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OT - Opinions on Everlast Welders?

You can get a good used tig machine for less than half of that $2000. Not to long ago I paid $800 or so for a miller maxstar 200 dx, with all the bells and whistles.

I dont like "everything" machines like this one. Seems you are paying for a lot of extra complexity, and the entire machine is probably junk when something fails. Stick with miller or lincoln, maybe esab.
Look at the duty cycle of the machine, needs to 60% of more.
 
They actualy weld pretty nice... that said for intermitent use I would buy an old Syncrowave or if you have the power go get a 330 AB/BF, size of a fridge, unlimited juice and you will NEVER kill it. You can leave it outside for a year and fire ants can fill it with mud and when you plug it in it will weld.
 
No experience with these, but the 35% duty cycle should speak volumes about how much welding you can do in heavy material (or aluminum). In my opinion, twice the money for a water-cooled torch on a Brand name machine will be money well spent.
 
I was mostly self-taught and not particularly skilled as an occasional welder. Still I had a pretty decent lineup of equipment - Lincoln IdealArc TIG, a Lincoln AC/DC stick, a small Lincoln MIG and a large (honest 200 amp) Hobart MIG with two gas options. Those got sold when I got cancer and was told to "make plans."

Turns out I got well and wanted to get back into a fully equipped shop. So, several years ago I took a few welding courses to get a bit better - our local community college has a good program. The instructor managed a group buy of AC/DC Stick/TIg 200A Everlast machines -- something like $1400 each.

The Everlast makes decent welds (limited mostly by me) and has held up OK in random use. Frankly, for my (mostly smaller) work it's easier to use than the old Lincoln 250A IdealArc I had - which was barely happy with a 70amp 220v feed. I use mostly other machines for AC/DC stick and for all MIG. The old 55A Smith plasma cutter is now a smaller Hypertherm, which works fine within its cut limitations. The oxy-acetyline cutting rig is now oxy-propane.

A pro, who can't afford to be down, should probably buy something like a $$$ Miller for the initial quality and support. But at the time this was 1/3rd the cost of the comparable amperage Miller Dynasty -- and has done what I've wanted. The only thing available used around here at the time were things like 30 year old Powcon machines for around $1000.

Personally, I'm a bit skeptical of the low cost TIG machines that add MIG -- did they take shortcuts to get both a constant current and constant voltage supply?? I'm super skeptical of the ones that add plasma cut. But even Lincoln is making cheap combination machines, sourced from China (?) -- and I have no personal experience to justify dismissing them. A friend had a Chinese "machine" (not really fair to "machine") that added plasma cutting -- a truly bad idea in both my opinion and his experience.

If this is only going to get used now and then, I wouldn't necessarily shy away from Everlast -- but would carefully check the reviews on any individual model. I'd also still be inclined to get separate TIG and MIG machines. Depending upon who's around locally for service and support (and the gas you'll almost surely want and need), you might also consider the new and cheaper Lincoln machines. If you really need only DC, Miller makes a great little lunchbox sized machine. If you find a cherry Miller Dynasty for little money . . .
 
I would probably never buy anything multipurpose. I do though have nothing bad to say about an Everlast TIG I have (250EX). The first thing to do, is ditch the torch and pedal that comes with them in favor of better ones. That done it welds as good as anything else I have used blue or red. The only thing to go bad on it was the breaker/power switch. That switch was a readily available generic part I found for about $15. As is a lot of the circuitry if you have a very basic enough understanding of electronics.

The only deal in my opinion for any used Miller or Lincoln inverter machine is free (well near to it at least). Old transformer machines are a safer bet, but they figured that out and made sure to start adding $1500 boards to new synchrowaves too. A board goes bad in a dynasty, and it is almost always certainly not cost effective to repair, rendering it worthless. My neighbor two doors down is a welder repair shop that has been in business for many decades, so I get a very realistic idea of the "support" that you can get for a high end machine out of warranty. Even under warranty sometimes sadly. A large outfit in town spent some serious coin on a few new Dynasty 800's a year or two ago, all DOA. Had to wait atleast a month for the fix to arrive iirc.

At the end of the day if you buy a new Miller and have issues it will feel like you are the rarity, and if you buy an Everlast and have problems it will feel like you shouldve known better. A perception based somewhat on reality, sure, but greatly exaggerated in my opinion.
 
Keep in mind most of the smaller MiG/Tig machines only do DC Tig (ferrous), you need AC (edit: for Tig ) for aluminum if that matters

That said I have a Tweco Fabricator combo machine and it’s been fine , pretty light and compact to move around if needed and takes the bigger (10#) spools. 220v though. Mine doesn’t see tons of use


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Cant speak to that model but I did have an Everlast TIG 200T model. Did good for what I used it for mainly .014-.025 nickel alloy butt joints. Watch out for the fittings if you ever want to go to a water cooled torch and don't want to use their cooler. Can be done but takes some time to find all the adapters you'll need.

