I-Mig 200: This is a good welder!!!

[boatwelder]

Some years ago, I had a Powcon 200 that I really liked, but it didn't have a built in wire feeder. I promised myself that if anyone ever came out with an affordable inverter based welder with a feeder built in, I would buy it.

The I-Mig 200 has not disappointed. It has a nice arc, easy to set up and use, light enough to carry aboard boats I work on, and best of all, it has one of the greatest advantages of an inverter welder - it requires less primary current for a given weld output. I have a Tig outfit also, but Mig is faster and perfectly adequate for many tasks.

I held off buying a Chinese manufactured welder because of the reputed failure rate of some of these units. However, Everlast claims to have addressed this problem with their IGBT technology. Time will tell, I guess. But so far, I'm loving it!!!

If this unit is any example of what's coming out of China these days, then Miller, Lincoln, Esab and Hobart had better watch their backs. They don't make anything in this price range that can compete directly with this welder.

If this welder or any in their line fills the bill for what you need, you should try it. With their return policy, Everlast make it easy. That's what cinched the deal for me.

[everlastsupport]

Would you be with Blue Water Marine?

Welcome aboard. Thanks for the compliments as well.

[performance]

I don't think that Lincoln or Miller make anything in that range regardless of price that can compete with its arc and wire feed system.

[boatwelder]

Hi Mike. Yes, I am. I forgot to mention in my post that the workmanship of the unit is great - certainly better than some other units I've seen. I bought a new Millermatic before the end of the year. I was disappointed with the quality and was able to return it. I really appreciated that.

The Mig-200 and SM-200 spool gun from Everlast replaced the Miller for a fraction of the cost, and for my purposes I'm much happier with the result.

[boatwelder]

As I understand the specs, the I-Mig 200 requires a 30 amp, 240 volt power supply for full output. Since I didn't really have time to rewire a receptacle in the shop, I've been using a 20 amp outlet and haven't popped a breaker yet while running .035 hard wire with C-25 gas (short arc). I've not tried .045 yet as I haven't done anything that needs it. I really like flux cored (dual shield) wire, but I am still waiting for Everlast to get the flux core drive rolls to me. Dual shield wire (use with gas) really makes beautiful welds and makes me look a lot more competent than I really am. The material has to be fairly clean to use this though.

I put an adapter on the gas inlet to convert to the standard AGA weld gas fitting. Makes things a bit easier when changing bottles or breaking down and reassembling when moving this unit around. Thinking about putting weld gas QD's (quick disconnects) on. They're similar to air line fittings but don't leak at all. Also got a Smith regulator so I could read CFH directly. None of this was necessary but I like to trick out my machines a little.

The Binzel gun was a surprise. I was expecting something super cheap, but the Binzel is very comfortable, sort of like the Bernard guns. The 11 series Tweco contact,tips fit perfectly, so it's easy to get those. The gun is only 10 feet long, but it has never been too short for me. Actually, for a rig with this kind of portability, the shorter gun makes for less to coil up when moving around. It seems like a lot of thought went into designing this machine.

The wire drive is easy to adjust, and the drive rolls not that difficult to change. I particularly like the spring loaded idler roll bracket, because it stays out of the way while feeding wire through. I would prefer gear driven drive rolls where the powered and idler rolls are geared together for a more positive wire feed, but so far the wire feed has been consistent and posed no problems.

Nits? Sure, but nothing much worth mentioning. No machine is ever perfect, and "perfect" is different for everyone. But I can't really think of any machine on the market that would give me more of what I want than this one, especially at the price it's selling for.

[performance]

Thanks,

I too believe in the Power I MIG because I too have used all different brands of MIGs. There are none that I can find that will compare. They are truly one of our best products.
After talking with Alex, he said that the flux rolls are on the way from the factory. I am not sure how they are coming, maybe a slow boat from China? I will try to keep up on that issue. We have a bulk qty coming in so, there should be more than one set.

[everlastsupport]

I've been using the IMIG series (IMIG 205) with a non Binzel from day one and they are great units. When I received the IMIG 250P for testing with a Binzel late last year, I was also very impressed with it, I really like the Team Binzel.

I have an IMIG 200 due here Monday with the smaller Benzel. I like the smaller footprint of the IMIG 200 unit as well.

We are always improving, but I find it hard for us to top this combination for a 200amp MIG unit.