My take on Everlast tig welders

[srp]

Everybody that knows me would say I am a die-hard Miller man, I have bought and wore out many Miller welders. We got our first water cooled Everlast 250EX about two years ago, we have a fab shop and weld a lot of chromemoly tubing and aluminum tubing. Our chromemoly welds have to be strong and have that race car look, the aluminum welds have to be strong, and look like the welds on the finest aluminum bicycles. The 250EX has done this day in and day out with no hiccups.

We have since added a Everlast 70 amp plasma cutter and now have another water cooled 250EX on its way. After buying tig welders costing between 4800.00 and 6500.00, its clear that Everlast is giving away things like the foot petal, flow meter, torch and cables. Replacing these things with the top of the line products like a Weldcraft 20 torch, Smith or Victor flow meter and the aftermarket petal or a least change the potentiometer to a Clarostat unit makes this welder equal to a top of the line welder. Miller Tigrunner packages come with these, but at a minimum cost of 4800.00 dollars.

Do I think Everlast is a better welder than Miller? NO! Do I think they are a better deal? YES! There is no way anybody could tell the difference between a weld of a Miller Dynasty and Everlast 250EX welder. I better stop now or the Miller people will think I don't love them anymore. LOL

I am in the market for a low cost small AC/DC tig, I was looking at the Longevity 200DX. The fact that there are 0 negative comments on their forum board and not even one person had shipping damage made me think they are deleting any negative posts. I would rather see problems being solved rather than covered up. I think I will go with a Everlast 185 Micro after I get more data on it.

After I get the new 250EX going, I will do some comparisons between the two on improvements.

[Jason]

its nice to see that a unit has lasted this kind of abuse for that long. Make me feel happier knowing the products can or will last. I would love to see some of your projects if you dont mind and have the time to post pics of them.

[Powertig]

Great post from a regular welder. I am glad to see that someone who welds day in and day out thinks that an Everlast is worth buying a second time. Longevity sorry (lifespan) is important as I won't likely wear out a welder. At least I haven't yet.

[srp]

All I can only reply to is the quality of welds my 250EX and cuts of the Everlast 70 amp plasma cutter will produce, for over two years the 250EX gets used every day and mine too will puddle in like butter. I don't know what more I could ask for, maybe an option that would massage my feet and scratch my back!!!

I have had the plasma for only about a month. All I can say is it's a monster. We are buying a second 250EX, I hope it will weld as good as the first. I will post it's performance too.

We live in Oklahoma and build drag chassis, exhaust systems and do fab work on custom motorcycles.

[brad3579]

Brad nice ss way don't you start thread and tell us about the car and your plan what engine/ tranny turbo blower you said 350 hp jump so must be something special. You can put it under projects with out welder. Love to hear about and I will post my mopars and wife's mustang have to take pics and get them posted. Good luck with build

Thank you
I will get some more pics together and do that.

We live in Oklahoma and build drag chassis, exhaust systems and do fab work on custom motorcycles.

I am on a few national car forums, if you give me a little more info on your location and capabilities I might be able to steer a few people your way.
Also, if you have a website post a link.
Thanks
Brad

[GUNNER]

All I can only reply to is the quality of welds my 250EX and cuts of the Everlast 70 amp plasma cutter will produce, for over two years the 250EX gets used every day and mine too will puddle in like butter. I don't know what more I could ask for, maybe an option that would massage my feet and scratch my back!!!

I have had the plasma for only about a month. All I can say is it's a monster. We are buying a second 250EX, I hope it will weld as good as the first. I will post it's performance too.

We live in Oklahoma and build drag chassis, exhaust systems and do fab work on custom motorcycles.

It seems we do a lot of the same stuff.. Here's a very small example of some of the stuff I've done over the years.. Keep in mind most all of this is cardboard cut outs hand painted by a local Indian tribe! According to the haters anyway.....
A completely fabricated 9" Prostock Housing

A complete drag chassis for a 63 vette body

Our house car 4 years ago

Same house car in the staging lanes complete with me under the heading for all the haters to remember who I am

A 4 Link Dragster Chassis still on the jig

A ProComp motorcycle chassis I built back in 1991

My own race bike I built way back in 1989 I also machine my own parts as well. That duel Mag drive was a one off unit I built to supply spark for the duel plug cylinder head I was using.

