why buy green instead of red or blue?

[backhoe]

Hey guy's,new member here needing an ac/dc tig to repair flat bottom aluminum boats.I've been making do with my Miller 212 and spool gun butit's a PITA on the thin ones where I can't use a backing plate, so I'm shopping. I've got the money for the 185 micro now but a little hesitant to spend on anything that ain't blue or red but at the same time I can't really afford them. All I want is a basic machine,and the green one fit's the bill and pocket book. I quess I'm asking to be convinced, now let me hear it!

[Trip59]

Read through the forum, check out the vid reviews on weldingtipsandtricks.com that combo was enough for me (soon as $$ is available anyhow) I'm not even looking at red and blue anymore. Another thing, check around on service and people's thoughts on service for all three, I'm beyond impressed with what I've seen and frankly, scared to look at red on that note.

[parkour]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Best thing I can say is that if you're reluctant to go Everlast green, and not in a hurry to get the welder, just hang out on the forum for a while. That is what I did. I found that there were a lot of happy Everlast users, and yes problems creep up, but the staff seem to do everything you could expect to rectify the situation. I have never heard anywhere of anyone having problems and not getting it worked out by Everlast.

When I got my 250EX, the entire shipment was sold before it even arrived in port. All of the new 250EXT's were sold before they arrived too. I can only imagine that Everlast is doing a pretty good business, and I've never seen a used Everlast machine for sale. They work. If they don't it will be fixed. Then why sell? You just paid 1/5 of what you would have to blue or red.

Check out weldingtipsandtricks on youtube (link)

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eta; darn, beat by one minute.

[DaveO]

Welcome, Backhoe!

For me one of the big draws for Everlast is the positive reviews and comparisons done independently at WeldingTipsAndTricks.com. The guy that runs the website is a no-nonsense type, knowledgeable and funny to boot. I was looking for a used Red or Blue when somebody pointed me toward Everlast, and then I found WTandT.com, and that and the 5-year warranty clinched me.

Another selling point for the 185 Micro: it's available in a dual voltage model for true portability. That may suit your kind of work very well. And btw there's a 185 Micro video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fguSYx-gjjg

So again, welcome to the forums, and let us know what you decide. Can I ask, what town are you in, and are you welding exclusively on alumnium boats?

[backhoe]

Ya I'm hearing ya just keep on talking. No ,not a full time welder,it and blacksmithing is apaying hobby.

[brianscott]

The machine works great. Good luck if you have a problem
and need to deal with sales. I've had my machine for
6 months and my issue has yet to be resolved.

I've only dealt with Mike R. in tech support
and he has been outstanding.

[zoama]

The machine works great. Good luck if you have a problem
and need to deal with sales. I've had my machine for
6 months and my issue has yet to be resolved.

I've only dealt with Mike R. in tech support
and he has been outstanding.

What would it take to solve your problem ?

[brianscott]

A new machine. I was told 4 months ago
a new one was coming soon. I guess I don't
know the definition of "soon".

[Oleg]

The machine works great. Good luck if you have a problem
and need to deal with sales. I've had my machine for
6 months and my issue has yet to be resolved.

I've only dealt with Mike R. in tech support
and he has been outstanding.

Brain ... you the one who WANTED TO WAIT FOR NEW 2012 LX units to come in
we already set up exchange you. This is same Brain with Solenoid not shutting off automatically .

if you not happy with us still , i will offer you full refund on unit that been used for 6 month. I think you told me you were using for all this time but had to shut off the welder to get the Solenoid shut off.



.

[zoama]

@Brian, I would wait on the new machine if I were you. No one likes to wait but you know the old saying about good, fast and cheap... you can only pick two.

[Titan winch]

Practically no one ever mentions the 200DX. This welder is a great performer and is practically bullet proof . I do not know of any common issues or problems with this Weder as i have never had a complaint about one.
The US Office may have had one or possibly two units in for warranty work , but here in Canada i have not seen one issue and i have carried them for close to 3 years now.

I am leaving on Monday for the Factory and without letting to much information out before we are ready i will say there are a couple of new products that we are working on . Amongst these is a new 200 amp AC/DC Tig.
We will also be having a new portable ( similar carrying case to 140ST ) 160 amp dual voltage stick with tig in both lift and HF start that we are very excited about.
The dual voltage 185 units ( only a limited number came in shipment ) will be put through there paces during the next 2 weeks and then full production will begin in january
.

