250EX Frist Impressions and and few welds...

[Rodsmachineshop]

there nice and not to bad only cost 111.99

[zoama]

I won't have a torch for a while, CK Wroldwide won't sell to me directly so I'll have a bit of a wait. If I order tomorrow from my LWS I can probably have it by Monday/Tuesday but it will cost me quite a bit more than online.

After I got tired of dealing with arczone's drop shipping BS, I purchased a CK 200amp trimline from a shop 30 miles away from me. They beat arczone's price by about $50 and the salesman delivered it to my office himself.

[Oleg]

Here is the parts list:

CK-225SF FX 250 amp water cooled torch with the super flex cable and flex head, 25'
SLWHAT-35 Dinse connector
RACCV-10-1-LG7 Rotary remote 28'

Not solid on the rotary, I may switch it up and go with the linear.

burner

just to let you know , we have WP9F and WP20F in stock both are FLEX HEAD torches

let me know if you interested

[burner]

burner

just to let you know , we have WP9F and WP20F in stock both are FLEX HEAD torches

let me know if you interested

lol, I just saw that on the site. What type of cable does it have?

[Rodsmachineshop]

hey my pulse amp ratio is the same with a black nut but noticed it a bigger nut and shaft probably because it a more heavy duty pot than the rest

[jakeru]

Which welding supply do you use? If there is a Central Welding Supply near you, they can get you a great hookup on CK Worldwide products. Cheaper than any place online. (the super flex with the flex head will be very nice, by the way. )

Forgot to mention - Everlast's WP-20 is pretty sweet too. The nice thing about it is, it's a package: all the right fittings, the torch switch, cable cover, it's pretty good quality. The only thing it lacks compared to a CK is the superflex hose. (And also, CK torches tend to be rated really high in terms of amps & duty cycle for their size, too, but I'm guessing for a 250EX, rated 250 amps @ 60% duty, either is going to be fine... especially if you're stepping up from a WP9!) Aside from the lack of superflex cables though, it actually is pretty close in terms of quality to CK's torches.

Let's see I have a pic of the Everlast WP-20... (which I have not used yet, but so far have checked out pretty closely.)


Check out the screw-on connectors under the handle, just like CK.


The CK has a bulkier teflon insulator than the other brands too. (I think it lets them cram more brass into their torch head for their higher amp & duty cycle ratings.) Every once in the while, the bulkier teflon insulator can get in the way though.

[burner]

Thanks for the tip. I called up a local location and got a quote, it was more than PraxAir. On the bright side Pacific Welding is open on Saturday's, I didn't know that before.

I'll either go with the local guys because it's faster or online because it's cheaper.

[Brian Ski]

I was a little disappointed in the fit and finish. The knobs are not punched on center and some are longer than others. In addition to that one of the retaining nuts on the knobs is different from the others,

I was thinking when I seen that, that the potentiometer was probably an odd value and came from a different supplier. Like Titan posted that is probably the reason if they are all similar.

This was also lame. I cannot stand it when people just mashed wires into a terminal.

Where was this wire at??? Was it the power cord??? Was it on the plug side or in the machine???

So what is up with the wrenches welded together??? Bored or are you trying to tighten 2 bolts at the same time?????? LOL

BTW thanks for the honest review... Sounds like you are pretty happy.

Also thinking the pots maybe drilled correctly but the silk screen cover may be out of spec. Makes it look a little off.

[Rodsmachineshop]

hey i dont use plugs there too expensive i just shove the wires loose in the plug sockets on the wall and duct tape so they dont fall out of the socket lol

[burner]

I was thinking when I seen that, that the potentiometer was probably an odd value and came from a different supplier. Like Titan posted that is probably the reason if they are all similar.



Where was this wire at??? Was it the power cord??? Was it on the plug side or in the machine???

So what is up with the wrenches welded together??? Bored or are you trying to tighten 2 bolts at the same time?????? LOL

BTW thanks for the honest review... Sounds like you are pretty happy.

Also thinking the pots maybe drilled correctly but the silk screen cover may be out of spec. Makes it look a little off.

Yeah, I guess all those pots have the black nut. Maybe it's a different manufacturer?

Those wires were on the power cord, I'm guessing they are like that from the inspection. Mr or Mrs inspector WGM needs to take some care doing those test imo.

