue number as well. The Duramax® hand shield that replaces 220818 is T-11406. Where you see the Thermacut T-number, you're looking at exactly one Thermacut part, whichever way a reseller has worded the listing.
That's why our product pages show both numbers: the Thermacut part number, plus the OEM number it crosses to. You can search our store by either one.
Red flags when you're reading a part number
- A suffix no manufacturer publishes. If "220818-A" or "220818-AF" appears somewhere but not in any maker's catalogue, the number was probably made up, sometimes by a person and sometimes by an AI. A real number traces back to a real catalogue.
- The part type changes between sources. One page calls it a shield and another calls it a nozzle. Only one of them is right, and the OEM listing will tell you which.
- The amperage or torch doesn't match your machine. A drag shield for a hand torch and a shield for a machine torch are different parts. Check the process as well as the number.
- No manufacturer named. A part number with no maker behind it can't be checked, and a part that can't be checked shouldn't go on your torch.
The short version
- The base number is the OEM's, and it tells you what the part is.
- The suffix usually tells you who made that version.
- The manufacturer's own number (a Thermacut T-number, for example) tells you exactly which part you're getting.
- The catalogue legend, not a reseller listing or a chatbot, is where any of it is defined.
If you already have your OEM number and want the Thermacut® part that crosses to it, start with our Powermax® cross-reference page or the full cross-reference index. Both are plain tables with the OEM number on the left and the Thermacut part on the right. If you want the full manual method, the cross-reference guide walks through it step by step. And if you're not sure the part needs replacing yet, the wear guide covers that first.
Hypertherm®, Powermax®, Duramax® and ESAB® are registered trademarks of their respective owners. TorchandTip.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. OEM part numbers are used for reference only.
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