rorik

Ever since I sold my miller syncrowave 350 back in '09, I've been missing having a tig welder. I really want a miller dynasty 200dx, but that thing is $$$. So is the comparable lincoln inverter. With prices that high, it would seem to be about the perfect time for another company to come in and undercut them. Enter for example the Thermal Arc 186 inverter, and the Everlast powertig 250ex, also an inverter. I think the Everlast units are imported from China, and the Thermal Arc units are assembled here with parts made in China.

I have no experience with either of those, do any of you guys?

malibuguy

I just recently picked up an eastwood ac/dc tig for at home. Price is great and so far I only welded some scrap 304. I havent tried aluminum on it yet. My only complaint is the pedal is a little weird to operatte compared to the one I use at work on our miller.

that-guy

i also have the Eastwood and love it...The pedal is a little strange, but even if you do have problems, their customer service is top notch and they'll get you fixed right up

jimbo slice

Anyone else have experience with these Chinese products? I too am in the market for a an inexpensive TIG to do small projects. I don't intend on using one of these types of welders for a full cage weld-up.. I only intend on doing exhaust or charge pipe work, and other small welding jobs. I've used Miller TIG's and MIG's in the past, but never once have I even seen one of these Chinese products in use. Will I be setting myself up for failure by purchasing one of these?

that-guy

the Eastwood is about as much if not cheaper than the chinese ones, and are made and sold in the US. they offer the 200ac/dc, or the 200dc for those who won't need to weld aluminum

rorik

I just looked up the Eastwood tig machine, it is about as bare bones as you can possibly get. All it has is AC balance control. No frequency adjustment, no pulse, no waveform manipulation is at all possible with it. the Thermal Arc 186 is about $1700, but I think it has basically all the features of the top of the line miller dynasty 200dx..at less than half the cost.

BiG Chris

I havent tried these welders but why not buy something used to something new that you havent tried yet?

turbo_rsx

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/Ac...r-Igbt-Tig.php

best overseas welder out has a 5yr warranty and its made with well know parts, i have the 210ext and i love it

nice vid you can watch that compares the miller 200dx, lincoln v205t, everlast 210ext

boostedb20z

iTrader: (1)

i use a everlast powerpro205 and this thing rocks very good arc and there customer service is great to ive needed help at 10pm and sent a email and they got back to me in mins but i do hear there repair shop in Florida is slow but thats he said she said.

95TurboCivic

i have a everlast powerpro 256 and thats by far the best welder ive ever bought..
TIG stick and Plasma all in one unit saved me about 2800-3200 and works bad *** havent had any problems with it.. pulse tig AC DC even Pulse Plasma lol..if you need any more info on this powerpro 256 hit me up..

rorik

I just looked up the Everlast 256, that is an intriguiing unit. It has a lot of ability to manipulate the output waveform, and it is also a plasma cutter. It is quite a bit heavier than just a welder though, sort of defeating the ease of portability thing, but it isn't more expensie than a welder alone, winning that, as long as the quality is still there.

That's what my concern though is, quality. Specifically, I don't want to by one of these only to have it become obsolete 3 years later, and then have it break and not be able to buy parts for it. That's what I'm worried about. I know with the miller or lincoln I'll always be able to fix it if it breaks, which is improbable in the first place, but still, it's nice to know.

Schister66

I have the baby of the bunch. About 2 weeks ago I picked up a new Everlast 140 DC Tig and I have no complaints so far after 10-12hrs of welding. It supposedly has a 5year warranty, but I bought this through Amazon hoping it would give me a little more leverage against a defective unit. I suck at Tig welding (haven't really done it in 5 years) but it gives a consisent arc and is easily adjustable with the digital dial on the front. Its a lift-start which i thought was going to be tricky, but its really easy to get used to. The unit I bought was under $300 but didnt come with any tungsten, filler rod, or a gas regulator. All told, that added about $100 to the cost ($400 total before gas). As a hobby welder, I think it'll work just fine without breaking the bank **fingers crossed**

rorik

$400 in the the Sunnyvale Trailer Park, you're rich compared to rest of those guys!