[bobkat]

I can give you this information,,, I have a blue, red and brown. Miller, Lincoln andHobart.
Last year i started looking around for a used inverter tig for portability, I ran across the everlast site and did some checking and reading, My friends all cried JUNK, But with too many positive posts i purchased a 200 dx, I was hesitant to purchase but decided to try one out figured witha 5 year warranty they cant be junk or they would be doing warranty work on all the units, Which in the business world is not profitable.I know I have a product that i warranty for 5 years to my customers,WHY?? Because i dont have much problems so it is easy for me to do. Anyway on to the welder,, I AM QUITE SURPRISED ,it is an excellent machine for the $$$$. I think it welds as good as my blue one, My nay sayer friends also surprised. One year trouble free so far, Matter of fact just rcvd my pp50 plasma this evening, Looks like a great unit for the money, We will see, It did arrive with the back panel cracked/ damaged , but that is a shipping issue,, Go for it, i think you will be happy.

[DaveO]

Bobkat and Titan Winch, thanks for bringing the thread back on topic. I was wondering if Backhoe might consider the 200DX, since it would give the capability of DC stick welding. It's a touch more, and I understand about tight budgets, but might be worth thinking about!

[sportbike]

I agree with the 200DX being probably the best value out there for 90% of the users. I bought one and it works great.

[backhoe]

Good morning guy's, I put my last post on the tig thread, sorry. I have a stick welder, mig and plasma so I just want a tig,but wondered if the dx200 might be better just for the pulse and foot pedal. I'm just conserned with thin like .095 aluminum on the worn out flat bottom's I patch up. I figure it's got to better than my spool gun as for as burn through. Thank's again and have blessed day.

[sportbike]

You can use the pulse to reduce the effective output of eh welder as well. For .095, you will still need a fair amount f current to weld it. Aluminum typically takes more current then steel due to the high thermal conductivity of aluminum. You will probably between 70-100 amps, depending on the type of joint you are working with.

[jerky]

i was hesitant about buying green as well, but for the price, you cant even look at red or blue. so far the service has been great to me and i havent even got my machines yet. i use blue all day long and really i love them. i wasent even going to look at anything else, but like i said, for the price i couldnt buy what i wanted from blue. for the home shop, i believe this is a great purchase.

[sportbike]

I am an Engineer that works with a design / prototyping / fabrication for a variety of things from Large Art Sculptures to Unmanned ground combat vehicles to ship hulls, etc...

Our machine . weld shop manager used to be a full time welder, and is a die hard US made kind of guy. Whe looking at welders last spring, he was showing me Miller and lincoln, and I showed him the everlast welders. He, even being anti chinese-import as much as possible (as am I honestly), said, might as well give it a shot. As most know, you cannot even get remotely close to a Miller or Lincoln unit with anywhere near the features for the cost of an everlast.

After talking with Oleg, I purchased a 200 DX. I could have gone bigger, but I made my decision based on 2 things. The first was the availability of the guys at work to weld anything that was too big for the 200dx. I can layout, prep, and tack, then bring to work to get it welded. (quite frankly, if it is too big for the 200DX, I probably shouldn't be welding it anyway as I am far from a great welder and in my case, that woudl mean a major structural component of a Motorcycle frame or swingarm modification on my race bike.)
The second reason was the input power / current requirements. I am currently operating my 200DX at full power with a 100+ ft 10 gauge extension cord off of my dryer plug. I was going to wire in a 40 or 50A 240v outlet in my garage, but that would have added almost the cost of the welder to do so. My house only has a 100A service and the box is pretty much full at that.

Once I received the welder, I took it into work, and the shop manager was quite impressed with all of the features (of which he admittedly noted that they really aren't needed most of the time anyway). the only deficiency we could find as compared to the Miller syncrowaves was the max power output (which we knew going in). We have a Miller Aerowave welder int eh shop as well (while we don't usually use most of the features either)

I think the 185 is a good welder for most, but quite frankly, I wold go with a 200DX. If the 110V option is of benefit for you, then the 185 (dual voltage) may be the way to go, otherwise, go with eh 200DX.

