Welding Tips and Tricks

Greetings all:

TIG virgin, with an Everlast 250 to be delivered on Thursday.

I've heard Jody talk about how he's not the biggest fan of the 'European-style' torch that comes with Everlast TIG machines. And I, having small hands, already have ideas of changing out to a WP17 torch that fits in my hands pretty well (have had hands-on). Will I need anything special (or out of the ordinary) to change over to a WP17?

I have anticipated needing torch body, back caps, collets (and bodies), and nozzles - what else might I need? Hopefully some of you that have done this process can help me avoid some frustration.

Obviously a noob, hobby only at this point, air-cooled only planned as well. I want to get rolling and try things out quickly, so that if a return for refund becomes my plan, I'll at least have 10 days or so to figure out I'd I want to keep it.

If you can't tell, I'm a bit nervous about this purchase, as I don't have the knowledge yet to do lots of troubleshooting, and I'm worried that I should have gone with a more 'name-brand' unit from Miller or the like.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to interacting on this board.

::lc::

Hey there,

I cant help with the torch change over apart from the fact that it should just be "whip the old one off and put a new one on" but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway one the Everlast brand; I bought a PowerArc 200, one of the first ones imported into Australia, I have not had any probs with the machine or the customer service. And hey Jody uses the machines and obviously, this man knows welding. If he is happy with them they can't be too bad, right? Wait till you get it, try it out, if something's not right, I hear their tech support is pretty good, and after all that you dont like it, I belive there is a money back garantee, so your golden. I really think though, that you will be more than happy with the welder.

I hope this sets your mind at ease,
Kind Regards
Mick.

Thanks for the reply - I hope the torch swap is as simple as it *looks*.

I, like many of you I'd expect, place a good mount of weight in Jody's positive reviews of the Everlast machines. If I do have issues, however, I don't have the background to effectively troubleshoot issues like Jody certainly has.

It's kind of surprising that no one here has swapped that big 'euro' torch out yet....hopefully someone will come along and share their experience(s).

::lc::

MP5A2 wrote:Thanks for the reply - I hope the torch swap is as simple as it *looks*.

I, like many of you I'd expect, place a good mount of weight in Jody's positive reviews of the Everlast machines. If I do have issues, however, I don't have the background to effectively troubleshoot issues like Jody certainly has.

It's kind of surprising that no one here has swapped that big 'euro' torch out yet....hopefully someone will come along and share their experience(s).

::lc::

Quite a few have swapped out the Euro Torch. Go to the Everlast Tech Support forum. There are a number of threads there.

Thurmond

I swapped mine out for a WP 20. I also built a cooler for it. I haven't used an air cooled torch but I did use my 20 for a while before I built the cooler and it would get hot enough that I would have to take a break and let it cool down. Then I went and over did it and burned up the power cable.

That's when I built the cooler

I'm not sure which power adapter you would need for the torch you plan on using but they are out there. The machine is a 50mm dinse connector so that's what you'll be after.

Links to what I used

The QSW 350

http://www.weldcraft.com/parts-accessor ... s-and-qcs/

Water and gas connectors

http://weldingdirect.com/quicmalfitfo.html

http://weldingdirect.com/quicfemtypfo.html

Thanks, Bill, I appreciate the helpful advice (and the links)!

::lc::

WILD BILL wrote:I swapped mine out for a WP 20. I also built a cooler for it. I haven't used an air cooled torch but I did use my 20 for a while before I built the cooler and it would get hot enough that I would have to take a break and let it cool down. Then I went and over did it and burned up the power cable.

That's when I built the cooler

I'm not sure which power adapter you would need for the torch you plan on using but they are out there. The machine is a 50mm dinse connector so that's what you'll be after.

Links to what I used

The QSW 350

http://www.weldcraft.com/parts-accessor ... s-and-qcs/

Water and gas connectors

http://weldingdirect.com/quicmalfitfo.html

http://weldingdirect.com/quicfemtypfo.html

Just saw this

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/forum ... nsumables)

I hear you with the small hands. I just purchased a 250 EX a few weeks ago and bought a WP 20 on the purchase. Got a great deal so I couldn't refuse it. I decided to start with the larger torch ( WP 26 ) so I had something to compare with. I hate to say it once you get on to it the WP 26 it isn't that bad to handle, just gets a little heavy after a while. The WP 20 is definately a better fitting torch and with the flex head it doesn't take much to get spoiled with it. I have been running my cooler with it as an insurance policy until I become more comfortable with my settings. The only issue I had was that when you buy your cooler , if you go that route is that you only get one set of male adapters. The WP 20 doesn't come with it's own adapters. This is a pain in the backside as if you want to switch torches you have change the adapters. What I found was that the return hose is not braided on mine and the fitting, well, doesn't fit. I had to heat the hose to get it to pass over the adapter. You should consider getting a second set so switching over torches is quick and easy as with all welding proceedures, lol. Also if you are going to use a foot pedal you may want to relocate the thumb switch it will give you more room on the handle to manouver. I use both and it is simple to relocate it if you need to.

Enjoy

Don't sweat buying the 250 EX. It is a great unit and has most all the bells and whistles. Don't let the chinkaphobes scare you. I've had a few friends who said that buying Chinese was a big mistake. So far, I've proved them wrong.

If you want to get another torch, what I did was take my factory supplied torch to my LWS and they matched the fittings to any torch I chose. They said that I could pretty much adapt any torch to just about any machine. Do that and you will not have a problem. I found the European style WP18 torch to be just too big even though I have large hands. You know what they say about guys with large hands and large feet.......you'll need large gloves and large shoes.

BTW...another worthwhile modification is a different pedal. This post on another site has a good write up on an SSC controls Lincoln style foot pedal. http://www.everlastgenerators.com/forum ... al-Upgrade

They make the foot pedals for Lincoln and can adapt them to an Everlast.

BTW again............I don't work for Everlast and don't even know anyone who does other than talking to them on the phone. I'm not married to the owners daughter....and I don't even know if he has one. If it was a POS welder, I'd say so.