Got my new 200DX today will try it out on Sunday (got a show tomorrow) ... Everything looks awesome! Best packaging job I've ever seen from China ... Can't wait till I start laying beads! THANKS Oleg!:D
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Got my new 200DX today will try it out on Sunday (got a show tomorrow) ... Everything looks awesome! Best packaging job I've ever seen from China ... Can't wait till I start laying beads! THANKS Oleg!:D
Congratulations, Winky! We all expect GREAT things from you now that you have such a great tool to work with. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Winky
Feels a bit like Christmas around here now, huh!
Yep ... Christmas ... can't wait to play with my new toy ... uh ... tool
If you have any questions post up or give us a call. If you got it on a Friday I can imagine the excitement to fire it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
In fact ... we were going to do a outdoors bike event today but we woke up to rain so ... guess what I'm going to be doing today instead.Quote:
Originally Posted by everlastsupport
I just fired up my 200DX for the first time running some beads on some 1/8" mild steel set DCEN using 3/32" lantanated ... argon flow about 18 to 20 L best results around 85 to 90 amps worked really well ... I was having a little trouble getting the arc to initiate ... actually had to make contact to start ... will arc force have any effect on that or is that strictly for stick? I may need to go inside and adjust the gap ... if so how long will it take for the capacitors to discharge? I really don't like getting knocked for a loop.
to much argon 7 to 10 L on flow
Thanks Rod good to know. Having done mostly mig to this point I've been running my steel mix a lot higher ... in fact less than 23 and my welds turn to dodo ... come to think of it I was running my scratch tig around 8L ... now I'm using a different meter ... couldn't use the one I had ... fittings and hose was a different size ... I've been told the glass tube w/ ball is more accurate anyway ... so I'm using the one that came with my new welder ... which I already love!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodsmachineshop
Cup size and litres are the same until you get near 150 amps then bump up the litres by 1,,,check this out http://www.ckworldwide.com/technical.htm
Fantastic ... thanks ... here is how my welding station looks nowAttachment 7196How cool is this?Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer
A 200DX ready to go...I am envious. Nice mix of tools there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
ken
Way cool. Nice looking setup you got there. So everything is going OK now?Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
Will work with it more tomorrow ... I sure like it so far ... haven't tried the pedal yet, been running 2T ... I'm sure the start up issue is me ... not the machine. Tomorrow I'm going to set the AC Freq @ 100 and the balance at 65 and try my hand at aluminum ... I have some 1/8 flat stock to play with ... I'll set the amps around 90 or so and see how that works ... this is really a GR8 machine I know I will be making some cool things in short order with it. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by undercut
Give the caps 1-2 minutes, that is plenty. Unplug too just for safety. Arc force should have no affect on the start. Yea 90 @ 1/8" is about right for me as well. Flow I would run lower to save gas, start and 10L and go up or down from there (should be down). Maybe start at 8L with a #7.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
On aluminum you will need a little more heat (20-30%) and to clean it good just before welding, unless you're just playing. Set the yellow knobs to (left one) at 2 'oclock and (right) to about 10-11 'oclock (30-35%)
Winky,
Please read all the information out here and the manuals. The Balance set to 65% will likely smoke the tungsten. Use 35%. As you can see on the panel face, Clockwise to the right is + electrode and to the left is negative. We use a percent of positive. We have it in the manuals, Jody has it in the videos he has done, and other multiple places. Also the gas flow: We use LPM not CFH. CFH is twice what LPM is. That is the reason you were probably having hard starts is because the gas flow was so high that it was destabilizing the arc.
THIS MACHINE IS AWESOME! No problem with starts now ... I tried my hand at aluminum this morning ... before reading this post of coarse ... I had watched Jody's video before which is why I had set the balance at 65% ... not realizing that the direction of balance is opposite to Miller ... my first pass was a disaster like you said fried my tungsten and took out my #5 ceramic ... oops my bad ... made a few adjustments ... now getting a nice puddle and stacking dimes ... what a fabulous machine this 200DX is. This is the first time I've ever TIGGED aluminum and it's progressing nicely.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by performance
if the aluminum is really clean you dont need very much balance . when i weld heavy dirty stuff i use about 50 to 60 with a 1/8 electrode with a large cup
Here are my first ever attempts at aluminum tig welding ... I know they aren't pretty and I need to clean my aluminum better along with my first beads is my first butt weld ... I'll get it figured out eventually but I must say this machine just blows me away!Attachment 7197:O My DCEN on mild steel looks much better ... but I've been doing it for a while ... this AC TIG on aluminum stuff is brand new to me.
It'll come to you, Winky, and will be like second nature once you've got your practice time in. You've got a great machine there. Have fun! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Winky
An old saying, practice, practice, practice. It takes time. And A/O does not always make aluminum come easy on TIG.
I would bump up the post flow or at least stay over then end of the weld and let the gas shield it at the end of the weld (one you release the power). Looks like you are pulling away when the arc dies.
You will want many beads to get the feel and see how aluminum melts and flows, not quite as colorful and clear as steel.
Keep at it man.
