The Mother Lode has arrived!!! 3 EVERLAST Machines, plus a cooler!! Pics to follow.

[hooda]

On Thursday, January 26th, a big brown truck backed over the snowbank in my front yard, and dropped off four large boxes, and a small package. All in good external condition, except the one marked "WATER COOLER", which had a 6-inch square hole ripped in the side of it. I proceeded to open the boxes, in no particular order, except the water-cooler box, which I opted to open last, in case there was mood-wrecking news inside. With my Sony HandyCam running, I gingerly cut the tape open on the first box, and pulled up on the HEAVY handle inside. There was my new PowerPlasma 70, and in the accessory box, was the requested Trafimet torch upgrade, the manual, and the rest of the accessory-pak. all immaculate. Next box, a new PowerTig 185 Micro, complete. Then the BIGGIE, I opened the box with baited-breath, and pulled out, In all it's glory, my new PowerTig 250EX, and absolute work of beauty. That is the one out of the three that I've had my eye on since I discovered Everlast, a little under a year ago. Thanks to some creativity from the finance company that Everlast uses, I was able to make a dream come true quicker than I would have otherwise by many months. Even though I will end up paying a premium for the next two years, the tax advantage will offset that premium during the term of my lease. Next, the water-cooler. I opened the box, expecting the worst, and to my surprise, all was in order, nothing was missing or damaged, and the permanent grin returned to my face. Last, I opened the small package, and inside was Everlast's WP-20 style torch. Unlike what I was expecting, after hearing about denim cable covers, my torch came equipped with a rubber-like, seamless cover, which looks like it will withstand being dragged over corners, edges and the like without snagging. It came pre-configured for the large DINSE connector on the 250EX, and pre-installed plumbing for the PowerCool W300 water cooler, and 250EX gas output port. With this setup, it takes literally a few seconds to hook up, or unhook the torch. The torch switch is the paddle-style, and is installed with zip-ties, which I actually PREFER, as it allows for east re-positioning per operator preference. It came with a consumables-pak, which included no only the full length back cap, but also a stubby cap for getting into the really tight spots. I opted to leave the supplied consumables in the package, and install some out of my existing stash of genuine heliarc parts. The 3/32" collet body, collet, back cap, and No. 5 cup screwed into the Everlast torch smoothly, and tightened up perfectly. This torch is nice and slim, and truly compatible with WP-20 consumables. Nice unit that can't be beat for the price, especially compared to the eminent headaches and extra expense involved with hooking up an aftermerket torch. For the last 2 days, I've been so busy with other matters that all I've had a chance to do is install the plug un the 250 ex, fill and hook up the W300 to the 250 EX, and run some test beads for maybe 10 minutes. So Far, So Good!! I will post more within the next day or two, including pictures!!

[donor76]

Very glad for you .We wait a photo

[67cudafb]

Congrats Life is good somtimes look foward to pics .

[jakeru]

Congrats, Hooda! You went "all out".

PS - that torch lead cover is I believe, PVC. Try to keep it away from any "just welded" parts, as hot metal can melt it. That is really neat to hear that everything hooked up without a hitch. Keep us posted how it all works!

[DaveO]

Glad to hear the hole in the watercooler box was superficial. Cool! Hooda Inc is starting to form up!

[hooda]

Howdy Folks, I've been feeling under the weather since, Ironically, Wednesday night. Started as a little bit of a "weak" feeling. and the last four days, it's just gotten worse. The fact that I've been running my tail off trying to prepare for the big arrival last Thursday has only aggravated the condition. At about 2:00 AM, lacking a proper thermometer, I hit my forehead and temples with my IR thermometer, ande it read 102.4!! I texted a local buddy to stop by after he got done working to check on me (at about 5:00 AM). He called, and I had just woke up from a 2 hour snooze, and I felt MINIMALLY better. I've been measuring my urine output, and drinking massive amounts of water, along with a little salty food, a banana, and a couple multi-vitamins. I DO NOT want to relive my kidneys shutting down, ever. Plus, I need to be healthy in case someone calls for a job interview. (I'm still looking). Anyway, When I woke up at 9:30, My back was killing me like, BAD. I'm actually thinking posibly a kidney-stone, if not, a virus. So I've been taking lots of breaks and little naps, staying in the shop area, and going back to work to make progress when I wake up. Here's some pics. First, the hole in the Water-Cooler box. NO damage whatsoever.



Big ole pile O' boxes.



Here's all 3 machines awaiting setup.



Here they are, all set up, and ready to go. Ain't it a beautiful site!!!! At this point, thanks to whatever it is that ails me, I have yet to even plug in the PP70, or the 185 micro. But I will say this, The 250 EX fired up right off the bat, NO complications whatsoever. No leaks, No HF trouble, No Arc-starting problems, all systems GO. The ONLY trouble was me not having any seat time, save for the welding test I did a few weeks back, since early last summer.



Below are the first beads with the 250EX. I burnt 2 tungstens into the cup trying to figure out that you want the AC balance to the LEFT for LESS cleaning. Once I was comfortable with 30%, I moved the AC freq from 100Hz, to 120, the last is 250Hz.



I will be posting MANY, MANY more photos, as I'm also in the middle of a ADF welding helmet review. And I have some pointers and tips that I feel are important to ensure safe, trouble-free setup, and operation. Thanks for lookin, and feel free to comment, and also request ANYTHING that you would like to see these machines do. Hey, the only thing I could do is turn you down, or we'll all learn at the same time

Good Luck, Chris Hooda

[Buzz]

Congrat Hooda, glad you like your setup, looks pretty awsome. I too melted the crap out of my tungsten--6 times! I had the leads backwards, made me really understand what EN (electrode negative) means.