Me getting it done again for the haters


I also build custom one off turbo systems for bikes.. This unit was for a ZX10R that ultimately went on to run 247mph in the standing 1 mile..


My company Logo

[67cudafb]

Love those pro mod cars and top fuel bikes/ funny bikes got to have big brass ones to throw leg over that beast.

[srp]

It seems we do a lot of the same stuff.. Here's a very small example of some of the stuff I've done over the years.. Keep in mind most all of this is cardboard cut outs hand painted by a local Indian tribe! According to the haters anyway.....
A completely fabricated 9" Prostock Housing

A complete drag chassis for a 63 vette body

Our house car 4 years ago

Same house car in the staging lanes complete with me under the heading for all the haters to remember who I am

A 4 Link Dragster Chassis still on the jig

A ProComp motorcycle chassis I built back in 1991

My own race bike I built way back in 1989

Me getting it done again for the haters


I also build custom one off turbo systems for bikes.. This unit was for a ZX10R that ultimately went on to run 247mph in the standing 1 mile..


My company Logo

I built a IHRA blown alcohol Pro Mod Camaro in 96. I just had a Olds headed 526 with a retro Littlefield and buzzard. I ran a Sonny Lenard 632 Nitrous engine for a while too. I sold it to a friend, he put a KB in it and got it to go 6.30. If I can use some old 35mm pictures somehow, I will post some pics of it.

[GUNNER]

I built a IHRA blown alcohol Pro Mod Camaro in 96. I just had a Olds headed 526 with a retro Littlefield and buzzard. I ran a Sonny Lenard 632 Nitrous engine for a while too. I sold it to a friend, he put a KB in it and got it to go 6.30. If I can use some old 35mm pictures somehow, I will post some pics of it.

The picture of my old FunnyBike was a 35mm picture that I scanned into the computer that's why it's not so clear. I've actually laid them out and took Digital pictures of the old 35mm pictures before and scanned them as well. Neither process has been really clear for me. I'm sure some one knows a way but I'm not the guy. You don't know how many times I've wished we had digital cameras back in my own racing days because back then I need not tell you what a pain in the neck it was to take a bunch of pictures. Now days you just take hundreds and use the ones you want. Back then it would have cost a fortune in film to do that and no guarantee any of them would turn out so more times than not I would pass. The film cost alone would cover my fuel for the weekend or a new slick. I still have that FunnyBike sitting in my garage at home where I work on my personal stuff. I've thought several times about using it as a Base for a large glass top table... It would make a great conversation piece for sure..

[srp]

I did not have a scanner so I just took some snapshots with a digital camera, I got them on Photobucket. I will have to wait until my daughter comes over this weekend to help me post them because I forgot how to.

My friend sold the Pro-Mod to someone on the east coast and is still going strong, it is painted bright yellow now I'm told.

I am off of the superchargers and nitrous now and have become a turbo fanatic.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/96Camaro.jpg
http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/78Malibu.jpg

[fdcmiami]

check out the ZX10 turbo shots. guy with thirty years experience welded that. good thing you had your foot pedal. good tig welder wouldn't care if he had the pedal or not. well he might care but he'd just weld it out. beautiful. lol

i owned couple of tens, an eleven and a twelve. i wouldn't have put that thing on my bike.

It seems we do a lot of the same stuff.. Here's a very small example of some of the stuff I've done over the years.. Keep in mind most all of this is cardboard cut outs hand painted by a local Indian tribe! According to the haters anyway.....
A completely fabricated 9" Prostock Housing

A complete drag chassis for a 63 vette body

Our house car 4 years ago

Same house car in the staging lanes complete with me under the heading for all the haters to remember who I am

A 4 Link Dragster Chassis still on the jig

A ProComp motorcycle chassis I built back in 1991

My own race bike I built way back in 1989 I also machine my own parts as well. That duel Mag drive was a one off unit I built to supply spark for the duel plug cylinder head I was using.

