Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi All
Im new hear and too welding, I was looking into getting a multiprocess machine such as a Everlast PowerMTS unit but as I kept doing my research I'm noticing the limitations of each of the processes like the Tig process is unable to start at a lower enough current to weld thinner materials without blowing a hole in the material and they are DC only units which rules out Aluminum Tig unless you want to use a spool gun which I find undesirable so I have changed my thinking and am going to go with an AC/DC Tig machine that will do stick (this will allow me to do my outside repairs and work) 1st (will get a separate mig machine later on) and the unit I'm very interested in is the Everlast PowerTig 210EXT.

The 210EXT seems to fit the bill with low current starts on AC and DC for thinner material along with a bunch of other features that I will be able to grow into, does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this unit.

Thanks

I've had one for a year or two now, and have had a good experience. I've heard others say the same, on this and other boards.

Jody has some videos that feature this machine:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/goo ... &sa=Search

Do you have TIG experience, or will you be learning or teaching yourself?

Welcome to the forum, btw!

That unit is a slighly less powerful model, yet otherwise identical to my 255EXT.
I really like my machine but I do not use all of those bells and whistles. Do I see myself using them someday? Not really. I chose mine over the 255EX due to the advanced pulse capability and Everlast's claim that, in advanced pulse mode, it will weld 25% thicker aluminum. Im not real happy with low amperage control in AC mode. Not very happy with the foot peddle either and that could be the reason for the low amperage AC issue but I'm not really sure.
Advanced square wave really puts a shit load more heat into the parts than do any of the other AC modes. I can't see any reason to ever use Sine or Soft Square modes. Sine has a particularly unstable arc and is really just a gimic that was put in as a "Feature" if you ask me. Triangle mode is the least powerful of the AC modes and is supposed to be for welding thin aluminum. I haven't really figured it out yet but you damn sure don't wanna try using it for anything thick because it's only about half as powerful as Advqnced Square mode.
I DO NOT LIKE the digital panel with it's scroll menu. I think it would have been better had they set the pannel up with individual knobs like the 250EX.
I also do not like the nodules that AC mode puts on my tungsten. It doesn't just do this some of the time, not even most of the time. It does this EVERY EFFIN TIME! And it pisses me off pretty bad because those things will appear even after I have rounded my tungsten if I'm really putting the peddle to the metal (over 200 amps). I'm thinking about trying 2% thoriated tungsten to prevent this because it didn't seem to happen as bad with that variety in Jody's tungsten video.
All in all I really do like the welder though. It is a replacement welder because the first one took a shit on me and I went round and round with Everlast for two months before I finally got a new one. This one welds a little better than the first one did.
Do I think you will be happy with yours? Yep! Your machine is gonna weld 1/4" aluminum with absolutely no problem and should be able to do 3/8" with relative ease as long as the beads aren't too long. If you preheat the parts then long runs on 3/8" & even 1/2" are going to go well.
I think you're making a good decision. Weigh it against the 250EX though and see if all those bells and whistles are really worth it. I don't think they were worth the extra money for me because this damn thing welds 1/2" aluminum with no problem and without using any of those gimics. I do wish that I had spent the extra $300 and got the 325EXT with an additional 70 amps of welding power.
Good luck and I hope you have a lot of fun with your new machine.

Artie F. Emm wrote:I've had one for a year or two now, and have had a good experience. I've heard others say the same, on this and other boards.

Jody has some videos that feature this machine:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/goo ... &sa=Search

Do you have TIG experience, or will you be learning or teaching yourself?

Welcome to the forum, btw!

I have no experience and will be trying to teach myself. My wife has been looking for courses for me to take without having to go through a full fledged welding school. This is just for personal use and enrichment I'm not looking to do work for others however I will try to help anyone as long as the task is within my means and skill ( I work for beer and food), LOL

infernoST wrote:

Artie F. Emm wrote:I've had one for a year or two now, and have had a good experience. I've heard others say the same, on this and other boards.

Jody has some videos that feature this machine:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/goo ... &sa=Search

Do you have TIG experience, or will you be learning or teaching yourself?

Welcome to the forum, btw!

