Everlast PA 200 ST arrived

SSdoxie · Jan 17, 2014

My new welder was waiting for me when I got home last night. The poor thing had to ride from California to Chicago then down to Tennessee, so after opening it up to make sure it was OK. Nice, well packed to avoid damage.

Unpacked it, used the 120v adapter and plugged it in. Yep, it runs sounds fine. Now it is too cold to go down to the shop and try it out and poor thing was so cold riding around in truck for 5 days, I let it set in front of the fire today while I watched some TV.

Once it warms up a little, I will be trying it out and likely posting pics of some welds to get some advise. I'm not a complete beginner but still a novice. I had a Lincoln 225AC I bought last year but it died on me a couple months ago and the little 120v/120amp Mig I have just doesn't have the duty cycle I try to put it through.

Thank you to Shield Arc for his patience putting up with my PMs asking questions about his PA 200. And Kudos to Mark for his help in deciding on either the 200 ST or getting one of straight 220v PA 200s he still had in stock when I ordered.

CNC Dan · Jan 17, 2014

You'll love it. A lot of power in a small package. And it's great to be able to work on something even when all you have for power is 120 volts.

k0ua · Jan 17, 2014

Nice welder, and don't forget you can TIG with it too if you want.

SSdoxie · Jan 18, 2014

k0ua said:
Nice welder, and don't forget you can TIG with it too if you want.

The addition of "Tig Lift" and dual voltage were why I decided to go with the newer ST model, but I didn't order the Tig kit with it. For now I'm hoping to get a little more proficient with stick and use my little "baby mig" for the small stuff.

arrow · Jan 19, 2014

SSdoxie said:
The addition of "Tig Lift" and dual voltage were why I decided to go with the newer ST model, but I didn't order the Tig kit with it. For now I'm hoping to get a little more proficient with stick and use my little "baby mig" for the small stuff.

How long are the leads? Looking hard at this welder myself.

Shield Arc · Jan 19, 2014

arrow said:
How long are the leads?

Just long enough you don't stumble over the welder. If you're careful! But a trip to the welding supply, and buy these, and you're all set. In the past I've had 300 to 400-feet of lead stretched out using these Tweco connectors.

SSdoxie · Jan 19, 2014

I braved the cold and took a few minutes to take welder down to the shop and give it a test run. It works fine and am very impressed with it but find I am going to need another welding cart. Welder is light weight, easily portable but is so small that setting it on the floor makes it hard to see the amp readout and have to kneel down to make adjustments. I had been thinking of making longer lead cables and leaving the welder on a shelf by the outlet, but walking back & forth to make adjustments would get old fast. Luckily the welder and my motorhome use the same plug and I have another 25' extension cord for it that I rarely use, so I will be getting another cart like I have for the little mig and roll it around.

As for the welder performance, the only comparison I have is against the Lincoln AC "buzz box" I had. Everyone I spoke with told me I would really enjoy DC welding over the AC. They were right. Using the same 1/8" rods I have left over from jobs I was doing with the Lincoln, I found I can strike the arc easier and run a bead at lower amps with this one. Is that because of the DC current or the Auto Hot Start is unit has? I don't know and don't really care, I just like it. Running 6013 X 1/8" with the Buzz Box I had to keep Amp setting around 125 - 135 to get started and felt the weld was too hot for what I was doing. With this welder I was able to easily start the arc and run at 70 & 75 amp. Now I just have to get into habit of feeding the rod into the weld as I move along, too used to mig where I only have to move along the weld seam without changing distance of hand to work surface.

k0ua · Jan 19, 2014

SSdoxie said:
I braved the cold and took a few minutes to take welder down to the shop and give it a test run. It works fine and am very impressed with it but find I am going to need another welding cart. Welder is light weight, easily portable but is so small that setting it on the floor makes it hard to see the amp readout and have to kneel down to make adjustments. I had been thinking of making longer lead cables and leaving the welder on a shelf by the outlet, but walking back & forth to make adjustments would get old fast. Luckily the welder and my motorhome use the same plug and I have another 25' extension cord for it that I rarely use, so I will be getting another cart like I have for the little mig and roll it around.

As for the welder performance, the only comparison I have is against the Lincoln AC "buzz box" I had. Everyone I spoke with told me I would really enjoy DC welding over the AC. They were right. Using the same 1/8" rods I have left over from jobs I was doing with the Lincoln, I found I can strike the arc easier and run a bead at lower amps with this one. Is that because of the DC current or the Auto Hot Start is unit has? I don't know and don't really care, I just like it. Running 6013 X 1/8" with the Buzz Box I had to keep Amp setting around 125 - 135 to get started and felt the weld was too hot for what I was doing. With this welder I was able to easily start the arc and run at 70 & 75 amp. Now I just have to get into habit of feeding the rod into the weld as I move along, too used to mig where I only have to move along the weld seam without changing distance of hand to work surface.

What I did was buy a sears 4 drawer roll around chest, and the welder can sit on top or go in one of the drawers. I use a 25 foot extension cord to go over to the wall for the 240VAC. I also made up an extension to the side of the cabinet to hold my 125cu ft. argon bottle for TIG work. This gets the welder up off of the floor and nearby to adjust current and the drawers hold all of the other welding supplys and accessories.

k0ua · Jan 19, 2014

arrow said:
How long are the leads? Looking hard at this welder myself.

About 10 foot long

SSdoxie · Jan 19, 2014

arrow said:
How long are the leads? Looking hard at this welder myself.

Torch & work clamp leads are 10' the power cord is 7' so you can work some 16' - 18' away from the outlet plug. As Shield Arc mentioned they are long enough to keep from tripping over the welder and as I mentioned just prior to this post, not being all the experienced with settings for each weld project I think I want the welder closer to me so will be using extension cord on power side vs. lengthening the cables.