Welding Tips and Tricks

I've been using an Everlast PowerMIG I-200 for some welds, because I could (with slight modification) fit it through a 16" manway.

I've been very pleased with the performance. I'm burning .035 308 wire in it, though I think I'd have more control with .030 wire.

Here's a couple of rather poor pictures; The first contains code- and non-code- welds (the fillet to the outer vessel is coded), and the second is a very poorly focused picture of a code mirror-weld. I've so far run about 20 feet of 1/4" fillets and butts and the machine just hums along beautifully.

Steve S

I have that same machine, and have been pleased with it too.

Looks good!

I will put up some "finished" pictures tomorrow or Monday...

This project had about 16' of TIG (on a sychrowave), and 22' of MIG done with that li'l everlast. All the everlast welds are ASME code. I was VERY pleased with the little beast.

Steve S

Here's an overview of the finished product... There's 22 feet of MIG weld there, all to code, done with the Everlast. There's also 16 feet of TIG in that mess, done with a Synchrowave.

Steve S

Is that a baffle or the end plate from the inside?

That's the front head, seen from inside. This was a leak, from a seriously under-designed front support structure. After the leak was repaired and x-rayed (another welder did that part, as only two of us were coded and I was on another project), I installed the seriously over-designed new inner structure.

I should have taken some pictures of the outer structure, but I have to be very careful what I photograph. The inner vessel is rather generic, and half the work there isn't actually to anyone's drawings but mine, and those exist only in my head. They're based on drawings we received, but they were for a hemispherical head, and would not work as drawn (frankly, it would be impossible to weld parts of it) because this head is parabolic.

The idea behind the new outer structure is a large heavy doubler on each side, whose weld outline you can see, that rests on composite blocks (Delryn, I think), so the front of the vessel can slide as it expands and contracts. (It must see -283*F in service, and as much as +250*F in maintenance, so that inner vessel moves a bit.)

Steve S

Understand completely about not being able to take pics of things due to confidentiality. Very cool even from the non descript side. Nice to see the doubler plates on the end of the gussets. It's hard to realize just how much stress can be put on something from thermal expansion until you do the math on a materials expansion rate or see the results if left unchecked. Do you see signs of excessive wear on the feed parts compared to higher dollar machines?

Looks like it is doing a fine job, but I tend to believe it's the weldor and not the welder.

What made your company try the Everlast?

Rick_H wrote:Looks like it is doing a fine job, but I tend to believe it's the weldor and not the welder.

What made your company try the Everlast?

If you've read any of his other posts, it seems that they have perceived budget issues and hate to spend money

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Rick_H wrote:Looks like it is doing a fine job, but I tend to believe it's the weldor and not the welder.

What made your company try the Everlast?

The Everlast is my personal machine.

It was chosen because I showed it would (with very slight modification) fit through a 16" manway, and operate at full capacity on a 100' extension cord I specified and assembled (10/3 fine braid, at about $1.80/ft). It was far less headache than operating a spool gun, with much better reach from the rather small but durable torch.

And thank you for the compliment. I think the machine did well enough to forgive me a few operator errors, as it's damned hard to maintain a good position in a small, round space slick with grinding dust...

Steve S

Poland308 wrote:.... Do you see signs of excessive wear on the feed parts compared to higher dollar machines?

I assume this question refers to the Everlast, and it's feed system?

I do not have nearly enough time on the machine to judge that yet. It's a simpler feed system, with a vee-grooved drive roller and flat idler (not driven). It reminds me in general format of those cheapo Italian welders sold under the Snap-On label some years ago, but it's much more robust.

Time will tell, but I don't expect to pile hours on this machine quickly, as I don't have a home shop but have full access to every tool at work at any hour...

I do want to experiment with it as a scratch-start TIG, as it could do bench work on lots of stuff where start mode and remote amp control are non-issues.

Steve S

One other comment I'll add...

I was not wasting time welding that out... In that 22' of MIG (.035 wire, 20.1 V, 300 IPM), I only hit the duty cycle once, and the machine immediately stopped power (kept feed wire, so I knew instinctively). I waited to see when the warning light went off, and it took less than five minutes. I then crawled out for a piss break and coffee, and crawled back in and finished, in almost continuous duty.

So, the duty cycle certainly exceeded the claim, AND the overheat protection worked well.

Steve S

Are you using the mig gun it came with or did you upgrade?

I'm using the gun I got with it. Fits in tight spaces, and very flexible.

Seems to be a Tweco clone, probably rated for 200A

Steve S