After a phone discussion with Oleg about the 250EXT situation, he offered to send me a 210EXT to use until the 250 situation is straightened out. He also asked if I would post a few photos and my thoughts on the welder. ( I think most of you know that if a welder is not working correct, I will be the first one to bitch about it ). On a side note, I think the new board will be here later this week for the 250EXT, I will post as soon as it shows up.
The 210EXT is much smaller than the 250EXT, it's even smaller than the 250EX.
The case has been brought up to a higher standard, it uses machined screws with captive washers and nutserts in the chassis, the screws are a nice quality black oxide, and the holes line up like they should ( this is a small detail, but it shows that they are working to bring the standards to a higher level ).
The 210EXT is MUCH MUCH quieter than my 250EX or my 250EXT, I have been told the fans may change slightly to bring the duty cycle up from the 35% on the welder I have here to 40% on the production models, but it should still be very quiet.
The foot pedal works like it should, it is a different design than the other Everlast pedals, and it seems pretty nice. It has a smooth metal top, I would probably but some non slip on it and a hook for you heel for easy positioning.
The torch is an air cooled WP26 ( i think ) with a amp control knob on the side. The amp control works just as good as the pedal, it controls amperage down to about 5 or 6% of the control panel setting. I am not a finger amp control guy, so I will not go into detail on the control, except to say that the knob could be a little bigger for traction and fine adjustability. The torch is kind of big and heavy, but it is a gas cooled torch, so you have to expect that, If I was using it alot, i would get a WP9 for light work and keep the heavy torch for when you need more amperage.
I thought we had a problem with the welder having too harsh of a light off, it seemed like it was lighting at about 35-40 amps no matter where you set the controls, after quick E-mail to the factory we found out there is a sub-menu with more adjustability, here is a copy---
In the second menu,have 10 channels
D01: Vacant
D02 :High voltage stricking ARC time :0.5-2S
D03: High voltage stricking ARC frequency :10-100HZ
D04: DC High voltage stricking ARC current :10-100A
D05 :AC high voltage stricking ARC current :15A-100A
D06: Vacant
D07: AC DC LIFT starting ARC current :10A-100A
D08: For Adjust the fingertip AMP control TORCH."00" --4T power off ;"01"-- 4T is on
D09:For adjut the VRD ."00":VRD is ON ;"01"VRD is OFF
D10: For the AC Pulse selection. "00" means single Pulse ,only AC ;"01" means double Pulse .
Attention :
1)D08: "00" is for normal torch or called non fingertip AMP control TORCH, means when you are using an non fingertip AMP control torch for the machine ,first need enter the channel D08, and set "00",then you can switch 2T to 4T ;if you use fingertip AMP control torch ,must set as "01",if not the machine will detect and switch to 2T by itself ,Some peopeo dont know this function ,they think our machine has problems .
2).D09 :"00" mean Voltage less than 24V; "01" means Voltage more than 67V
3) D10: Under Double Pulse ,the peak value is AC ,base value is DC.
Double pulse mainly used for thin sheet welding ,with Double pulse ,the thin sheet not easy to get bent while welding .
So after a few adjustment I was able to get the start amperage down to a very low level for thin material, but still have the option of raising the amperage for sure starts on heavy, dirty, cold metal. ( pretty neat option ).
The control panel is very small compared to the 250EXT, larger, bolder, brighter lettering would be a good thing on the printed parts, the LED's are very easy to see. The control works different than the 250EXT, and it seems to have a little more of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's very easy to use and does everything it's supposed to do.
I haven't used the welder at every setting, but I have used a lot of the settings, so far I have not been able to spot any problems, the only limitation i have found is that AC pulsing caps out at 10HZ, but the DC pulse which is more important to me goes to 500HZ.
The welder feels strong and smooth, it feels just as smooth as the 250EXT ( once you get a flame established with the 250 ), it does not have the top end grunt of the 250 for puddling heavy aluminum castings, but up to 1/4" is no problem.
The 210 did not come with ground cable, regulator, consumables, or instruction manual, so I cannot comment on those items, but I'm sure they will be included with the production models.
I will keep using the 210, and keep pushing its limits to see if I can find any problems. So far it's doing everything it's supposed to do, and doing it very well.