Welding Tips and Tricks

All,
Looking to buy my first TIG machine. I have narrowed it down to the Lincoln Precision TIG 225, The MILLER Syncrowave 200 or an Everlast 250EX. The concern with the Everlast is length of time the company has been in the welder business, and will they be around to honor the 5 year warrenty? The Everlast is the cheapest, the Miller comes in at $2K for the runner package. The PT225 is the most expensive by $100. Looking at AC & DC TIG/Stick Welding.

One thing you may not be aware of is your shopping not only 3 differant brands but 2 types of power supplies. The lincoln and miller are both transformer-rectifiers, and the everlast is an inverter. The inverter is the newer technology which also allows for more control of the sine wave for ac welding. Their also alot lighter, smaller, and run alot cooler.

So far I havent seen any bad reviews about the everlasts. Im lookin to buy one myself in the next few weeks. That being said, If I was going to buy one for a commercial fab shop or something like that, me personally I wouldnt buy one, I would buy a miller. But for the home hobbyist or what have you, even the most hardcore, I think the everlasts would hold up well.

Kerndawg,
The thing that they have in common is around the same price point. Yes, the 250EX is an inverter. Just not comfortable with the corporate history yet on that make. It may be a fine welder just not a lot of buyer confidence in me. The welder will be for personal use and the reason that I was even looking at the 250EX was that I wouldn't have to run another 220V line to the shop. I would use the same jack where the Lincoln AC225 is and remove it from service. Seems hard to believe the things on the everlast forum when it is sponsored by the company. Everything is on a slow boat from china. What will the current state in Japan due to maritime traffic in that region?

Joesph,

IMHO, with respect to the Transformer/Rectifier welders, the Lincoln has the better setup than the Miller, especially when thin metal is being welded. Read my other post Lincoln Precision TIG 225, I think you will agree with me. I am not biased because my shop contains both Blue and Red welders and a plasma cutter.

The most significant component in the IGBT type welders is the main circuit board.
The key components are the Insulated-Gate-Bipolar-Transistors (IGBT), a little research should provide a manufacturer's data sheet, if not then someone on this forum could open their welder and attempt to read any markings on the board or component.
Take a look at the MTBF (Mean-Time-Between-Failure).
Then look for the maximum current that the Everlast IGBT's will handle. Once you find this number determine how close the design margin is for the maximum output of the Everlast by comparing the the max output with the capability of the IGBT's.
I would like to see a 30 to 40 percent margin, if <20 I would be concerned, if <10 I would not buy one.

Wob

The Miller Syncrowave 200 Runner package is $1980 and the Lincoln PT 225 is $2195. However, the Miller needs 54A (60A Circuit) and the PT 225 nees 42A (50A Circuit). I have decided for the PT 225. Now just have to break out with the cash and get off the fence. Last TIG I did was in the Navy with a PowCon 300ST. I sure there will be a learning curve with the PT225.