decision

winky · Wed May 30, 2012 10:21 am

I am in the process of buying a new 200 amp TGAW-P/SMAW welder ... my money available is low I have been thinking about an Everlast 200DX seems to have a lot of control and I like the looks of the unit but I have also been looking at the Longevity 200SX not as conplex a machine no balance, no pulse, no downslope but the price is better ... I'm siding with the Everlast but does anyone see any valid reason to consider the Longevity other than the price?

Wed May 30, 2012 4:16 pm

Hi there,

Go to www.kevicaron.com he is an ARTIST from Phoenix. He has just started to use Longevity products and makes videos about them. Note: He is an artist first and foremost so some of the welding techniques are not as honed as some. But he gets the point across. He explains alot about his welders.

Mick

winky · Wed May 30, 2012 8:35 pm

Thanks … I’ve been subscribed to Kevin’s site for a while now … the Longevity unit he is using is one of the bigger units that has a lot of the features that the Everlast unit has. The welder I was looking at was the the 200sx which is not as advanced as the Everlast 200DX. I think I’ll go with my original thought and stay with the Everlast. Thanks for your input and thanks for mentioning Kevin … I really enjoy his videos.

Ultralow787 · Thu May 31, 2012 9:20 am

I subscribe to Kevin's site as well and enjoy most of his stuff. He does get somewhat confused with terminology like "voltage", "current", and other technical points. Once you get past that, he does get the message across!

winky · Thu May 31, 2012 9:57 am

Yea, he's fun to watch ... cracks me up at the start of each video when his wife (I assume) asks what he's doing. But for instructional videos I think Jody nails it better he's like the ultimate welding guru as far as I'm concerned

winky · Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:20 pm

Just got my new Everlast Powertig 200DX ... got it all set up ... going to strike an arc for the first time in a few ... and Steve (ottoNobetter) after looking at this unit side by side to a Chicago Electric unit ... there is absolutely no comparison my friend ...in fact when I compare it to my Lincoln electric ... there is a close match in the appearance of quality ... everything from the grounding clamp to the cables to the connections, torch etc. the final proof however will be when I start using it ... when I compare it to my Hobart it looks sturdier ... I have a feeling this is going to be aweswome.

winky · Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:07 pm

Just spent 45 minutes laying beads with my new machine ... this thing is awesome ... set it DCEN on some 1/8" mild steel w/ 3/32" lanthanated tungsten ... gas flow @ about 18 to 20L found out that was too high ... power worked best around 90 amps ... had a little trouble initiating an arc so I may need to set the gap ... if it's too far out I'll bring it back to around .030 that should do it ... just not sure how long I need to let the capacitors discharge so I don't light up like a Christmas tree ... lol. This machine is going to make a terrific addition to my humble little shop.

Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:41 pm

NICE!

Keep us apprised.

BTW, a typical Miller or Lincoln spark-gap for HF is closer to .010 to .015" Check your manual... It should be in there somewhere.

Steve

winky · Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:11 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:NICE!

Keep us apprised.

BTW, a typical Miller or Lincoln spark-gap for HF is closer to .010 to .015" Check your manual... It should be in there somewhere.

Steve

Thanks Steve ... good to know ... unfortunately the manual that came with it is kind of sparse ... and you can tell the writers first language was not English ... I'm going to work with it some more tomorrow ... it may just be me ... other than the start up issue everything worked really well ... once I get used to it I'm sure everything will be totally cool. Have a GR8 day my friend!

winky · Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:30 pm

ALRIGHT! figured out what I was doing wrong yesterday ... had the pre flow to high and wasn't waiting long enough ... works like a champ now easy starts and nice constant arc. Spent a couple hours this morning laying practice beads and butt welds on aluminum ... ganna take more practice but I'm getting a nice stack of dimes now and been throwing my butt welds as hard as I can on the shop floor as I make them ... then putting them in a vice ... they may not look the best but they don't break ... just bend in other places.

winky · Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:00 pm

OK! I've been using my 200DX for a couple weeks now ... I decided to muddle through with 2T until I got things looking good ... then go to the pedal ... well today I used the pedal for the first time on aluminum 1/8" flat stock, set the top amperes at 115, balance at 40%, freq @ 110, used 3/32 - 2% lanthanated and 3/32" filler ... WOW this thing is awesome!