Just got my 250EX...feedback and pics inside !!
hey guys..
got my 250ex about a month ago and i am really enjoying using it. here are my thoughts...
before purchasing i did fair bit of research on chinese inverter tig's and Everlast was one of my main candidates. after countless hours reading feedback nd watching youtube video feedback i decided to go with it.
Concerns i had before purchase:
*read many threads about items being damaged whilst in delivery. i live in Asia..so my unit was getting shipped to NY and then heading out to my country from there. so this was a real concern given the long transit time
*read quite a few complaints about the quality of the foot pedal and torch included
*small electrical malfunctions/loose connections etc
*machine is loud
Despite these issues people were having..i was optimistic and decided to go ahead with the ebay purchase. the unit arrived a few weeks later at my door.
Initial thoughts:
there was no damage what so ever and i was really about that. torch quality was not bad..we are used to chinese tig accessories here..looked the same, but torch line was nice and flexible. being a 18-series water cool torch..its a little bulky...but once again..we are used to that..so no biggie. foot pedal looked ok.
next..i powered the sucker up...started with some s/s dc welding..arc is fantastic..machine worked without any issues. foot pedal works too..so that was great. played around with dc settings a bit and managed get it welding very good.
next switched it over to AC..now this is the real reason i bought this machine. purely for aluminum welding and i wanted a small plant that can weld 1/2 thick 6061. i am a race car fabricator by trade..so we do a fair bit of stuff in alloy. i have two other Telwin tig plants which really struggle with anything over 3mm's thick...
first thing i did was to run some beads on 3mm thick aluminum. this machine was already out performing my older tig plants. next i cranked up the amps and welded some 1/2" thick aluminum stuff....HOLY ####...this thing puddles that sucker like butter..i got some beautiful runs even on that thick aluminum. i was really impressed. over the next couple of days i played around with the pulse. it was a bit tricky at first but i got it working quite good.
here's some work i've done with this plant...i still have not perfected the pulse..so i am not using it on any of my work pieces. these welds were on straight AC (pulse off)
some 316 s/s (no pulse)
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psfa093a47.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps394aa034.jpg
some 321 s/s (no pulse)
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps0b2f2f32.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psc65bd2c4.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps1f88d982.jpg
some 6061 alloy welding (no pulse)
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...pseb1b8dc7.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps47cd862e.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps2fda1a1a.jpg
once i get the hang of the pulse settings fully...i will start to start to use it on my products. after welding the 1/2" aluminum...i cit the welded piece in half and the penetration was superb. totally welded up.
overall impressions...
very happy with it. simply put..its a very affordable little beast. i am very sure this plant can handle up to 3/4" thick alloy welding. i am going to try it out when i have some time. will post the results.
