Just got my 225LX and tried it out

[DiabolicZ]

Took pictures of the box. Didn't look like there was any damage. Opened it up and pulled it out all looked good. Then I stared looking at the front of the machine. It appears that the two top screws that hold the front panel on are stripped out. They were loose allowing the control board to move in and out when I went to turn knobs. I tried to tighten them down, but they just spun, no getting tighter.

Meh whatever, lets try it out. It came with some weird plug, don't know what it is for, so I pulled my plug off of my Miller plasma cutter to barrow. Hooked it up, turned it on and the fan inside was rubbing on something a little bit. No biggie...

Hooked up the gas, regulated it to 6 liters. Put in a normal green 3/32 tungsten brand new fresh sharpened. First weld went just fine on aluminum. Played with some settings... Welded some more at a different frequency and AC balance. Just fine again. Then I went to put it back to the original setting of about 100hz and put the AC balance back where it was too, and my High Frequency quit working. For anyone who doesn't know what it is like when the HF is not working, you go to start your arc and it is kind of violent and you cant really make out a spark and what you think is a spark is all over the place. If you take your tungsten and just barely touch it to your base metal, everything kicks off and you are welding like normal. HF makes it to where you don't have to touch your tungsten to the base metal.

Anyways, so it looks like I will be getting in touch with tech support to go over how to adjust the points on the HF when I get a chance. While I'm in there, I will move whatever made it's way to the fan. Maybe I'll pull off the front cover and figure out what to do about those stripped out screws...

Other than that, I'm not disappointed. Working like it is supposed to for the most part, just needs some tinkering which I am more than capable of doing. It is different than my Lincoln Precision TIG 185, that is for sure, but I will get used to it. Not in a bad way, just different. It does have a nice arc that is for sure. It seems to pack more of a punch than the Lincoln at the same amperage too.

I have not tried any of the 4t operations or the pulsing features yet. I will post up when I do.

I have an intake manifold I have to make for a customer this week, so I will probably be using this welder on that. We'll see how it goes.

[Wrenchtamer]

Just so you know, pure tungsten is not recommended for use with everlast machines, or any inverter as far as I know.

[DiabolicZ]

Just so you know, pure tungsten is not recommended for use with everlast machines, or any inverter as far as I know.

That is exactly what I thought too. The day I ordered my machine, I talked to Mark who is the one who sold it to me. I asked him what tungsten I needed to go buy because all I had was the regular red and green. He informed me that those are fine and that I can use them on this machine.

So... I did.

[presure2]

Looking forward to seeing some pics when you have some time, man.

[WILD BILL]

Have you tried the red 2% thoriated?

Might make a difference over the pure.

[DiabolicZ]

Have you tried the red 2% thoriated?

Might make a difference over the pure.

Ok... This machine is pretty ****ing cool...

I just did. 2% thoriated makes a world of difference. I may pick up a stick of zirconiated tomorrow when I go to get more gas and filler rod.

Played with pulse a little. Played with 2t and 4t. Took a small video, but I have to figure out how to upload it on to this computer. I just got this computer yesterday so I have not gotten that far yet..

Anyways... Some quirks here and there. My pedal quit working. Turns out there is a spring to hold the geared rod tight to the potentiometer in the pedal. That spring wasn't pulling on the rod hard enough. This let it slip away from the pot. I could not get full amperage and could not figure out why till I looked closer. Had to make a small modification.

Fan issue, pulled the rear cover and jacked with the fan for a minute. Seems to be fine now.

I have a dent in the side of my case that I did not notice before. It is right at a screw head. Looks like the screw took the impact.


All in all, I like the machine. However, I could see how someone would be pissed off if they opened it, hooked it all up and #### wasn't working right. I am one of those people who can fix just about anything though, so it's not a problem for me to make the small adjustments needed here and there.

[dgarnier]

hmm I also have a 250 on order and was told they all come in at the same time. I have not gotten a tracking number yet, nor have I herd of any one else getting 1 recently. Was this a referb unit? Did the 250's miss the boat?

[performance]

That is exactly what I thought too. The day I ordered my machine, I talked to Mark who is the one who sold it to me. I asked him what tungsten I needed to go buy because all I had was the regular red and green. He informed me that those are fine and that I can use them on this machine.

So... I did.

OK, I wish we could rewind that conversation....Maybe you misheard me...I said NOT to use the green under any circumstances....use ANY color but green! I can't imagine saying use green...I even put it in the manual not to.It may have been a disconnect between my brain and mouth.
But in reality, I would not recommend Zirconiated either, because, it is my understanding, it was developed for Transformers for improved performance on AC...but not the best for inverters. Lanthanated will work well. Nothing wrong with thoriated.

