New 250EX owner, a few problems

[performance]

Ahhh, but most field TIG welders these days never see a pedal and don't have the ability of 2T/4T. 4T is great in my humble opinion. Welding without a foot pedal is the best way to learn to TIG properly. It forces you to select appropriate amps, monitor your travel speed and develops your technique. I think guys who learn to weld without a pedal and even how to use the pulse typically never see the point in using one, since it seem like cheating.:wink:

[cmd]

I'll take 4t over a foot pedal any day for Aluminum. I get a consistent weld and its much more fun to weld upside down without a pedal.

[Adambomb]

Thats all fine and good when you know what you're doing, but I have less than a few hours of tig practice under my belt. Half of that was done trying to figure out why my HF starts weren't working, and the other half without the foot pedal since it's gone haywire. When I weld aluminum on 4T, my bead starts out kinda high, then once the piece heats up it flattens out a bit, then when I get to the end of the weld the piece is hot, the weld pool gets mushy and blows out the edge of the piece from to much heat. Yeah, when you know what you're doing and how to set up all the knobs im sure it works fantastic. It's easier for me, right now, to ease off the throttle when I'm comming up to the edge or the weld characteristics change because the base temp of the work changes. Don't get me wrong, I want to learn how to weld without the foot pedal; I'm just not overly enthusiastic about troubleshooting and repairing my new equiptment. At the moment it is making learning much more difficult.

[cmd]

try using a little less amperage overall amperage and hang around where you start your weld a little longer before you start adding filler to somewhat preheat the area. you will want to use downslope on aluminum to slowly cool the end of the weld so it doesn't crack. BTW maybe you have already but you should try practicing on mild steel if this is your first tig experience. use the 2t and turn your upslope and downslope off, set an amperage and go, adjust your amperage to get the right heat. master this then move to aluminum. AL is hard to start out on. The best thing I have done with my 250ex is go get a WP20 torch. the factory torch is tough to handle sometimes and its only worse once you get water pressure in the tubes.

[Adambomb]

Thanks for the tips CMD, I'll give them a try. I would like to get the smaller wp20 torch.....perhaps Alex will help me out with that considering the teething problems this particular machine is giving me. I moved to aluminum rather quickly knowing it is tougher to master, but my designs for a new welding cart called for aluminum construction. Who am I to argue with design? So here I am trying to get the hang of aluminum welding with an effed up pedal and a hunch of square tubing and diamond plate

[Ray]

Hey Adam,
I was the one that helped you with the points. If you want to go through the pedal give me a call, sound's like Mark is correct sounds like a loose set screw.

Ray

[Adambomb]

My thanks again to ray who I spoke with this morning and help me identify a bad potentiometer in my foot pedal. Hopefully this is the end of my troubles with this machine for the forseeable future.

[Den]

Adam,
I think I know how you feel. My Everlast experience has been similar. I too am new to TIG welding and purchased a 250EX. After a long wait, my unit arrived broken, the front bezel shattered from being dropped or the box being crushed. Tech support at Everlast was very supportive and helped me disassemble and check out the machine, but there aren't too many products you buy nowadays that you end up dismanteling right off the bat. Known quality control issues like mislabled gas lines were still present on my 250EX. After another wait, Everlast sent a new bezel and everything seems to be working fine. I said "think" because, like I said, I'm new at this and have nothing to compare it to. Don't get me wrong, I really like the welder and I think Everlast is a great value, but my experience has tended to undermine my confidence in the machine slightly. TIG welding is not easy, and you're never quite sure if it's your technique (probably!) or the machine.
-Dennis

[Adambomb]

You're right on the money Dennis. For me, it was a little frustrating trying to get help on the phone last week, but Alex pulled Ray into my issues and he has been able to get everything resolved with a couple quick phone calls. Alex is on top of it and is shipping me a new pedal today, as well as giving me a discount on a wp20 torch when they come in. The machine is taken care of...great. But until the welder operates consistently for a year or two without any hiccups, I'll wonder if another odd breakdown is waiting for me. My welder and I got off to a rocky start, and she's just gonna have to earn my trust, that's all.

[Adambomb]

So I got back from my thanksgiving visit in Northern Cali, and my new foot pedal was waiting for me. After unpacking the kids and truck I went into the garage to plug in the new foot pedal and make sure my little over amp issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, I either have a second bad foot pedal, the issue is inside the machine, or I have a special, one off factory over clocked 250EX. Does anyone have any bright ideas?

[Paul Moir]

I had an almost identical problem that developed with my LX225. Mine turned out to be a bad 4053 multiplexer chip on the pedal sub board as well as a couple blown protection diodes immediately above it (semi-shorted). Evidently, some HF got into the potentiometer wiper line and blew the multiplexer and protection diodes. The HF points spark gap was very wide which I'm sure was the cause.

The welder worked fine in 2t and 4t because it was only the input to the multiplexer that went bad. It could still select the main amp control as an input, but the pedal input was fried. Originally it wouldn't put out any amps, but after fixing the multiplexer it worked just like yours. I was so excited because this corrected the display, but when I went to weld some 16 gauge stainless with the foot petal, it went "BWAAMP" and that was the end of that piece of scrap! So perhaps it's just a protection diode on your one.

On the LX225 the multiplexer is on a little vertical daughter board on the starboard side of the top board. Of course yours is different I'm sure.

Return was an option for me too. I just didn't want to do it since it was working in 2t/4t.

[everlastsupport]

Adam,

Paul is correct on your problem. We can send out parts if you know how to solder? Otherwise you'll need to contact sales.

The layout as Paul described is the same for the EX as well as the LX.

Call tech support or sales depending on how you want to fix it.

[Adambomb]

I spoke with Mark this morning, and it sounds like my issue, like Pauls, is unusual and rare. Mike, I left you a message this morning and I believe Mark sent you an email regarding my issue. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing what diagnosis the troubleshooting brings to light.

[Adambomb]

After speaking with Mark, Ray and Alex, I'm going to try the CMOS replacement chips. Ray will be airmailing from AK, so hopefully in week I can desolder the bad chips and install the new ones. I'll post an update, and maybe a new thread on how to do the chip swap if anyone is interested.

[Paul Moir]

Be careful desoldering. The thru holes & traces pulled up pretty easily on my board. I'll have to find the pics I took.

[Adambomb]

Thanks for the tip Paul. I just picked up a desolderer so when the chips get here I'll be ready. Kinda a cool little spring loaded vacuum gizmo.

[Ray]

SolderPult?

Adam, Mike will be sending out the chips form FL. The closer we get to Christmas the slower the mail seems to get. Hope you get them soon.

Ray

[Adambomb]

No, it is a DesolderPump made by Hakko USA. I got it at FRY's Electronics. Again, thanks for the help Ray, and I am looking forward to getting the chips installed. Trying to weld .015" Ti is a PITA without a foot pedal!

[Adambomb]

Has anyone else had trouble with their everlast welding helmet flickering at low amps, or not even switching at all? It seems to be reliable when doing AC, but DC welding under 50 amps and the helmet starts having trouble. Any ideas gentleman?

[performance]

Which helmet? What process? The welding cup can cover the arc...making it flash. Adjusting sensitivity will improve any issues. But if its tig, you must lean into the arc...This is how you have to weld with tig anyway to see the arc. If you are sitting on top of it, you will not get adequate light level to engage the sensors. Dirty protective covers can add to the problem, if they are spotted, scratched or smoked up.