New stick welder

[k0ua]

I've had a Everlast 140 amp Mig and an Everlast 200 amp stick machine and love em both. I had a Lincoln AC 225 and sold it right away after getting my 200 amp stick machine, I had no desire to touch that Lincoln again.

That was exactly what I did. I sold the Lincoln as fast as possible after getting the Everlast and making some sweet welds with it. It was like a quantum leap in welding results. I never looked back.

 

[dragoneggs]

Amazing how small and lightweight welders are these days.

 

[joeu235]

Yesterday I purchased an Everlast 200STi. Will see how it compares to other welders I've used. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Sorry. You're not going to find a "plug in" that performs as well as the Miller Bobcat 225.
Prepare to be disappointed.

Having run both myself, and made money with both I can assure you that you won't find one of our stick machines that runs as bad as the Bobcat 225 in general. I've used them going back 30+ years now, back before they were officially a Bobcat and then later on the said 225's. The PowerARC, especially the 200 series and 300 series will weld circles around them.

 

[koshari]

Amazing how small and lightweight welders are these days.

the advance of power semiconductors has facilitated this.

and i would have to agree with mark re- modern welders running rings round old dinosaurs. 30 years ago when i began my electrical apprentiship i worked in an industria workshop repair bay where we repaired all the welders of the day, i had to pretty much test them all once the repairs were done to prove them before they were returned to the store/workshop. some of these welders were worth thousands of dollars. i would say hardly any of them would weld as well as my current inverter welder.

 

[aczlan]

Yesterday I purchased an Everlast 200STi. Will see how it compares to other welders I've used. Thanks for everyone's input.

If your experience is like mine with the Powerarc 200STi, you'll be very happy with it. We got one last winter and have had no issues with it, I really like the adjustability so I can turn the heat way down if I need to weld together exhaust tubing, or way up if I need to weld something thick.

Aaron Z

 

[joeu235]

Having run both myself, and made money with both I can assure you that you won't find one of our stick machines that runs as bad as the Bobcat 225 in general. I've used them going back 30+ years now, back before they were officially a Bobcat and then later on the said 225's. The PowerARC, especially the 200 series and 300 series will weld circles around them.

HOLY ****...THIS THING IS SO MUCH EASIER TO WELD WITH. Its like when I upgraded from a Craftsman contractor table saw to a cabinet saw.
No rod sticking, smooth arc, no gas engine noise, immediate arc strike vs waiting for the engine to rev up. I'm a believer.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

HOLY ****...THIS THING IS SO MUCH EASIER TO WELD WITH. Its like when I upgraded from a Craftsman contractor table saw to a cabinet saw.
No rod sticking, smooth arc, no gas engine noise, immediate arc strike vs waiting for the engine to rev up. I'm a believer.

Best testimonial ever. Lol.

 

[radios1]

HOLY ****...THIS THING IS SO MUCH EASIER TO WELD WITH. Its like when I upgraded from a Craftsman contractor table saw to a cabinet saw.
No rod sticking, smooth arc, no gas engine noise, immediate arc strike vs waiting for the engine to rev up. I'm a believer.

not everywhere has a 50 amp 220V welder socket for it though. a welder/generator still has it's uses..

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

not everywhere has a 50 amp 220V welder socket for it though. a welder/generator still has it's uses..

Yes, I guess so, but a hole hasn't been dug deep enough for them yet. Money wise and utility wise you are far better off buying a good generator, and an inverter welder, which is a trend I'm seeing. You'll likely end up with a quieter, less of a fuel hog generator as well.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Oops. 210 stl <$ 450.00.

 

[radios1]

Yes, I guess so, but a hole hasn't been dug deep enough for them yet. Money wise and utility wise you are far better off buying a good generator, and an inverter welder, which is a trend I'm seeing. You'll likely end up with a quieter, less of a fuel hog generator as well.

the problem is, every conversion of energy has a cost. converting a fossil fuel to DC has one less step than converting fossil fuel to AC, then converting that to DC. did you hear of the quiz that asked you, if you went into space with a hen, is it more efficient to eat the hens eggs, or eat the hen?. keep in mind the hen has to be fed to make the eggs..

 

[joeu235]

not everywhere has a 50 amp 220V welder socket for it though. a welder/generator still has it's uses..

Absolutely. I still have cattle corals and pipe fences to work on.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

What do you think a welder/generator does? It does exactly that. A generator with a inverter welder converts more efficiently.

 

[k0ua]

HOLY ****...THIS THING IS SO MUCH EASIER TO WELD WITH. Its like when I upgraded from a Craftsman contractor table saw to a cabinet saw.
No rod sticking, smooth arc, no gas engine noise, immediate arc strike vs waiting for the engine to rev up. I'm a believer.

That is what we have been trying to tell people.!

 

[Vaquero]

"Advertiser"


Ok.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

And????

 

[bdog]

Sorry. You're not going to find a "plug in" that performs as well as the Miller Bobcat 225.
Prepare to be disappointed.

I have owned a bobcat 225 and now own a trailblazer and a SA200. I have owned an everlast 300 and currently my shop welder is a Lincoln invertec 350 pro. I sure wouldn稚 say there is anything wrong with a bobcat but the arc quality was never something that impressed me. All the above machines welded better than the bobcat. The trailblazer has a pretty sweet arc.

 

[radios1]

What do you think a welder/generator does? It does exactly that. A generator with a inverter welder converts more efficiently.

it's welds better, but not more efficiently. every conversion of energy creates a loss. a welder/generator generates DC, which is what is used to weld. a single conversion of energy. the generator section generates AC for tools, not welding.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

it's welds better, but not more efficiently. every conversion of energy creates a loss. a welder/generator generates DC, which is what is used to weld. a single conversion of energy. the generator section generates AC for tools, not welding.

If you are familiar with an engine drive, most modern engine drives are an alternator and still create AC either in 3 phase or in single phase and converts the power back into DC. But you are also continuously creating a separate power output for AC as well. Bobcats traditionally split this power without a separate generation of power. Trailblazers have two, one that generates power for welding and another that generates power for the generator side, continuously. Older units, like the SA 200 used brushes to create power. I have one. I also have a much later Ranger model.The output is DC at the power outlet (something like 9 amps). The tools that people use need to be rated for operating on DC from that outlet. Then there are units that generate AC 3 phase power, and convert it into DC through chopper or inverter technology.

These welders that are welder/generator (really alternator) combinations have long shafts, heavy components that take much larger engines to power, which are more thirsty. A welder generator, is typically at least a V twin with a minimum of 20 HP up to 30. A standard larger generator is usually 11 or 13 HP single cylinder. If you ever put gas into an engine drive welder generator, vs a 8000 or 9000 watt generator, you would not be so quick to talk about efficiency loss. I've done both. I am not talking about theoretical issues here.