John

[outsidegangskilled]

I don't have any issues with people buying foreign products, only when they bitch about jobs in America not being here anymore. When I first started in the trades it was all about quality of tools. If your tools couldn't make it to the end of the day it meant loss income. Money is tight when you first start out and can remember buying a lot of black n decker until I saved up for craftsman tools. I am a Retired UAW Electrician now and have the Samson 510 Plasmacam table with a Hypertherm 1000. I purchased a Supercut 50 2 years ago and right out of the box it never worked? I spoke to many in support and finally was told to return it for repairs. They had it for almost 5 months before i finally got upset and asked to upgrade it to trhe Powerplasma 50 so it could be used with my Plasma table. I got it early this year 2011 and right out of the box....it didn't work!!! I called support and was told the solenoid sticks and if i felt comfortable I could take it apart and slightly stretch the spring out. It worked! Then it didn't, and then did, etc etc. I just bought Hypertherms Powermax 85. It works awesome and so does the 1000 still to this day with all day cutting. I just saw a youtube video of a newer PP50 that has push on air lines inside the box where mine has this chep thin black tubing with pinched hose clamps that are always coming loose. So maybe the newer units are made a little better now. ( I have only had this one for 8 months so why wasn't it built better)
I should do a youtube video with the PP50 and Powermax 1000 or 85 cutting side by side all day and see what happens? Oh yeah, I forgot! My PP50 hasn't worked from day One!
Two units, brand new and right out of the box they didn't work! Could you imagine explaining to my customers I can't do the job because my brand new units don't work? And it might be 5-6 months before I get them back from warranty repairs! The 5 year warranty was what eased my mind also, but if it is in the shop more than in the field what good is it?
I still have all my emails and calls from support and many talks with Oleg!
So if its about money than buy what you can afford! But that old saying always holds true...you get what you pay for!
And with this being my second unit that hasn't worked, and two different models, you might say I am not a happy camper.
Ironically I am set up here as a Dealer. When people come to my shop and see the PowerPlasma 50 sitting there besides my two Hypertherm units and say they came to purchase a unit where they saw my name listed as a Dealer, I show them how it works. Remember, word of mouth is your best sales, and quality is #1!
I have videos of my testing and working on my original Supercut 50 until I returned it for warranty and show them that along with this unit not working, and they usually end up saving for the Hypertherm. And replacing the solenoid for the same solenoid? Just comparing Hypertherms to Everlast internal parts shows so much more quality just in the air lines used, the thickness of metal in parts and quality of soldering boards. Oh yeah, and that 5 year warranty? I had to pay for shipping both ways and to upgrade from the supercut to the PP50! Even though they had my unit over 5 months and I finally said if you can't fix it send me another one! I can understand paying for an upgraded model but fo shipping? When it wasn't my fault and right out of the box? For anyone who does have an issue I would recommend you sending it right back for repairs and don't attempt the repairs yourself. That way, if its broke right from the start, it will be thier responsibility for shipping

[performance]

Ron,
As far as I know I have never heard from you, or of you in the part of tech support I work with. I checked all my emails searching for your name and NOTHING appears. You don't even mention what was wrong with the unit....You just blast away. It sounds as if you have a hidden agenda of promoting hypertherm, more than anything here...you are comparing apples and oranges on units that are much larger and MUCH more expensive than the PP 50. How can anyone take that seriously? I can't remember a PP 50 that didn't cut right out of the box. I know we have had a torch issue or two, but its usually easily resolved. Again, not even trying to logically discuss the issue with the unit, and just blasting away smells fishy. You might be legit, but you need to know when to quit. There are far better ways of approaching this, as in pm'ing us. One thread you posted on, another customer had an issue, you apparently didn't do your homework because customer service got what he thought was a previously nonfunctioning unit cutting to his satisfaction so far. You missed all those posts in your short spamming spree.

As we have proven here time and time again, you typically don't get two non functioning units (if any at all) without it being an issue with operator error. It's rarely happened...I mean rarely.
PowerPlasma 50 799.
Hypertherm PowerMax 85 3G.

If you want to discuss these issues, contact me, Mike or Ray, otherwise...one post is enough. No more spamming if you want your posts to have any impact...because the more you spam, the more it seems like you have something a little off about your report of the "issues".

I am sure Oleg will make a reply, as I am sure there are two sides of the story. In fact, I am betting the fact that you have your unit still is a sign that there is.