The shipment is not in yet. We will announce it. It probably was (and this has happened before) an unit that got separated from the main batch, pulled into the office or something for a spot check or something and forgot under a desk...Not sure, but just sayin...its happened something like that before.

Diabolic.
If any thing is not right, we will make it right. We have seen some stripped screws recently and of course we have been battling that foot pedal problem. Its much better than it was, but still not perfect. Hopefully we can resolve that completely in the not too distant future...we are working on it. Its likely that the nuts are too tight...I have seen this happen. The spring might be fine, just too much resistance on the pivot will keep it from pulling it against the cog.

[WILD BILL]

Glad to hear your running at full speed now.

I've used both the 2% thoriated and 2% lanthinated and both work well.

[DiabolicZ]

Ok, got it... NO GREEN TUNGSTEN! No zirconiated either. I didn't get an owners manual, so I would not have seen it in there.

The thoriated works good. Then I'll grab some lanthanated tomorrow. You probably said what you meant to say. I most likely just heard you wrong. Either way, when using the correct tungsten, the HF works fine.

As far as my machine being refurbished or not... dunno, dont care. It's got the same warranty either way.

The stripped out screws don't bother me as long as I can just fix that issue myself without voiding my warranty.

As far as the spring goes, I just pulled it further and hooked it on the cut out slot that is a little further back in the base plate to give the spring more tension. Works great now.

[performance]

Diabolic,
We have all the manuals loaded online. They are not included in the package, since we update them periodically. We will eventually get the US manuals into the packaging. But for now since they are online.

Fixing screws, or anything like that won't nullify the warranty... Just don't go making design changes to the circuitry.

[DiabolicZ]

Can any of you guys tell me the limited low side on this machine? I thought it was either 10 or 20 amps on AL and then 5amps on DCEN.

It does get cold enough before I cut the arc on AC, but i have to wait a few seconds for that puddle to freeze. Finding it challenging to keep that fish eye out of the last bead when I cut it off.

[performance]

AC is 20 amps. DC is 5.

Turn your down slope to minimum and turn your switch to 2T.

[DiabolicZ]

AC is 20 amps. DC is 5.

Turn your down slope to minimum and turn your switch to 2T.

Down slope is off, pulse is off. Everything is off. Only thing I use is the foot pedal. That is typically how I weld. I thinks it's just going to be me getting used to it is all. Every machine runs a little differently.

[DiabolicZ]

Here you can see how much smaller the Everlast is compared to the Lincoln.



Here is my first AC weld with the Everlast. This weld was done before I figured out you are NOT supposed to run the green 100% pure tungsten. Not perfect, but not bad for just setting the knobs on the first try and going with it.


I have a video too, but it is pretty boring.

[DiabolicZ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euk-OJFTfVI

[Salty]

Ok... This machine is pretty ****ing cool...

I just did. 2% thoriated makes a world of difference. I may pick up a stick of zirconiated tomorrow when I go to get more gas and filler rod.

Played with pulse a little. Played with 2t and 4t. Took a small video, but I have to figure out how to upload it on to this computer. I just got this computer yesterday so I have not gotten that far yet..

Anyways... Some quirks here and there. My pedal quit working. Turns out there is a spring to hold the geared rod tight to the potentiometer in the pedal. That spring wasn't pulling on the rod hard enough. This let it slip away from the pot. I could not get full amperage and could not figure out why till I looked closer. Had to make a small modification.

Fan issue, pulled the rear cover and jacked with the fan for a minute. Seems to be fine now.

I have a dent in the side of my case that I did not notice before. It is right at a screw head. Looks like the screw took the impact.


All in all, I like the machine. However, I could see how someone would be pissed off if they opened it, hooked it all up and #### wasn't working right. I am one of those people who can fix just about anything though, so it's not a problem for me to make the small adjustments needed here and there.

I had a similar problem with my pedal I turned it over and put a couple of drops of lube on the pivot points and its worked fine since. Just my two cents, good luck.

[DiabolicZ]

So, I must admit. I was a little bit skeptical when I saw the size of that tiny wire coming off the back of my Everlast compared to the size coming off the back of my Lincoln. However, after welding with the Everlast for a while, that wire doesn't heat up at all. I'm impressed by this inverter technology.

[dgarnier]

did it warm up on the lincoln?

[DiabolicZ]

did it warm up on the lincoln?

No, But the cable on the Lincoln is three times the size of the Everlast. The old cable I had going to the breaker would heat up. It was 10gauge. I replaced it with a larger 6 gauge cable and no more heat. However, the cable coming out of the Everlast is probably 10 gauge. So I figured I would feel some heat on it at least a little. Not so much though.