Foot pedal did have issues controlling amps but maybe only two to three times in 8 hours of welding. Watch out for minimum amps. Not much of a concern for thicker stuff but you just can't weld to an edge on thin metal with minimum 10 amps. Well you can but it isn't ideal for autogenous welds. The on/off switch breaker would sometimes trip on start up because of the inrush amps. Not a big deal just annoying at times.

The main issue I had was with the HF start. I normally could only get 300-400 starts out of a piece of tungsten before the haze film on the tungsten wouldn't allow consistant starts. On a miller dynasty Im able to get double that. Same haze film on the tungsten but the miller didn't scatter arc so soon like the everlast. Overall I was very happy with it for the price and paid for itself many times over.
 
Among others, I have 3 thermal arc inverters which I love. I bought all of them used (a 350 and 2 200s) paid $700 for the big one, and 1k for the little ones) They run on single or 3 phase, and do whatever I need them to do (and I can pick them up with one hand rather than my lift truck like by big blue transformer TIG)
 
What do you need to do?

I have a big shop, but it's just me. Sometimes I need to stick 60K lbs of steel together or it might be weld the forklift's sheetmetal engine cover back together after I stick the excavator bucket teeth through it by accident or fill an oops hole in 1" 6061 plate.

I've had a lot of welders. I've bought brand new and I've bought really old.

I suggest a 250 MIG welder. I'd buy either a new Miller or any old 3 phase CV transformer machine like Airco, Hobart, linde, etc.

For a TIG I've owned a bunch of them and the only ones that have been absolutely 100% rock fucking solid for me are the Syncrowaves. A 250 Miller from the 80's is a safe bet in my book.

If you have the power, go big on the TIG. You can use every bit of 400 amps in aluminum real easy.

If you can only afford one welder right now buy a TIG first and use stick for structural steel. Stick can do anything except look as pretty as MIG. I think it's a lot stronger than MIG in less than ideal conditions. I keep 7014 on hand and buy new 7018 as needed as it goes bad as soon as you open it.

$2000 for an off brand multiprocess is pissing money away. Buy a watercooled syncrowave for under a grand and your grandkids will still be using it in 100 years.
 
I bought Everlasts ac/dc 200amp tig/stick/plasma combo box (forgot the exact model) about 10 years ago, use it couple times a week, mostly DC (Ti fixtures for aluminum anodizing), rarely above 120A, often below 50A, as said by Turnworks in post #8, there are some issues with HF start, it doesn't bother me, since I don't weld for hours on end, when the machine arrived, had to open the box and adjust spark gap for HF to work reliably (wouldn't start on low amps), welding at very low amps can be tricky, arc isn't stable, but then I haven't used expensive TIGs so I could compare
anyway, it does what I need it to do well enough for me not to bother getting a better machine

the only repair I did was to replace the pot in the foot pedal, it was losing contact intermittently, new pot was couple EUR, so not an issue

I bought the combo box just because it was basically the same price as the "pure" tig machine back then, tried to set up plasma only once, it arc would constantly go out, couldn't get a consistent cut, I didn't bother to find the problem and haven't used it since in that mode, the rest - stick, ac/dc tig, pulse etc - everything works like it should

oh, and buy a new torch for it, with the super flex cable, I don't think the one that came with my machine back then was useable freehand, walking the cup maybe, it was just way too big and the cable so stiff, delicate movements and holding tight arc was basically impossible
 
I find it amusing that if you want a chinese 9" lathe you get crucified on this forum, but people repeatedly discuss at length these welders.

Sure, there is a place for a harbor freight mill drill- but I thought this was a professional forum.

I do weld for a living, and buy professional welders, but, in general, I hate cheap chinese crap, so, for instance, I buy really good made in Germany cordless drills, when I could get made in China models for 25 bucks.
I just hope none of you everlast defenders are also dissing Grizzly lathes or Harbor Freight mills or Jet bandsaws...

Yes, the everlast will work. It may not have parts available, and, when you open it up, may be made from plastic inside.
As Sly Stone said- The nicer the nice, the higher the price.

Me, I wouldnt have one of those in my shop, because it would annoy me every time I looked at it.
But I guess if you are one of those people who swears the Chinese are getting to be world class in their manufacturing, go for it.

I have major ONE chinese tool in my shop- an Anyang power hammer that weighs 3500 lbs, costs well over ten grand.
So, yes, I do believe the Chinese can make good tools- but I also own stock in both Miller and Lincoln, and all my welders were made in the USA.
 