I have no experience and will be trying to teach myself. My wife has been looking for courses for me to take without having to go through a full fledged welding school. This is just for personal use and enrichment I'm not looking to do work for others however I will try to help anyone as long as the task is within my means and skill ( I work for beer and food), LOL

Jody's videos will give you everything you need. Couple that with posting your welds, progress and questions on this forum and it is better than going to just about any school. You will get lots of personal attention from helpful forum members. Basically a school is just a place where you go to practice and you are highly unlikely to get too much one on one attention from the instructor there. Some, but not all, schools are really good for getting a welding job after the program is finished. Since that isn't your goal then what can any course provide you that you can't get here?
I bought four years worth of Jody's videos and went from barely knowing how to tig weld to doing the kind of work in my photo in about six months.

Gotcha. A lot of guys are self-taught. It's do-able but the learning curve can be steep. For many it works to start on steel, then move to aluminum. Let us know how it goes! And feel free to ask questions.

Let me put that last post of mine into real world perspective for you:
I learned how to do that with only 2 bottles of argon (250 cu/ft each) because I was only learning when I was home from being an over the road truck driver.

RamboBaby wrote:I also do not like the nodules that AC mode puts on my tungsten. It doesn't just do this some of the time, not even most of the time. It does this EVERY EFFIN TIME! And it pisses me off pretty bad because those things will appear even after I have rounded my tungsten if I'm really putting the peddle to the metal (over 200 amps). I'm thinking about trying 2% thoriated tungsten to prevent this because it didn't seem to happen as bad with that variety in Jody's tungsten video.

What tungsten are you using right now that gets the nodules?

2% Lanthanated and the nodules are horrible once you hit about 175 amps. It could just be that my inverter machine is worse than most in this regard. Sometimes they're worse than others and I've been wondering if it has something to do with sharpening the tungsten after it gets dipped rather than breaking that whole area off. I haven't been breaking it off because that Lanthanated is so expensive. I have to ball the tip until its almost the width of the entire shank to keep from getting them at high amperage. Half the time when I try to get the ball to that point I go too big and that makes for an unstable arc.

each tungsten size,grade has an amperage suggested limit. Range not the same on AC as DC. Check application chart,one does not fit all. There is VooDoo in angle ,sharpness, that some use to crutch what they have on hand, For me I just change out tungsten and collets.

Thanks. I just found this chart in one of the articles Jody wrote and it seems to indicate just about what I have experienced. I thought the things were good for 250 amps and didn't take into account the ep side of the ac arc. I guess I really should have since it gets better as the ep is decreased.
Lanthanated does however seem to run good at far lower amperage than his chart indicates, at least on my machine. I also remember the old boss telling me that if I needed to use more than about half of the amperage on his machine (his was 320 amps) that I needed to switch to a 1/8" tungsten.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tun ... -gtaw.html

If you're on a 3/32" 2%La and you're getting nodules, then you could perhaps switch to a 1/8" or try a different vendor for tungsten. You never know, you might have gotten a weird batch.

I have a 255EXT and enjoy welding with it quite alot. I am sure that the 210EXT will work fine too. If you can go larger, I recommend it because the machine can always be turned down but if your limited on amperage or duty cycle for what you want to weld it can be frustrating.

RamboBaby wrote:

infernoST wrote:

Artie F. Emm wrote:I've had one for a year or two now, and have had a good experience. I've heard others say the same, on this and other boards.

Jody has some videos that feature this machine:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/goo ... &sa=Search

Do you have TIG experience, or will you be learning or teaching yourself?

Welcome to the forum, btw!

I have no experience and will be trying to teach myself. My wife has been looking for courses for me to take without having to go through a full fledged welding school. This is just for personal use and enrichment I'm not looking to do work for others however I will try to help anyone as long as the task is within my means and skill ( I work for beer and food), LOL

Jody's videos will give you everything you need. Couple that with posting your welds, progress and questions on this forum and it is better than going to just about any school. You will get lots of personal attention from helpful forum members. Basically a school is just a place where you go to practice and you are highly unlikely to get too much one on one attention from the instructor there. Some, but not all, schools are really good for getting a welding job after the program is finished. Since that isn't your goal then what can any course provide you that you can't get here?
I bought four years worth of Jody's videos and went from barely knowing how to tig weld to doing the kind of work in my photo in about six months.

That looks great. Thanks for the help, I'm going to order the 210EXT

Oscar wrote:If you're on a 3/32" 2%La and you're getting nodules, then you could perhaps switch to a 1/8" or try a different vendor for tungsten. You never know, you might have gotten a weird batch.

Yeah in my experience, 3/32 isn't good for long runs of over 150 amps, especially if tapered. Also with that kind of jam you're probably welding something quite chunky and I find a tapered 1/8" gives me a nice wide bead easier, while still getting into the root.