Custom wrenches are because I'm so good a can turn 2 bolts at once, booyeah! lol
I was curious to see what would happen using ER308 filller on mild steel, and I was a little bored one day so killed some time.

So far I'm happy with the welder. The torch and pedal are still not quite right to me but it was a little bit better today.

[Rodsmachineshop]

I use my tig pedal as a paper weight its good for that lol

[Brian Ski]

hey i dont use plugs there too expensive i just shove the wires loose in the plug sockets on the wall and duct tape so they dont fall out of the socket lol

Aw c'mon... Who was that spending all the money on the plug adapters the other day??? I am with you just jam them into the outlet. Who needs plugs. Nothing more universal than that!!!

[burner]

Okay so I wanted to try out some aluminum today. Didn't have the time to set up a cooler so I just did one single 8" weld, broke it up into 3 sections. I clearly need to work on my technique beyond just the challenges of the big torch the 250EX comes with. I gotta say this bad boy welded just as nice has the PT225, I'm loving her more and more every time I get under the hood. When I pick up a better torch and pedal (down the line) this thing is really gonna to shine.




Right from the get go I dipped the tungsten.... I'd say this was me not being comfortable with my hand placement. I just kept going, I wasn't worried about making the best weld here, just wanted time with the torch and the machine.




You can see where I lose it on the end, this is just my bad technique and I can't really blame anything else.




Yikes, look at that porosity... That's what happens when you keep going after contaminating the weld. I changed tungsten about 1/3 of the way into the weld. You can clearly see where I stopped and re-started, more bad technique.




The gap was a little larger on this end I should have put more filler in but it just started spreading out more and more, needed to ease up on the amps and weave it a bit. Oh well, gotta get in more time.




Back side of the weld, overall penetration is a little shallow. Then It goes crazy toward the end, I always have this problem but not this bad.

[Rodsmachineshop]

looks good need to back off heat a little when getting to edges . i cheat i clamp pieces of angel stainless at ends on the back side to absorb the heat and helps on the aluminum from falling threw , I also stop some times before coming to a end like that to cool then go backward to the weld to fill

[Rodsmachineshop]

those plugs add up fast at about 20 bucks a pop lol the new miller welding carts this year

[burner]

Those are both good tips. I've done those things before here and there but I was kinda in a rush with this and didn't even think of it.

I did get a strong feeling that this machine is really gonna kick some butt once I get my torch set up to my liking. I mean those were some quick welds I did with some pretty lame prep. Somebody walked off with my Al only brush so I used some beat up stainless brush that I found on a cart, then I wiped down with PA.

Speaking of torches looks like I'm buying online, it's $100 cheaper. I think I'm going to go with the CK stuff, the torch on Everlast site looks like a good deal but I want the super flex hoses.

[Rodsmachineshop]

same here i like the ck torches check this place out http://www.weldfabulous.com/p-76312-...lex-cable.aspx

[everlastsupport]

On Rod's wooden cart. That's a good one. So long as it is not pressure treated, should be light enough to work with . Once you buy some brands I guess there is no cash left for a good cart and consumables. hahaha.

On the heat at the end of the welders. Read up on T4 functions in the tech bulletins here on the forum. You can do it in 2T, just takes practice (and a little timing). When you kill the torch, leave the argon flowing (post flow) over the end of the weld until it gasses out (will shield and cool). Hold it right over it like you are still welding, just no heat.

On the WP18 torch size, I would highly recommend getting Oleg on the phone for a deal on a WP-20 if you have a water cooler. You will like it a lot better if you do not like the size of our starter torch. Tell him you are an existing customer, he'll hook you up.

[everlastsupport]

Oops. Just saw two posts up.

I would still check with Oleg on the WP-20. But I'll tell you CK is good, super flex great and 25+ feet better. But it will cost more. If in the budget the way to go.

Also, look in forsale here on the forum too. There was a CK forsale there and .5 dinse for sale in there, probably gone buy now.

[burner]

I had post flow on about 3-5 seconds on that aluminum. I've used/played with most of tips like using a backing plate, starting from the other side easing off the pedal. Bottom line is I just haven't spent the time it takes to develop the good habits and second nature to implement them when I should and really that goes for SS and Al.

The Everlast torch looks like it's good quality and value but I really want the super flex hose. Since I need to work on my techniques every little advantage is a plus.