Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi all, I have been welding for 35 years, 12 as a Millwright all over Iowa, Nebraska and Illinios. I have a Miller Dialarc hf-p, a Miller 250 mig with a spoolgun attachment that I added for Aluminum, a Miller 450 Pulstar with a 54-d feeder and a XR alumapro with 25 foot push pull gun. My Neighbor has welding shop but doesn't weld aluminum so I end up doing those jobs. Also there are 2 business's in town that I do work for occasionally. Now for my question, I have been looking at getting a Everlast 325ext inverter based machine for doing tig work on aluminum because I think it will be easier to control the arc with pulse over my old transformer machine. A year ago I welded up a turbo set up for my brother, who owns a mechanic shop. It was made out of 1/16 aluminum and I've often thought it would be easier to do with pulse. What are your guys/gals thoughts on this. I would set it up the same as my old Miller with a water cooler.

Metal Fabricator wrote:Hi all, I have been welding for 35 years, 12 as a Millwright all over Iowa, Nebraska and Illinios. I have a Miller Dialarc hf-p, a Miller 250 mig with a spoolgun attachment that I added for Aluminum, a Miller 450 Pulstar with a 54-d feeder and a XR alumapro with 25 foot push pull gun. My Neighbor has welding shop but doesn't weld aluminum so I end up doing those jobs. Also there are 2 business's in town that I do work for occasionally. Now for my question, I have been looking at getting a Everlast 325ext inverter based machine for doing tig work on aluminum because I think it will be easier to control the arc with pulse over my old transformer machine. A year ago I welded up a turbo set up for my brother, who owns a mechanic shop. It was made out of 1/16 aluminum and I've often thought it would be easier to do with pulse. What are your guys/gals thoughts on this. I would set it up the same as my old Miller with a water cooler.

Nice list of equipment!

I use pulse with stainless a good bit, but I really don't use it on alum and I can stack dimes fine, transformer or inverter.

Where a newer tech welder will help you since you've been welding so long is being able to adjust en and ep and frequency...its amazing what that can do for you on aluminum.

Sorry no experience with the Everlast equipment.

Welcome to WTAT

Rick, That's what I meant to say instead of pulse. With my old machine I'm stuck at 60 hz. It would be nice to be able to adjust the frequency range. I can stack dimes too, but sometimes it would be nice if they didn't have to be as wide, just a little smaller width and still knowing I'm getting the penetration that I need. Yeah my wife thinks I got too much equipment, I gave a small list of what I have. I also have a small machine shop and a full mechanic shop. Funny how I don't hear her complain when something needs fixed. As you can probably tell I'm a little partial to Big Blue and if a new one from Miller wasn't so expensive I would go that route as I have ALWAYS had good luck with there equipment, Professionly, hobby or otherwise. Never had a problem with a Miller. Thanks for the reply.

Pulse can also be used to help stiffen up the arc, the same way it does with DC pulse. You can also use triangular waveform to help limit some heat input while still utilizing a high amperage peak, again stiffening up the arc. Just dial in the max welding amps to suit.

I have one Everlast machine... the Power IMig200, a little underpowered for what I used it for, but it still performed flawlessly and did ASME code welds.

The impressions I've accumulated on Everlast from reading reviews are:
If you're going to have a problem, it will most likely be right out of the box, and their customer service will respond quickly.
Everyone who has had a trouble-free machine have responded positively to the available features.
There has been some debate on the foot control... Apparently it's worth the upgrade to the "premium".
People with water coolers seem to prefer to add a CK torch. I'm a fan of the CK water-cooled torches, but with no experience using them with Everlast.

I'm hoping you get some first-hand reviews on the 325, and soon. I'm going to have to make recommendations on tooling up a shop soon, and the economy of Green over Blue or Red could certainly be a factor, as I'll never sell the advanced features on the Red or Blue.

Steve S