NEW 2013 EVERLAST PowerTig 255 EXT AC/DC DIGITAL TIG WELDER

[JimMinKent]

It's a Great day! Mine arrived late this afternoon Here are some first impressions:

UPS did fine, I was very anxious about it getting here intact, but it looked great! The box was nearly perfect and was banded with 4 white plastic straps.

Accessories are what we have been told to expect. 3-series rigid water-cooled torch, and old-style work clamp, but the pedal and stick stinger are the new pieces. Flow meter is the new style, and looks good. The torch and denim zippered cover are real nice, although I will probably use my old EXT torch until the correct gear shows up.

The machine looks real good. Out back, it comes with a nice length of 10/4 primary cable that's over 6' long, no outlet for cooler on this one either. The front bezel, panel and clear cover are really cool. This machine is nice!

Much smaller than the Legacy 250EXT. Actually quieter than the old one, too. Measured 69dB at 1 foot from front grille, and 74dB at 1 foot from center of rear grille.

Not much time tonight, but ran a few 1/8" 6010 and 7018, very nice. Need to play with the stick settings more, we have a lot of control over arc starts and arc force now. Tried VRD (without knowing it) mode, and it runs a little different than straight stick. I need more time to understand the differences. I don't require myself to operate it as a VRD, but I would like to understand if there are other benefits.

I have a great first impression of this machine, and will get into the TIG functions on Tuesday. Will post some pix next time.

Machine is beautiful, and its operation looks great so far. Thanks Oleg and Mark, et al for sticking with it and getting us EXT Pioneers what looks to be a very suitable solution.

Finally Up and Running in Kent!

Jim

[Topaz32]

I'm still waiting for a phone call. Guess I will have to make the call.

[performance]

I'm still waiting for a phone call. Guess I will have to make the call.

Yes, I believe that was our instructions for best and most current records.

[DVA]

Just fired up the 255 EXT. This is night and day compared to the 250 EXT. Alex and the team really did a good job providing a great welder.

I was able to run some AC and DC GTAW with some AC pulse on 1/4 inch aluminum. Worked great and the initiation of the arc in DC is extremely crisp. The HF start is much cleaner and no violent like the 250 EXT.

I ran some 1/8 inch 7018, this is again night and day performance over the 250 EXT.

I am very pleased with the new welder.

[jakeru]

My 255EXT arrived today! I'm pretty excited. This has been a long time in the waiting. (It's actually from winning a Forum contest a while back... initially opted for a 250EXT and waited for that, but missed out on that, so now here I am with a new 255EXT Thanks Oleg!)

Although I haven't powered it up yet, so far I'm glad I held out for it. My 2007 Everlast Super200P (which I have put through a lot) is still a competent machine. I probably wouldn't have bought a new machine if I didn't win it - I would have just kept using the '07 Everlast. But I certainly can't complain about winning a new machine!

Observations:
* The Everlast machine packaging is really amazing now, compared to how it used to be. There was a gouge in the corner of the cardboard box from UPS, but it did not penetrate the very high quality and thick foam padding to make it to the machine.


* The machine is really great looking.


* The bare machine weighs 61 lbs.

* There is a 2-conductor "solid state device" of some sort where I expect the spark gap would usually be. (Aside from that the arc starting circuit looks typical tesla coil circuit - no transistor) See picture (white cylindrical thing at right with a lead coming out of each end):


* On the back, near the top on the side opposite of the on/off switch, there is an area where it looks like a cooler power plug could go. (Two pre-drilled holes with what looks like room for mounting a receptacle on the sheetmetal here, and easy taps to the power switch/circuit breaker on the inside of the machine nearby.)


* The new footpedal seems to have an improved (more sophisticated) linkage to the potentiometer by the way, that allows the pedal to move the first bit without moving the potentiometers so that the microswitch can initiate the arc before rotating the potentiometer. I imaging that this may allow "feathering down the throttle" to the minimum amps... (Assuming the pot is indexed/adjusted properly, of course, but that can likely be fixed if it's not.) I can't wait to try it!



