Welding Tips and Tricks

Thinking of purchasing a Everlast 200dv Tig Stick. I have welded stick and mig before but interested in Tig to do alluminun. I have seen almost all of Jody's YouTube videos and was intrigued by the Everlast welder but would like some opinions on this brand and in this specific model. Will be using in automotive field. Thanks in advance!

From hanging out on the Everlast forum for a long time, there are a lot of very satisfied owners. (One of the guys on that site features it in a video, and kisses the machine at the end of the video. He may be an extreme case. ) It's a full-featured machine, and at 200 amps should weld up to 1/4" aluminum. If I were in the market again I would be considering this brand and machine.

Thanks Artie! I went to a local store and was told to stay as far as possible from the Everlast brand and was shown a Lincoln Electric square wave tig 200. I did find a couple of reviews on the square wave but no happy campers with it. I have a automotive shop and sometimes confronted with repairs on Aluminum, so Instead of paying $35.00 for a 1 inch weld at a local welding shop I rather invest in buying the Everlast and doing it myself. The rep said that If I was to buy the Everlast to make sure and buy plenty of consumables from the Everlast company because they were not interchangeable with other brands.

Everlast consumables are interchangeable. Uses standard 17, 18, 26 TIG torch and consumables. Standard Dinse 35 cable connectors. The MIG's use binzel consumables.for $2k you can get the Lincoln 210mp and sw200 after rebate. Deal ends next Monday. The sw200 is more limited in ours functions. I know several people with them and they like them. They did have some problems initially. You can extend warranty to 5 years. It's about $200 per machine I think. Also look at the AHP200x. If you are interested in one I can set you up.just PM me.

Suppose you were the salesman at the welding supply and a live customer comes in, saying "I want to buy a TIG machine" and "I'm considering a machine you don't sell in this store". OF COURSE he's going to bad-mouth Everlast- he wants you to buy his brand from him.

Your guy fed you a load of bull. I bought all my consumables online: TIG consumables are standardized, so a 3/32 tungsten electrode or collet body bought online is physically identical to the one available at that welding shop (altho price will be a different story).

When I was looking to buy I did the research, just as you are doing now. I worked at a LWS back in the day so I only knew to look for Lincoln, Miller, and Esab. Then I ran across videos by Jody Collier, who provides this forum, and those videos caused me to consider Everlast and sources other than Miller-Lincoln-Esab.

Bad-mouthers will also tell you that warrantee repair is a nightmare and they are probably right. The "no stores, online only" model means shipping machines by UPS, and possibly long waits for repair. It's also true for ANY brand that the machine can suffer infant mortality, even though they are tested at the factory. Both of these problems are reduced now that you can buy Everlast machines from Amazon and Home Depot- if I were in the market again, I'd check out the HD "ship to store" option to see if there's a cost savings there.

As a hobby welder my needs are different than yours, tho. Since you're buying for your business, the warrantee repair thing may be a bigger consideration for you since machine downtime may mean lost revenue, and I'm not sure how the warrantee works at Home Deep. If welding is not an every day part of your business then maybe an Everlast or another supplier can serve your need, at about 1/3 the cost of red-blue-yellow.

Hope this is helpful to you- keep us posted. and let us know how it goes!

soutthpaw wrote:Everlast consumables are interchangeable. Uses standard 17, 18, 26 TIG torch and consumables. Standard Dinse 35 cable connectors. The MIG's use binzel consumables.for $2k you can get the Lincoln 210mp and sw200 after rebate. Deal ends next Monday. The sw200 is more limited in ours functions. I know several people with them and they like them. They did have some problems initially. You can extend warranty to 5 years. It's about $200 per machine I think. Also look at the AHP200x. If you are interested in one I can set you up.just PM me.

Looking at AHP 200, 2016 version (4). Anything better planned for 2017 from AHP or other vendors?

I bought the 200DV a couple months ago and so far i have had zero problems. It is a well made machine that does what they say. I probably only have about 20 hours of actual welding time on it and this was my first welder purchase as a disclaimer. I have been able to go to my lws to buy most anything I needed for it as well as most everything on the welder is standard stuff.

