Everlast PowerMaster 205 stick/tig/plasma welder/cutter combo

I received this Everlast PowerMaster 205 combo unit on 8/12/2009 as a warranty replacement for my Super250P that died and its first faulty replacement PowerMaster 205 that died. The unit seems pretty high quality, but the documentation is inadequate. Hopefully it will stand the test of time unlike its older brothers. The manual is much better than the manuals for the Super series with more complete specification tables and function descriptions. Hopefully some of the stuff I have here will help clear up questions for others.

Initial Stress Testing 8/18/2009

I finally had time to unpack, setup, and test the welder today. It was over 100 degrees in my garage. I set everything up and began testing. I stick welded at full power with and without arc force up to the duty cycle time of 60% or 6 minutes. Next I plasma cut at full power up to the duty cycle time of 60% or 6 minutes. Next I DC TIG welded at full power for about one minute. Finally, I AC TIG welded some aluminum at 120A for about 4 minutes. I never exceeded the recommended duty cycle time and thermal protection never kicked in. So, the welder definitely passed my initial stress test.

Discussion and Results

The great news is that the specifications match my RMS measurements and my measurements match the LED readout. There is no discrepancy between peak and RMS current and the LED readout like on the Super250P it replaced. The real surprise is that the PowerMaster 205 actually has more power than the Super250P because of the difference between peak and RMS ratings. The PowerMaster 205 managed 205A welding vs the Super250P's 180A. The PowerMaster 205 also managed 56A cutting vs the Super250P's 40A. Excellent! So, the PowerMaster 205 seems like a much better unit so far. I hope Everlast continues to improve their units and this new one is definitely a step in the right direction.

I will post correct and updated specifications here as I make actual measurements. These specifications are followed by photographs, which are followed by videos at the bottom of the page.

This unit does:
* stick/arc/MMA/SMAW welding
* TIG/GTAW welding
* plasma cutting/plasma arc cutting/PAC

Using:
* DC
* AC 20-100Hz
* DC Pulse (rapidly switching between two current levels)
* AC Pulse (rapidly switching between two current levels)

Here is a great discussion on welder power and that mysteriously defined arc force control, aka dig. Basically, it allows you to have some control of welding current by adjusting the arc length when stick/arc/MMA/SMAW welding. It boosts current by the chosen amount when the arc length is below a given level. If arc force is set to 50A, it will boost welding current by 50A when you push the stick electrode close enough to the weld pool. Apparently, this is useful when stick welding deep and narrow to achieve good penetration and prevent sticking. The manuals only mention Arc Force in the stick/arc/MMA/SMAW context and do not explain it.






Here I put a 1/4" NPT quick-connect that is normally used for compressed air.


Then I created an adapter from by B-size to 1/4" hose barb/nipple to 1/4" NPT. I used normal plumbing soldering flux and solder to attach a 1/4" NPT female coupler to the hose connection that came with my argon regulator. This allows me to attach a quick-connect compressed air style hose to the argon bottle and connect it to the regulator on the back of the welder. I can set the pressure to 65 psi with compressed air attached for plasma cutting. Then I can quickly switch from compressed air to argon.



Here are two youtube videos of the PowerMaster 205 in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DgA-13ftQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T6U9OyR5qk


I will keep my PowerMaster 205 page up to date.