The accessories mine arrived with were:
* 14.5' long new-style footpedal (So far looks pretty sweet... can't wait to give it a try!)
* WP-18 style rigid TIG torch (labeled "SR-18")with 13' long, outerbraided-style hoses inside. A nice, zippered denim-type cable cover. Handle diameter = 1-1/16". Includes a zip-tied on switch. Hose diameters inside were 5/16" (for the two smaller hoses) and 1/2" (for the single larger hose).
* sheetmetal ground clamp with 9.5' long cable (not the brass tweco-style clamp, but the plated sheetmetal, albeit a bit better quality than I was expecting for this style!)
* spring-clamp style stick electrode holder with 9.5' long cable
* a very good looking, new-style brass argon regulator (I've had great results with this style from other sources)



I decided I'm going to go through mine and give it some TLC before I fired up, because I figure I have more incentive than the factory assembler/worker to make it all perfect. (This philosophy has worked well for my 2007 Super200P... still firing a reliable TIG arc today). I found and fixed some minor fixable problems so far when going through the machine already - including:
* footpedal arrived with the top moving platform part off one of the pivots pins. It was fairly easy to just snap it back into position, although I don't know if it will be all ready to go after doing just that (may need adjusting to optimize its range... we'll see)

* The adhesive-affixed laminate over the front control panel had a pretty annoying looking "wrinkle", right over the "Normal/AC Easy/DC Easy" button (and it seems like it may have made that button difficult to press):

To fix that, I used a hairdryer to warm up the affected region, peeled the laminate away from the corner over the area, and applied it back on smoothly. I think the top two screws going through the control panel (which are also structural ones for supporting the welder components) seem to grab at the laminate and want to twist it when tightening, so I think I'll trim the laminate away around there to make clearance for the screw heads. I don't want to leave the screws loose here since they're structural for keeping the machine rigid. Unwrinkled:


After I'm done giving my 255EXT its initial TLC, I'll probably try to adapt my CK-Trimline 210 aircooled torch to it to try it out. (Eventually I'll want to get a watercooler, but I haven't figured that out yet, but I know it will be switched by the machine ). I'm thinking I may also need to put a longer electric cord on this machine. (I have a 25' extension added onto my Super200P's factory ~6' long cable and I really appreciate the extra length, although this is only 12 gauge, which may not be quite adequate for the 255EXT.)

[Rambozo]

Just fired up the 255 EXT. This is night and day compared to the 250 EXT. Alex and the team really did a good job providing a great welder.

I was able to run some AC and DC GTAW with some AC pulse on 1/4 inch aluminum. Worked great and the initiation of the arc in DC is extremely crisp. The HF start is much cleaner and no violent like the 250 EXT.

I ran some 1/8 inch 7018, this is again night and day performance over the 250 EXT.

I am very pleased with the new welder.

Love to hear that kind of praise, for the new machine. Thanks for the quick feedback.

* There is a 2-conductor "solid state device" of some sort where I expect the spark gap would usually be. (Aside from that the arc starting circuit looks typical tesla coil circuit - no transistor) See picture (white cylindrical thing at right with a lead coming out of each end)

Thanks for the great first impression and all the photos. That looks like a gas discharge tube, (basically an enclosed spark gap) they are used for over voltage protection on many things. Can't wait for your performance review. Pretty short list of build quality issues, that's always a good sign.

I like your philosophy of; "Don't turn it on, take it apart!"

[Mr120]

Sounds like it was all worth the wait. Truly a flagship product. Good to hear the low amp starts are smooth.

I try to fire up products before tweaking. I never know if UPS did something terminal to the product that I didn't notice. I don't want to spend time on something and then find out it needs to be returned or repaired. I've been there and done that a few times.

[Kempy]

PowerTig 255EXT, Got it all hookup and tested all the different AC waves pulse and no pulse. They all weld very similar but different sound for each one some faster startup and faster welding. DC welds very nicely down as low as 3 amps and stable.
Setting are:
Pulse time on 40%
pulse amps 50%
pulse frequency 1.5 Hz
AC balance 38%
AC frequency 250 Hz
this was just the first test with AC. then turned on DC very ease to start and hold 3 amps. AC will light and hold at 5 amps steady once the tungsten is hot in a few seconds.

[performance]

I think that you may have the Advanced AC pulse confused with the Advanced Square Wave.

[Kempy]

I think that you may have the Advanced AC pulse confused with the Advanced Square Wave.

I had it set the wave form was on advanced Square and the Tig Pulse was on Advance AC it was switching form AC to DC will I was welding.

[JimMinKent]

Kempy, That's a Great start!, You have a season of wonderful new experiences ahead of you.

From the really small to the Really Big!



Keep us posted on your findings

[Kempy]

Kempy, That's a Great start!, You have a season of wonderful new experiences ahead of you.

From the really small to the Really Big!

Keep us posted on your findings

I will be doing more welding tomorrow just weld up a motorcycle case that had a hole in it rush job, forgot to take a picture of it I will email the guy and get him to take some.