I have the Everlast PowerTig 255 EXT. My first machine took a shit on me........twice. The second shit resulted in fatality to the machine. Warranty service on the first go round was impressive and sweet. Took four days for the new high frequency contact points to arrive on my doorstep from China. Second go round took six weeks to get a new processor and control board from China. Damnit man! It was a 2015 model control board and not quite compatible with my 2014 model machine. Cost me $70 to ship the machine back to Everlast in California. One week later I had a brand new 2015 model arrive on my doorstep.
All that being said, I really like this welder. It welds better than the 2014 model ever did and I have yet to find anything that it isn't capable of welding. The only problem that it does have was inherent to the last welder as well.......lift tig function does NOT work on these machines. It will however scratch start about 25% of the time if you have it set to do lift tig. I absolutely love this machine! It is a true beast and i am extremely happy with it.
But, if I had it to do all over again then I would have just kept saving my $$$$ and plunked it down on a Miller Dynasty 350.
Torch parts with these welders are pure industry standard. You can get them at any LWS. The foot peddle however is totally unique and you can ONLY OBTAIN ONE from Everlast because they are 47K ohm peddles and no other brand uses any such thing. Everlast does offer a better peddle than these machines come with that is manufactured right here in the USA but it can only be obtained through Everlast as well.
An inverter based welder will weld circles around a transformer based square wave machine. They draw FAR LESS current, put more heat into the part, and have much more controlable and tunable arc characteristics.
So there are the pros and the cons. I'm not promoting any one brand over the other. You just have to detrermine what is right for your own needs and budget and what type of warranty service you can put up with.

You can buy an SSC pedal for an Everlast welder. HTP or AHP also uses a 47k pot with the same 7 pin amphenol connector. I would recommend the upgrade, as would @entity-unknown

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Disclaimer, I also do machinist work.
Everlast 47ohm peddle ,replaced with SSC model $225. Stll wasn't happy,took Everlast peddle apart and corrected the production flaws, including make a new gear for the belt/pot control and a wider base for peddle, tweaked to my liking.

Jacob,

Did you buy a unit yet?

I've got the Everlast 210EXT and really dig it. I had a DC-only TIG unit previously for several years, so aluminum TIG wasn't much of a strech for me when I got it, but I'm still no expert on aluminum.

Anyway, I like the wave forms of an advanced, digital unit like those in Everlast's EXT line. The Triangle wave is especially helpful for thin aluminum, I think, and the EXT's have a lower amp starting point than the 200DV model.

So, I'll suggest that you might consider an EXT for the advanced features, even as a beginner, or save some money over the 200DV and EXT and just get an AHP AlphaTIG for only about $710, delivered, tax-free in most cases, via Amazon. The AHP is comparable in specs and features to the 200DV, but its warrantee and support are undoubtedly not as good as Everlast. But, still, the price makes it an easy decision, I think. I mean, I was about to buy the AHP about two years ago, but it still didn't have the AC frequency control yet, so I went with an Everlast purchase, and then the next day I think it was, the new AHP model year had the AC frequency control feature on it via Amazon. Ha, ha, ha. But I dig the EXT, and I'm sure I would have dug the AHP too, mostly because it was half the cost, but the EXT is still an incredible value, since it approximates a Dynasty unit in specs, performance, and features, but at a much lower cost.

Otherwise, if you're going to be doing a lot of automotive, maybe the 255EXT would do better if you encounter heavy-duty aluminum bell housings, transfer cases, or aluminum head repairs, which undoubtedly would benefit from a bit more amp output.

Please let us all hear about whatever unit you get and how you like it!

Jacobelps wrote:Thinking of purchasing a Everlast 200dv Tig Stick. I have welded stick and mig before but interested in Tig to do alluminun. I have seen almost all of Jody's YouTube videos and was intrigued by the Everlast welder but would like some opinions on this brand and in this specific model. Will be using in automotive field. Thanks in advance!

