Everlast Welders - Welders and Plasma Cutters by Everlast
- Thread starter Mark @ Everlast
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deathtoblackberries
Gold Member
The new Everlast PowerTIG 255 EXT arrived yesterday!! Fast shipping I ordered it on Friday and it arrived at my door on Tuesday. No shipping damage, zero. I'm pretty happy with the fit and finish as well.
They are packed quite well with ample foam and heavy duty boxes.
The cooler is fairly large I like it, note the quick disconnect fittings.
The welder has a bit of heft to it but I would say its portable. Compared to my Lincoln 210MP the Everlast is about 3 inches taller, 3 inches longer, and 1 inch narrower. Like the Lincoln it has plastic feet molded into the front/rear bezels. The Lincoln slides around on my welding cart so I guess I'll get a sheet of 1/8 rubber to line the welding cart. The cooler has 4 nice rubber feet so its good to go.
As a computer geek this front panel doesn't intimidate me, it seems pretty straight forward. I know some are saying unflattering things about the membrane switch panel but I have used membrane switch panels outdoors for years in hot, humid, rain, dirt, conditions and they take a beating and keep on ticking completely sealed from the elements.
The 255 EXT comes with a gob of accessories, both an air and water cooled torch, foot pedal, ground clamp, air hose, stinger, and a couple of packs of torch consumables.
They are packed quite well with ample foam and heavy duty boxes.
The cooler is fairly large I like it, note the quick disconnect fittings.
The welder has a bit of heft to it but I would say its portable. Compared to my Lincoln 210MP the Everlast is about 3 inches taller, 3 inches longer, and 1 inch narrower. Like the Lincoln it has plastic feet molded into the front/rear bezels. The Lincoln slides around on my welding cart so I guess I'll get a sheet of 1/8 rubber to line the welding cart. The cooler has 4 nice rubber feet so its good to go.
As a computer geek this front panel doesn't intimidate me, it seems pretty straight forward. I know some are saying unflattering things about the membrane switch panel but I have used membrane switch panels outdoors for years in hot, humid, rain, dirt, conditions and they take a beating and keep on ticking completely sealed from the elements.
The 255 EXT comes with a gob of accessories, both an air and water cooled torch, foot pedal, ground clamp, air hose, stinger, and a couple of packs of torch consumables.
Fawken
Platinum Member
Looks good. Let us know how it welds. Do you have TIG experience? My AHP is still going strong and some of those components look just like mine. I do like the looks of your foot pedal and regulator.
deathtoblackberries
Gold Member
Well I finally have everything assembled and ready to weld after a torch hose fiasco and blowing the coolant out of the torch gas hose 
I managed to spend more money (shocker) on a tungsten grinder and fine grit wheel, E3 tungsten in 1/16 and 3/32, a bunch of stainless and steel filler metal. Tomorrow after some practice welding my first job is fixing a broken mill drawbar. Then I don't know, I'm sure my Kubota 2920 needs something made of stainless :scratchchin:
It fit on my Metal Man UWC3 welding cart...barely.
This cart is rated for 400lbs, really nice locking casters and metal ball bearing rear wheels. I cut the 3 prong dryer plug off the welder and installed a 30 amp 250v twist lock connector and assembled a heavy cord.
I upgraded to this Harris made in USA flow meter and hose.
Here I had to remove the top shelf of the welding cart to lower the behemoth cooler down onto the cart from above, it was about 1/8 inch too tall from fitting through the front dang it.
Here's a close up of the Harris
Here's a side by side comparison. I'm not saying there was anything wrong with the China flow meter, the hose was kind of wimpy, mostly I just wanted a nicer flow meter.
One problem I ran into was Everlast located the gas inlet right smack in the center of the machine. This 255 EXT is long, about 3 inches longer than my Lincoln, this is a large welding cart and it just barely fit but the hose and fitting butted up against the argon tank so I had to move the top shelf of the welding cart several inches forward.
I managed to spend more money (shocker) on a tungsten grinder and fine grit wheel, E3 tungsten in 1/16 and 3/32, a bunch of stainless and steel filler metal. Tomorrow after some practice welding my first job is fixing a broken mill drawbar. Then I don't know, I'm sure my Kubota 2920 needs something made of stainless :scratchchin:It fit on my Metal Man UWC3 welding cart...barely.
This cart is rated for 400lbs, really nice locking casters and metal ball bearing rear wheels. I cut the 3 prong dryer plug off the welder and installed a 30 amp 250v twist lock connector and assembled a heavy cord.
I upgraded to this Harris made in USA flow meter and hose.
Here I had to remove the top shelf of the welding cart to lower the behemoth cooler down onto the cart from above, it was about 1/8 inch too tall from fitting through the front dang it.
Here's a close up of the Harris
Here's a side by side comparison. I'm not saying there was anything wrong with the China flow meter, the hose was kind of wimpy, mostly I just wanted a nicer flow meter.
One problem I ran into was Everlast located the gas inlet right smack in the center of the machine. This 255 EXT is long, about 3 inches longer than my Lincoln, this is a large welding cart and it just barely fit but the hose and fitting butted up against the argon tank so I had to move the top shelf of the welding cart several inches forward.
deathtoblackberries
Gold Member
First TIG weld!! No practice I decided no guts no glory and just had at it.