BigD wrote:

Oscar wrote:If you're on a 3/32" 2%La and you're getting nodules, then you could perhaps switch to a 1/8" or try a different vendor for tungsten. You never know, you might have gotten a weird batch.

Yeah in my experience, 3/32 isn't good for long runs of over 150 amps, especially if tapered. Also with that kind of jam you're probably welding something quite chunky and I find a tapered 1/8" gives me a nice wide bead easier, while still getting into the root.

I've found that I have to fight to get it into the root but I've been focusing on thin to thick. I'll try 1/8" thoriated because I can't afford lanthanated right now. My buddy is giving me some more scrap aluminum today. I'll post photos of the differences between the two varieties and thicknesses of tungsten. I'll also try lowering the cleaning action a bit and see how it goes. Sometimes this stuff welds good even at 20%. It's just that none of the thick stuff will weld good with that little cleaning.

RamboBaby wrote:

BigD wrote:

Oscar wrote:If you're on a 3/32" 2%La and you're getting nodules, then you could perhaps switch to a 1/8" or try a different vendor for tungsten. You never know, you might have gotten a weird batch.

Yeah in my experience, 3/32 isn't good for long runs of over 150 amps, especially if tapered. Also with that kind of jam you're probably welding something quite chunky and I find a tapered 1/8" gives me a nice wide bead easier, while still getting into the root.

I've found that I have to fight to get it into the root but I've been focusing on thin to thick. I'll try 1/8" thoriated because I can't afford lanthanated right now. My buddy is giving me some more scrap aluminum today. I'll post photos of the differences between the two varieties and thicknesses of tungsten. I'll also try lowering the cleaning action a bit and see how it goes. Sometimes this stuff welds good even at 20%. It's just that none of the thick stuff will weld good with that little cleaning.

Pm sent.

shipj0 wrote:I have a 255EXT and enjoy welding with it quite alot. I am sure that the 210EXT will work fine too. If you can go larger, I recommend it because the machine can always be turned down but if your limited on amperage or duty cycle for what you want to weld it can be frustrating.

I wish I could have but I can't justify the cost as it is quite a bit more $$$$. I placed the order for the 210EXT yesterday hopefully it will be here by next Wednesday.

Never fear. 210 amps is plenty of aluminum welding power. You will be more than happy with the machine that you just purchased. You won't be welding on roll back wrecker decks with it but that isn't your goal anyway. You just bought a good, solid machine with plenty of power. If you do find something that you cant weld with it then you can always preheat the part, add helium into the mix or do both. That machine will weld the hell out of anything that you're likely to encounter. You will rarely ever see a tig machine over 325 amps anyway.

RamboBaby wrote:Never fear. 210 amps is plenty of aluminum welding power. You will be more than happy with the machine that you just purchased. You won't be welding on roll back wrecker decks with it but that isn't your goal anyway. You just bought a good, solid machine with plenty of power. If you do find something that you cant weld with it then you can always preheat the part, add helium into the mix or do both. That machine will weld the hell out of anything that you're likely to encounter. You will rarely ever see a tig machine over 325 amps anyway.

Rambo, I quoted this post because it was your most recent and I am lazy.

To touch on the subject of tungsten, Everlast recommends using Th tungsten, likely because it is the most accessible to people. As you have also made the switch, most of us have La tungsten in our box, but don't fear grabbing a piece of Th if you have the appropriate collets and gas lens/collet body for it. It will weld fine.

Personally, I use 1/8 tungsten on AC or DC on 150+ amps, unless I can't find a piece. Then I just dick around until the 3/32 tungsten deteriorates to complete shit (or I touch, whichever one comes first.) It's always an interesting lesson in arc behavior and arc quality when your tungsten is shitting the bed weld by weld.

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I've had mine for a while now(18mths)had no problems yet.
As others said it can weld 6mm aluminum and with no preheat on AC squarewave(had it set on max but never used it all), you will need a 3.2mm tungsten and a watercooled torch if you want to do anything meaningful

I can tell you they are a great stick welder, very smooth much nicer than the old 3 phase trans welders at my work

The only things I can fault are the control pad flip cover sucks as its near impossible to lift up with gloves on and the digital display is not bright enough to be seen outside without shading it with your hand

Harry72 wrote:I've had mine for a while now(18mths)had no problems yet.

The only things I can fault are the control pad flip cover sucks as its near impossible to lift up with gloves on and the digital display is not bright enough to be seen outside without shading it with your hand

Duct tape handle on mine,easy glove grab and still locks in up position.