Me getting it done again for the haters


I also build custom one off turbo systems for bikes.. This unit was for a ZX10R that ultimately went on to run 247mph in the standing 1 mile..


My company Logo

[GUNNER]

I can't comment about the EX250 but the EXT had so many issues that there's no way in God's earth and heaven it compares to my Dynasty 350! I agree with your statement about price because it's hard to beat and in fact I'll go far as to say it can't be beat! But, since the day I hooked up the Dynasty I have forgot I own a welder until it's time to flip the switch. There's never any doubt that it's capable and will give no problems. I hope at some point I get a chance to compare with a EX. However Todd on this forum also has both a 250EX and 250EXT and says there's no comparison in the arc between the two machines and the EXT is easily far superior to the EX. However his EX has given problems and required repairs unlike what you have reported so who knows? Had the EXT I had NOT had the foot control issues and would break off the arc religiously at 30 amps and sometimes above I would still have it sitting here simply because of the excellent value or BANG FOR THE BUCK it offered over the Dynasty! Like you I'm a die hard Miller lover and believe there's NO BETTER WELDING MACHINE MADE PERIOD ! However I do believe there's a place in every market for competition and price point does get a person's attention every time! I feel if the EXT issues do get worked out and the foot pedal gets to the point that it performs like it should it's a fine machine for most anyone and wouldn't hesitate owning another one myself. I also feel the foot pedal issue was compounded by the slop between the rack gear and the pinon gear on the potentiometer which helped to make the already weak foot control circuit shine even further. There's simply too much manufacturing tolerance designed into the SSC back lash !! After having that unit apart many times working it in my hands trying to figure out if it was the machine causing the issue or the pedal I decided it was primarily the machine but contributed to by the pedal.. I suppose the EX not having the pedal issue in the first place it's able to account for that slop. However you did indicate a change in potentiometers was helpful and could also be something to look into for the EXT as well as I'm unsure what brand parts are used by SSC.

I hope you don't feel I'm posting in your thread to dirty it up in the least, but lately around here I've been pretty outspoken about the same topic you posted about and the exact same machines you are comparing! I don't feel given the chance to choose between the dynasty and the EX or EXT and the price were equal you would pick either over the Dynasty. I agree the Dynasty is over priced for a very weak economy and even if the country wasn't going broke it's priced very high for a bunch of silicon boards in a metal box ! I do however love the fact that no matter what I decide to weld it's up to the job and if the welds aren't perfect there's no one to blame but myself! I've never had as much control over an Aluminum puddle with ANY MACHINE as I have with the Dynasty! In the past welding Aluminum meant you worked with whatever the machine was capable of giving you to work with. NOT ANYMORE ! With the Dynasty and somewhat the EXT the welder not the welding machine is in 100% control over the puddle and that makes every weld capable of being perfect !

On a related subject it sounds as though you do a lot of the same type stuff I do myself and I have to ask you what % of the time do you use a foot control compared to a trigger switch? Myself it's 100% of the time foot control because I have to have total control over the puddle at all times to produce the quality my customers demand and the structural integrity the ASME demands as well! Welding .058 4130 tubing properly is next to impossible without a foot control. You will over heat it and cause it to become brittle and subject to cracking and failure in the event of an impact! Just curious since I was told real welders don't use foot controls! Which still don't sit well with me since I've only been at this for 30 years now!

I wouldn't allow the fact that Miller don't have negative feed back on it's site bother me about buying one. Negative feed back usually comes from pissed off customers and becoming pissed off doesn't always happen if the company acknowledges problems when you report them and takes action! I reported issues with my EXT on day ONE ! and yet never posted any negative feed back on this site for weeks! Only after being told several times the machine had no problems and it was me not knowing how to properly set it up ETC over and over again did I find it necessary to post negative comments. Since the foot control issues had been noted during production of the first batch of units I'm told there were threads in the past that addressed delays in production because of foot control problems.. Anyhow knowing that when I reported a problem there shouldn't have ever been denial of the issue! Had I been told " we thought that was fixed but clearly not and we're sorry." I wouldn't have posted negative comments then either. It was the way it was handled and the constant blaming of me for the problems the machine had that spawned the negative feed back. So if Miller has no negative remarks on their site you may take that into account before you think they are editing negative comments out. Perhaps they are but without proof that's a lot to assume! Especially coming from someone that says there's no better welding machine made! Have you ever had any real problems with any of your Miller welding machines if I may ask? Because I can't recall having troubles until I completely wore out the last Syncrowave unit I had bit that's after owning it since 1991! I believe it was when I bought it.

