Everything You Wanted To Know Related To Everlast TIG Torches & Basic Welding. Part 5

Everything you wanted to know related to Everlast TIG torches and basic welding:  The Good, the Bad, and the Important FAQ’s. Part 5

Another question that relates specifically to Everlast’s welding products is: 

Will my TIG torch be compatible and is it standard so I can get it locally? 

For those of you who know a little more about welding, this may seem to be a really basic, if not strange question.  However, the answer is more complex than one might suspect as it varies with the process and what is considered to be “standard” and compatible in each process.   For TIG welding, years ago, the industry pretty much standardized around old designs from Linde, which are now held by ESAB.  These designs for TIG torches were called “Series 2” and “Series 3”.  All the major manufacturers that joined the TIG welding industry began making the same series TIG torches at some point and these two series of torches were subdivided up into specific numbers designating the torches as water cooled, air cooled, and further subdividing them by amperage and application.  Each torch received it’s own numbers.   For simplicity’s sake, we’ll deal the basic models that are most common.  The torches that fall under series 2 are the 9 (air cooled 125 amp) and the 20 (water cooled 250 amp).  The torches that fall under the series 3 torches are the 17 (air cooled 150 amp), 26 (air cooled 200 amp)   and 18 (water cooled 350 amp)Now you may see prefixes of WP 9 or WP 20, or some other prefix variation, but torches with the same numbers are compatible.  Nowadays amp ratings can vary, and even “new” torches with varying model numbers have appeared, but they still revolve around the same two basic sizes of consumables.   The 2 series, as the amperage ratings would suggest are both smaller TIG torches with the same consumables.  The 3 would be the larger with the same consumables.  The main difference would be the 17 is a little more compact in girth and length in some cases.  The 26 and 18 are fairly close in size.  As for Everlast torches, ours are no different.  They are the same and the torches provided with the units will typically have local availability IF the local  supplier carries TIG components at all, which I’ve found to be an issue in some sections of the country where TIG is not common.