I hate my 250ex

I bought my 250 ex a couple years ago with the thoughts of learning to tig weld. Heck it looks easy on all of these videos I've been watching. That is a joke. I know it takes years of practice. I understand that. But every time I try to practice its always something. And when I try to do projects thats even worse. Right now I'm trying to weld 1/4 in aluminum plate to make a ebrake bracket for my car. All new material. I was able to tack the two pieces together but 15 minutes lat when I wanted to weld them it was like night and day. Finally determined that my regulator went out. Yes after about an hour of total run time my regulator died. So went to the local airgas store to get another one and got it installed and the machine wouldn't make a puddle. I HATE THIS MACHINE. I know there are people on here that probably can make this thing weld but right now I'm not one of them. Im going to have to take my brackets to a welding shop so I can finish my project. Did I mention I HATE THIS MACHINE? ok rant over.
By the way if there is anyone in central mississippi that wants to buy a slightly used 250ex give me a shout.

Maybe if you give us more information about settings, tungsten, prep, argon flow, etc... we could help. Pictures work best.

Really aggravated right now. Its all put up for till the weekend. Thanks. Did I mention I HATE THIS MACHINE?

It's probably just your polarity, AC balance or AC frequency settings. Give us some parameters you are using.

I've had my 250EX over 5 years. Love me long time! As with anything difficult and worthwhile, there is a steep learning curve. Watching guys like Jody weld on youtube, is like watching pro golf on TV, they make it look easy. Hell I just managed to mess up an easy threading job on my lathe. Done it many times, this time I messed up.

Along with the other highly qualified people in this forum, the settings are the most important. Jody has taped a series of videos on the 250EX and its many different adjustments, features, and recommended settings. Performance and Rambozo just to name a few are always very helpful.

I don't comment that much. but this forum is very helpful and educational. Hang in there and don't let it get the best of you.

Yeah I hate Jody. Just joking. He is the reason I bought this thing.

Nothing against Jody of course, I bought my brother a Lincoln MP210 based on his review. The Tig part of it works just fine, the Mig wire drive roller isn't concentric, and the wire slips. Fortunately, he fired up his good old Millermatic 35 white face. As of now, Lincoln hasn't come up with a fix for it yet and he's about to force them to trade it in for a Square wave 200. The customer service here at Everlast is fantastic.

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Originally Posted by snail81

Heck it looks easy on all of these videos I've been watching.

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Over the years I've seen plenty of people make their first welds and their 50th and its kind of heart breaking to see someone who wants so badly to do it but just don't have it in them. I've said to myself, man, just find something else to do. I hate to see the suffering!
But most recently, I worked in a shop that is a sub-contractor for Boeing and there was this one 'kid' there who I would have put into the 'you-aren't-cut-out-for-it' category, but this kid has made some incredible strides lately after being there a little over a year. I'm glad they gave him a chance to sort it out. Making me re-think the whole theory.

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Originally Posted by snail81

Im going to have to take my brackets to a welding shop so I can finish my project.

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This makes me sad. If I were close to MS I would stop by and spend a day with you to avoid such a crushing defeat.

I gave my 14 year old son his 1st ever TIG lessons a few days ago and I couldn't believe the results. By far the best 1st aluminum TIG welds I've ever seen. Actual welds, not just blobs of partially melted filler rod along with touchdown aftermath. Not a single touch down in an hour. No tungsten grinding whatsoever.

I started by having him just run the torch across the base to see what it takes to get a puddle going several times then had him watch me run some beads.

If you could get someone with some experience to come by I think you would want to keep that thing. But at the same time, there really aren't a lot of people who are good at teaching, and quite a few are just into inflating their egos by laying something nice down and pointing and laughing at yours. 20 years ago, I had that guy 'teaching' me. Find the right person who gets great enjoyment in seeing others succeed and I'm pretty sure your attitude will change.

Good luck

EDIT: Oh and PS. Jody is by far my favorite youtube welder and I've worked side by side with Mr. TIG

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Originally Posted by dumbwelder

I've worked side by side with Mr. TIG

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Do tell...

I built chassis's(SP?) for John Force Racing and Wyatt was in there quite a bit at times. A great brain to pick! Force would also send us to Lincoln Electric in Cleveland for their Advanced Motorsports Training thing with a lot of guys from different teams from all over the motorsports spectrum. Indycar, Nascar, heck even the Gravedigger guy was there, where Mr. Tig was one of the, I don't want to call him an instructor because it was more of a lecture format, with hands on exercises in between speakers. First time I ever used a purge chamber for titanium. A really cool experience that I'm quite thankful for.

Well I took my parts to a buddy that has been welding(all different kinds) for 20 years I think he said. He is a maintenance man so he don't weld all the time but he is good. I watched him and learned a lot. He was using a miller 160 I think. A basic machine but good in his hands. He did say that one of the pieces had impurities in it and it was a hard weld to do. I got back home and ordered some parts for my torch. I kinda burned some stuff up. I will practice and I will get good at this. My biggest problem is that I do get frustrated real easy. So thanks for the input guys

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Originally Posted by snail81

Well I took my parts to a buddy that has been welding(all different kinds) for 20 years I think he said. He is a maintenance man so he don't weld all the time but he is good. I watched him and learned a lot. He was using a miller 160 I think. A basic machine but good in his hands. He did say that one of the pieces had impurities in it and it was a hard weld to do. I got back home and ordered some parts for my torch. I kinda burned some stuff up. I will practice and I will get good at this. My biggest problem is that I do get frustrated real easy. So thanks for the input guys

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See if your buddy can watch what you're doing and give you some pointers. It's so much better when you can have someone look over your shoulder and coach you. You will pick up the basics so much faster. Then it's all about practice.

hey we all get frustrated! tig ain't easy, I know what to do, but was away for a bit so I had to concentrate to do well it again. Besides just do what I do if I get frustrated, get mad! then turn it into a "your not beating me and I'm gonna learn just how to do this good" attitude. haha


Barry

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Originally Posted by Rambozo

See if your buddy can watch what you're doing and give you some pointers. It's so much better when you can have someone look over your shoulder and coach you. You will pick up the basics so much faster. Then it's all about practice.

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Thats good advice, but i'll add this... Best thing you could do is take a night class at a local tech school or community college. Second to that, try buying a used welding text book off one of the used book sites (ebay, abebooks, betterworldbooks, etc) that will give you some valuable insight and good exercises to build skills and understanding.

Jody collier and forums are great resources... But nothing beats taking a class with a real live instructor.

Hi Snail81, how is the TIG welding coming along? Did you stay with it?

Snail81 , any news? Did you make some progress?