I enjoyed your post it seems to be a real fair comparison to me.

[CGCINC]

I know I'm very happy with my 250EX. And I can't imagine the arc being that much better on the EXT because this thing is smooth like hot butter!!!

[srp]

I know I'm very happy with my 250EX. And I can't imagine the arc being that much better on the EXT because this thing is smooth like hot butter!!!

That's kinda how I feel, I have never welded on a EXT. The Dynasty has soft square wave. triangular wave and sine wave, I like the regular advanced square wave on it. Does the EXT have independent electrode negative and positive amperage like the Dynasty? That is one thing I do like.

[srp]

Brad,

Sorry I can't highlight your comments to reply, when I do it deletes my whole post. I sold my two large buildings so lack of space limits me from building full size chassis like pro stock and street cars. We are focusing mainly on pro-street motorcycle fab work and anything for drag Banshees.

Some of you may have already heard of me, we have a line of Banshee pipes marketed under the name of Sniper Racing Products (srp), My distributors are RDZ Racing and Passion Racing Engines. A full description of them can be seen on their web sites, I think RDZ has a good close up of some of the aluminum mufflers I have welded. Thanks so much for offering to push work my way, I would like to do the same for you.

Gary

[blasphemy000]

Glad to hear that it's holding up under daily abuse for a couple years. I'm looking to own a 250EX w/cooler, WP20 torch, and the upgraded foot pedal that EL offers. I plan on doing some welding work on the side with this machine, but I think I'll mostly be building my own projects with it.

[brad3579]

I had a feeling this would bring gunner back out but this thread is about 250EX EL work horse Not EXT. When you buy anyting first model year it will have teething problems from welders to cars. You should expect this. I sure miller, lincoln and all have had problems with brand new products. I happy there are people like you that have to have latest and greatest to find bugs for the rest of us, but quit whinning you have your new miller and we know your are the worlds greatest welder wit 30 years experince and we should all bow when you grace us on the forum. GUNNER LET IT GO MAN NO ONE HERE CARES IF YOU CAN WALK ON WATER, GO BEAT YOUR CHEST ON MILLER SITE WITH THE REST OF THEM.

Being as how I am close to buying a Tig, I would like to keep Gunner around as it is good to hear about the bad also.
If I had purchased a 250EXT and had some of the problems talked about in the other threads, I too would not be happy.
Just because Gunner posts something about his "bad" experience with his Tig in a thread talking about how "good" they are, why do you feel the need to come in and slam him?
I think it is good to have the balance and let people make their own decisions.
Just my 2 cents

[Oleg]

I have deleted all non related posts to the subject of the original poster.
If you want to complain about ext model , open up new thread and do that. I will email gunner and he can join in.

[srp]

I read in one of the threads where someone was wiring up a 185 Micro on 110. If this is possible what is the max amperage output and duty cycle? I think the Diversion 180 only has about 125 amps on 110.

Thanks

[brad3579]

We got our first water cooled Everlast 250EX about two years ago, we have a fab shop and weld a lot of chromemoly tubing and aluminum tubing. Our chromemoly welds have to be strong and have that race car look, the aluminum welds have to be strong, and look like the welds on the finest aluminum bicycles. The 250EX has done this day in and day out with no hiccups.

What kind of Chrome-moly tubing jobs does your shop do, I will be trying a roll cage, sub frame connectors etc. for one of my cars after getting a TIG (and learning how to use it).
Where are you located, I am in Minnesota.
Here are a couple of "before" pictures from one of my projects.
This one is getting a little make over, a completely different drive train and about another 350 HP.
Thanks
Brad