Oops! That's what I've been doing ... as soon as I've let go of the trigger I've been pulling up my helmet to look at my weld ... my bad ... anxious to see what I've done so been jumping the gun,wow this is fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by everlastsupport
Post flow is your friend, Winky! On the newest 200dx I believe you have pretty much all the bells and whistles. pre-flow, post-flow and arc-force if you stick weld. The number of dials was pretty daunting to me at first but once you see the power of them and how they can help you ..... :D ... not that I have one, just reading.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
Looks like you can run a little more heat. The white haze (etch) you can see on the far left weld is the cleaning (right yellow knob).Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
Thanks ... I'm done for the day but will make note of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by everlastsupport
I played with the machine most of the day yesterday and all of the issues I was having was me ... first I had the pre flow set to high and thought there was an arc start problem ... then I had the AC balance way out of whack not realizing that the settings were backwards to other brands (had it at 65% when it should have been 35% then I had the down slope to long and was pulling off while the arc was still going ... having only used stick, mig and a no frills DC TIG getting used to all the control is a little intimidating at first. buy the end of the day things were looking much better ... this thing is GREAT!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by undercut
And the arc start problems, I agree with Mark on the gas being way too high. Why everyong mentioned drop it to 8-10 range. That will do for about anything, I run down until I see it is too low and bump in up a little and done.
Glad you are on the right track, 2 two, we expect to see perfect TIG welds :D
Yes, I took down the gas flow (I think Rod touched on that too) having no problems with the arc start now ... next step ... try out the pedal ... Everlast has gr8 machines ... and this forum's members are outstanding too.Quote:
Originally Posted by everlastsupport
Glad you like the machine, us and our extended team. A lot of smart guys on here for sure. They beat Mark and I do the punch a lot and that make us look great.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
I know these don't look all that gr8 ... but no one can say I haven't been practicing ... I have to go get some more argon now lol.Attachment 7209 This is just a fraction ... I've been stacking beads all over the place.
My, my, you have been very busy! How's the welder's performance? Everything you expected? Certainly looks like you are having fun.
Are you getting some aluminum time in because it is new or because your next project will need it?
Winkey, I can say you are 100% right lol. It takes time if you jump into the harder stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winky
I would think about going back to steel and practice and get the feel of TIG there, then back to aluminum. You can see a lot better with steel and get the feel. Aluminum is not easy.
What size argon tank? 125 will go fast when you get started.
Steel was the first thing I tried it on and it looked great from the start ... I've used DCEN before with a little 130 amp Harbor Freight unit so I'm not completely new to tig. I'm using an 85 tank it was half MT when I started and I just got back with a full one. You are right about seeing better w/ steel ... that's part of the issue I'm having, seeing when the puddle forms and adding my filler at the right time. I think at some point I'm going to add a gas lens so I can bring my tungsten out a little further. The machine is performing flawlessly ... I'm not planning to start my next project with aluminum I just want to get well used to it before I do; in fact I practiced yesterday morning for about two hours then made an art piece with steel just to take a break from the aluminum and find my center. I am finding aluminum less and less aggravating than the first few attempts.Quote:
Originally Posted by everlastsupport
Ahh. Then sounds like you are on the right track and just need more table time. The smaller tank and TIG, you might want to look into a 125 or 250. Some reason TIG just sucks up the gas (for us anyway). But it is a blast for sure.
Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing the new art. Car or bike? Something evil bwhahahaha..
This will probably be my last post on this thread … some of you are probably saying … it’s about time ... lol.
This, my first purchase of an Everlast product has been quite the adventure. I haven’t tried out the pedal yet but that’s me learn everything the hard way ... then when I introduce stuff that makes it easier it’s like WOW. That’s how I started welding in general first stick, then flux core, then Mig , then Ozy/acetylene the DCEN now AC/DC TIG … again the hard way 2T. I know my aluminum welds look like fido’s butt but it will all come around eventually. I am already figuring out things and that too is how my learning process works … I did the reading; I watched the videos, researched and contemplated but when it all comes down to brass tacks the way I get things going is by jumping in and … sink or swim; a few things I already figured out … aluminum goes much better when you pre heat, I’m using too large of a tungsten for the amount of current I’m using and I need to upgrade to a larger gas tank. In closing I want to say that so far my 200DX has lived up to my expectations and then some … as soon as I start taking full advantage of the tremendous amount of control offered I know my welding will make strides … everything I’ve owned to this point has been bare bones. Saturday when I took a break from my aluminum practice and spent a half an hour doing a steel art piece just to find my center … this is what I made … sick art from a sick mind … LMAO. Attachment 7213
Well ... I've been using my 200DX for a couple months now and I just wanted to say it has lived up to my expectations quite well ... although I haven't had much time to use it over the 12 days or so ... been real busy with other work ... now I need to get my Buell ready for the AHDRA NW Nationals coming up in a couple weeks ... I will have some time available to me next week to work with with it ... just wanted to keep everyone informed about how this fine machine is working for me.
Please keep us updated with your luck with the 200DX- I was looking at the 250EX but it looks like they are updating that model due to the problems- The 210EX looks good but it came out in March and it still hasent been added to the US site.
I like the 200DX also because it isnt all "Digital display" which like every microwave oven etc with similar displays dosent seem to hold up.
are you sure your on the 250ex have not seen any problems with this welder , sure your not thinking of the the 250ext instead ,
Probably the 250 EXT and left off the T. Like the avatar Rod. Last one was hard on the eyes.
what you didn't like my tootoo i was wearing lol
Oh gosh no .... didn't want to say anything but now that you mention it ... it was a bit ... "disturbing" ... LOL :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Rodsmachineshop