So which everlast welder did you end up getting? How're you liking it? Easy to set up and get started? I get caught up looking at different welders and how to set it up for different materials and thicknesses. I sort of want one that makes most of the decisions for you, select ac or dc and thickness. Then I hear those work just OK on most welds but to really get nice welds you need to have the adjustability
And I think the everlasts come with a couple of preset settings to get in the ballpark?
Man this is a topic that’s highly debated with no real definitive answer. I got a 185DV (dual voltage) because I wanted the ability to run it in 110 and 220 while staying small and easy to go mobile with. It’s not bigger than a carry on suitcase maybe 40lbs. It does both AC and DC and has settings where it can ballpark the frequency, post gas flow, and balance for you when you select an amperage. Or you can manual set all of those how you want. I have yet to do anything other than stick with it because I just today got the 2/0awg to run to the shop so I can have 220 and most of the stuff I want to tig is gonna need 220 or at a minimum more than the 15amp breaker that feeds my shop now.
Knowing what manual settings you’d want is pretty much trial and error even with amperage. I personally like to over amp the machine and then control it with the pedal. Think of it like horse power and traction. If you have 1,500hp and the road will only handle 800 you have to pedal it to keep it straight but you can push it to the edge and be fast! If suddenly the road can handle more or less you can adjust because you have lots of juice on tap. Now say you have 800hp and the road can only take 800 then your gonna be wide open throttle straight getting it! But then you get to a nice sticky section or in welding a thicker bit of metal you suddenly don’t have enough power to melt it effectively and now your welds look like doodoo butter.
When you look at welders and see crazy expensive Miller dynasty machines mostly what your paying for is duty cycle, max amp/material thickness, and ability efficiency. So basically if you want to sit and burn rod for 10 hours straight with no break then you need a monster box with a liquid cooled torch and blah blah blah. If you just want to fuse some pipe and tube together, some AN bungs in things, and fix broken automotive junk you don’t need more than a $1,000 machine IMO.
I was recommended the 185dv Everlast by the two people that I usually outsource welding to and they have both had theirs for 5+ years no issues whatsoever.
It’s possible none of this makes any sense to anyone but me