Ries I have to respectfully disagree with you on some of your post. Most people try to make their money go the farthest. Whether buying cheap stuff that will break but holds up long enough to get your money back out of it or buying high end stuff that will last a long time and in time pay for itself. Just two different ways of going about it both I think aim for the cheapest route(edit: most return on the dollar). Both methods there is a chance at failure. Also down time plays a huge role in how much something will cost you.

I personally don't like the older transformer welders because they just freakin draw stupid high amps sitting idle. I see that as money out the window.

I see your point about the cheap small lathes when cubic inches removal rates are king. Same goes with welders if your main concern is how many inches welded in a hour. I think duty cycle at the amps you plan to run at and for TIG water cooled torches are a must so you can in theory weld 100% of the time.

Also Im not positive if the miller dynasty and maxstar welders are made in the USA anymore or enough of the components are made here to put a sticker on them. 4 new ones bought within the last 2 years only say assembled in the USA.
 
I personally don't like the older transformer welders because they just freakin draw stupid high amps sitting idle. I see that as money out the window.

What is stupid high amps to you?

I can do a ton of welding with transformer machines and my power bill doesn't really notice it. My biggest is a 750 amp MIG welder. I bet that thing doesn't draw 5 amps sitting there.

It's just a transformer. You get that right? The demand charge you pay every month for your power service covers the theoretical loss in the transformer that your meter doesn't measure. That's a much larger transformer than what's in a even a huge welder.
 
Around 60 amps at idle not welding 240v single phase. Lincoln 355 square wave welder. At first I thought it was a bad reading until the the 60 amp breaker tripped about 5 mins after I turned it on. Nameplate said 100 amps but I was dumb and figured thats what it would pull at max amps and I had planned to stay until 200 amps so thought I would be ok. I was wrong.
 
Around 60 amps at idle not welding 240v single phase. Lincoln 355 square wave welder. At first I thought it was a bad reading until the the 60 amp breaker tripped about 5 mins after I turned it on. Nameplate said 100 amps but I was dumb and figured thats what it would pull at max amps and I had planned to stay until 200 amps so thought I would be ok. I was wrong.

I just amp clamped my syncrowave 250 with the fan running and the chiller on it's 4.1 amps 240V single phase. My RC-750 Hobart is 240V 3 phase and runs 2.6 amps sitting there.

You got something wrong.
 
Garwood you may be correct but a I have checked 6 different 355's in 3 different locations(two different states for that matter) and all had that high of amp draw at idle. Maybe the capacitors where going bad or out.

I did make the assumption that the majority of transformer welders were the same. My mistake. Sorry to derail the thread.
 
Ries I have to respectfully disagree with you on some of your post. Most people try to make their money go the farthest. Whether buying cheap stuff that will break but holds up long enough to get your money back out of it or buying high end stuff that will last a long time and in time pay for itself. Just two different ways of going about it both I think aim for the cheapest route(edit: most return on the dollar). Both methods there is a chance at failure. Also down time plays a huge role in how much something will cost you.

I personally don't like the older transformer welders because they just freakin draw stupid high amps sitting idle. I see that as money out the window.

I see your point about the cheap small lathes when cubic inches removal rates are king. Same goes with welders if your main concern is how many inches welded in a hour. I think duty cycle at the amps you plan to run at and for TIG water cooled torches are a must so you can in theory weld 100% of the time.

Also Im not positive if the miller dynasty and maxstar welders are made in the USA anymore or enough of the components are made here to put a sticker on them. 4 new ones bought within the last 2 years only say assembled in the USA.

I never said I was most people.

I like good tools.
I enjoy using em, looking at em, and they last longer, and are usually repairable.

I am still using the Starrett combination square, the forged one with three heads, that I bought in about 1976. That same year, I bought a used car, a 63 Falcon wagon with the passenger door dented, for the same amount I paid for that square- $125. The square is still in use in my shop daily. The Falcon died a year after I bought it.

I make things out of metal for a living.
I have found that if I buy high quality tools, I actually make more money, and spend less on repairs and replacements.

YMMV.
 
agree... the knock off welders are not worth it. red blue or fronious. the new multi-use invertor machines are really nice. I have the miller multimatic and have nothing but good to say about it... and it runs off the 110 outlet in my car. Granted it is not the deltaweld with 480 coming in... but it is not a downgraded just good enough short circuit- it is a welder. I like using it, the longetivy everlast et als are not even comparable. I tried various ones at fabtech, set by them - not even close.
now I own two new Ryobi brushless cordless drills, because the motors and controls in them are really good- and the battery is good enough for the few times a day I need it.
Turkish hammer.
 








 
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