I am VERY happy with every Everlast purchase I have. I've got three torches from them and the 256Si with the W300 water cooler. I upgraded to Jody's gas lenses of course. Seriously happy with this machine and I've welded SS, Al, Steel of various thicknesses and even had to take it up to 250A a few times. The plasma cuts great and I'm sure if I had a steady hand I'd have some perfectly straight cuts since I get a couple here and there

If you're thinkin about an SSC, just do it. It really sucked using my standard pedal for months then switching over to the SSC. I'm very pleased with my SSC too which I purchased from Everlast to ensure the proper pinouts are selected BUT it did require a learning "curve" because of the electronics design differences. Linear (SSC) vs. non-linear (Everlast) so literally a learning curve. The Everlast pedal honestly has it's merits though. If you get used to recognizing the clicks from the gearing you can keep a VERY consistent beat on the pedal. The SSC isn't as easy and makes the process more of an art form than a process as the factory pedal does.
Again I have no complaints to any of my equipment, just observations of differences or perhaps where the operator can improve
If a salesman is steering you away from Everlast, it's because they've probably never used one and they're in sales so it's their job. The welding standard welding technologies are really refined and common plus most of the welding technologies have been built in China to some extent not to mention plenty of even the American stuff is still made to some extent over seas so China technically has a better grasp/experience on how to build this stuff at this point.

P.S. I'm out of warranty by a couple months on my #20 torch from Everlast which doesn't pump coolant anymore (probably operator fault) and Everlast is replacing it for free minus the shipping. They also hooked me up with a bunch of extra free stuff for the initial big purchase too. Mostly stuff like the heavy air cooled torch and their consumables but if my torches ever die or I'm strapped and can't replace my consumables, I have extras/backups. The staff at Everlast is usually good to work with as well.

I just recieved my machine yesterday. Everything looks and feels good with this machine, however i am curious to hear what everyone has to say about pulse and frequency.

I tried out pulse on .080 5052 aluminium butt joints, all different combinations and i wasnt noticing as much on/off effect like when i pulsed DC. All i have used before were machines without pulse, so im wondering if thats just how it is on AC.

On to frequency, i switched to .120 6063 1.5" tubing, no pulse. On the higher frequencies the puddle would start, but then the torch would zap out, it would still hold an arc, but act like it was on dc only. No classic ac noise. I could run nice beads on anything under 80hz just fine. ...also a feature ive never had access to.

I'm using 110 Hz roughly on the dial for my AC frequency and loving life with Al. I also use 150A at the box and control it all with the pedal. I tried pulse on Al and it you're a robot that can move consistently and you know your setup, then it will work. It mostly was helpful with stainless to keep it cool. One thing with 110 Hz or there abouts is you won't notice an on off, you'll just hear the frequency much like if you walked by a tattoo shop with that loud buzzing sound. That's your on/off sound. Drop it down to 1Hz and you should then see your on/off.

If there's no noise at high AC freq then that "sounds" weird... If you have a bad ground like a clamp just sitting on the table, poor gas coverage, or if you have a bad tungsten grind, these things can happen. Make sure you have no flat spots on your Tungsten grind, and as long as the gas is flowing, and your ground clamp is good with the shortest path to your work piece and NO paint/crap between, then these should be ok. Clamping 4 ft away from your work while trying to get current flow through old paint and rust doesn't work that well but with enough power electricity will find a way, just not the elegant TIG way Usually it finds you first in those situations too..... The better tungsten grind, the better your Arc control with AC no matter what though. A beautiful spiral pattern or no pattern at all on your tip is ideal. If you hear a wet fart on startup, suspect your ground first, then gas, then tungsten.

Kym would suggest to use 2T with a trigger, not the pedal for AC/Pulse/Al and use the on off up/down slopes to your advantage. He does a lot of Al work and he seems to really like this method.

If you use the pedal, start out hot and start pulsing your pedal. About 3/4 - 2/3 push as you start out and you'll end out with about 1/4 to 1/3 push and finding a good spot in between the start and stop.

AC Freq about 110 will get kind of annoying and you'll need ear plugs. Some people experiment up in these ranges and find some great results but the results are nothing identifiable between someone mastering the lower ranges. The key difference seems to be personal comfort. I believe the lower freq settings are generally for thinner stuff to give you more off (cooling) time.

5052 is not the easiest to weld. 6063 is also a bit less forgiving than 6061 but the 60xx series is all weldable. I believe there is a wide range of unweldable Al in the 50xx series and in general I understand these are the hardest to weld in the Al series.

Is this was a former marine use piece of Al, make sure you spend some time cleaning it up too. You want dull surface finish, not shiny and this is true for all Al.