First Impressions of TIG vs MIG - TIG so easy, so relaxing, like soldering. My Lincoln MIG on the other hand BZZZZZZZTTTT POW SPARKS. The MIG is 'grip it and rip it' and hope nothing catches on fire. A little arc formed (90 amps) on the TIG and I was like hey look at that, then a puddle formed just like in the TIG videos...I dabbed in some steel filler rod and was surprised how easy the filler rod melts into the puddle. This is a lot like soldering and I have about 2,000 hours doing that so this TIG and I are going to get along fine.
This is a drawbar repair for my milling machine. They just pin the hex on and the pin snapped so I needed to tack weld this back on. Note the ugly black yuck China steel, I did clean the top of the nut and shaft shiny but some of the yuck did pollute the weld.
Its got a bit of color which is shocking considering my post flow fail, in MIG like fashion I pulled away before allowing the post flow to complete duh!
I spent 5 minutes on setup, I found I needed to fold up a couple welding gloves to rest my arm on to steady the torch.
Yes, I was all but done with the second pass feeling full of myself then I dipped the tungsten into the puddle (face palm) lol
First Impressions of TIG vs MIG - TIG so easy, so relaxing, like soldering. My Lincoln MIG on the other hand BZZZZZZZTTTT POW SPARKS. The MIG is 'grip it and rip it' and hope nothing catches on fire. A little arc formed (90 amps) on the TIG and I was like hey look at that, then a puddle formed just like in the TIG videos...I dabbed in some steel filler rod and was surprised how easy the filler rod melts into the puddle. This is a lot like soldering and I have about 2,000 hours doing that so this TIG and I are going to get along fine.
This is a drawbar repair for my milling machine. They just pin the hex on and the pin snapped so I needed to tack weld this back on. Note the ugly black yuck China steel, I did clean the top of the nut and shaft shiny but some of the yuck did pollute the weld.
Its got a bit of color which is shocking considering my post flow fail, in MIG like fashion I pulled away before allowing the post flow to complete duh!
I spent 5 minutes on setup, I found I needed to fold up a couple welding gloves to rest my arm on to steady the torch.
Yes, I was all but done with the second pass feeling full of myself then I dipped the tungsten into the puddle (face palm) lol
Shield Arc
Super Member
When you run into repair jobs, that you don't know what the steel is. 309 stainless steel is a very good choice.
Fawken
Platinum Member
Looks good. When I contaminate my electrode I use some dikes to snip off the cone and re-sharpen. Tried just re-sharpening, but I think some of the base metal must penetrate into the tungsten.First TIG weld!! No practice I decided no guts no glory and just had at it.
First Impressions of TIG vs MIG - TIG so easy, so relaxing, like soldering. My Lincoln MIG on the other hand BZZZZZZZTTTT POW SPARKS. The MIG is 'grip it and rip it' and hope nothing catches on fire. A little arc formed (90 amps) on the TIG and I was like hey look at that, then a puddle formed just like in the TIG videos...I dabbed in some steel filler rod and was surprised how easy the filler rod melts into the puddle. This is a lot like soldering and I have about 2,000 hours doing that so this TIG and I are going to get along fine.
This is a drawbar repair for my milling machine. They just pin the hex on and the pin snapped so I needed to tack weld this back on. Note the ugly black yuck China steel, I did clean the top of the nut and shaft shiny but some of the yuck did pollute the weld.
Its got a bit of color which is shocking considering my post flow fail, in MIG like fashion I pulled away before allowing the post flow to complete duh!
I spent 5 minutes on setup, I found I needed to fold up a couple welding gloves to rest my arm on to steady the torch.
Yes, I was all but done with the second pass feeling full of myself then I dipped the tungsten into the puddle (face palm) lol
CNC Dan
Veteran Member
Some of the metal can wet out along the tungsten farther than you think. If you can grind the outer diameter, that usually gets rid of it.
But to be sure, light up on a piece of scrap before welding something important.
And some types of tungsten don't snap off too easy, and will have to be ground off.
If you find one type of tungsten you can use for all your welding, sharpen both ends, so you don't have to sharpen as often.
If you use two or more types of tungsten, I don't recommend sharpening both ends, as you won't have the color coding anymore.
Fawken
Platinum Member
Good tip thanks. Need to go play with mine some. Just got my third bottle of gas and I picked up some 1/8" tungsten (been using 3/32) and some 1/16" filler for welding Dr Pepper cans. My arc doesn't seem as focused lately. Dirty aluminum? Humidity? Might need a better grinding stone as it is a coarse 6" wheel that I use for everything. Guy at the shop uses a belt sander and says it doesn't matter......
CNC Dan
Veteran Member
You can use many things to sharpen your electrode. Angle grinder, belt sander, bench grinder, die grinder, etc.
You should make the grinding lines go along the length of the tungsten. That will keep the electricty from leaving before reaching the tip. But if you use a finer grit, the effect isn't as strong. At work I have access to a tool sharpener that uses up to 600 grit wheels, and it doesn't matter how the grind lines go.
When I'm not at work, I will use an angle grinder with a 120 grit sanding pad, and make the grind lines go along the length of the tungsten.