2fast4u831

I picked up a HTP 221 invertig before christmas. I've heard nothing but good reviews from it. A fabricator I know has been using it for a few years now. I need to wire up my 220V so I can start welding. I did take it to my school to give it a try when I first got it. My buddy who has a Miller dynasty 200dx also liked it.

rorik

That HTP Invertig 221 does look like a nice piece of equipment. But after searching, I was unabe to find out if you can only get those online, and where they're made. I have never seen any HTP equipment in any of my local welding supply shops.

jimbo slice

I have some questions for those actually using these machines :

What are you guys using these machines for? Hobby work, small repairs? Any of you guys using these machines for full-on fabrication duties?

Any of you guys using these machines with a generator, or a dedicated 220v source?

2fast4u831

As far as I know you can only get them on usaweld.com. I will look at my machine to see if I can find where it is made tomorrow.

rorik

Just thought I'd add that I did a little more research on the HTP Invertig 221, they're made in Italy. All I was able to find as far as sources was one site. But I read nothing but positive reviews online. It also has a significantly higher midrange duty cycle than its competition.

jimbo slice, I don't really understand your question. I mean, hopefully if a guy spends 2-4k on a welder, it'll get used for more than an hour every few months.

jimbo slice

All I'm asking is if these machines are capable of doing the work the big names are capable of... And I haven't seen these type of machines going for $2k-$4k, which is the cost of a Miller or Lincoln... I'm seeing these machines sell for roughly $1,200... I haven't seen anyone use any tig machine other than a Lincoln or a Miller, so I'm a little curious to know how well the lesser expensive units compare. I've seen the online demostrations, but like all advertising they only show what they want you to see, so I'm looking for unbiased real-world comparisons. Sorry for not making sense...

2fast4u831

The htp 221 does what the miller dynasty 200dx does. Might be a bit different in some things but it is close to it. Spoolin performance has been using the older htp 201 for some time now. He recommended me the htp 221. You also have to look at the duty cycle. Smaller machines can run the Amps they are rated for but for a few minutes. Once you get into the bigger 200+V machines you can run higher amperage for longer. What machines are you seeing go for $1,200?

rorik

I think I'm now sort of zeroing in on that HTP 221. It's $2500 with the air cooled torch vs $3800 or so for the dynasty 200dx. It has independent AC amperage adjustment, which the dynasty 200dx doesn't have (sort of like a more advanced form of AC balance, the dynasty 350 & 700 have it) And, amazingly the HTP 221 has a higher duty cycle than the dynasty 200dx. 20% at 220 amps, but 100% duty cycle at 145 amps. The dynasty 200dx is 20% at 200 amps, 60% at 150 amps, 40% at 140 amps, and 100% at 100 amps.

If that's a misprint, it's miller's fault, not mine, I have no clue why the dynasty has a higher duty cycle at 150 amps than at 140, but I took the specs right off millerwelds.com. If I had to guess, I'd say it IS a misprint, and the duty cycle is actually 40% at 150 amps, and 60% at 140, but what do I know. I suppose I could email them and ask, but I don't really care.

jimbo slice

Sorry I was speaking about the Everlast units, not the one you are talking about.

champLSinteg

I found my dynasty 200dx for $2300 on craigslist with only 6 hrs of arc time on it. keep an eye out if you can wait.

I am also hearing nothing but good things on those everlast welders. I am thinking of buying one of their plasmas too.

1sick4g63

iTrader: (1)

HTP made in italy and is hands down the best welder I've ever used.

paulzy

iTrader: (1)

My thought on Longevity. Take it with a grain of salt as this is only my experience.

A while back I wanted to upgrade to a 200+ amp inverter machine. At the time, I was really tight on funds so I looked to the chinese machines because I couldn't afford a dynasty. I ended up with a Longevity TIGWELD 250AC/DC. Before that, I owned a Miller synchrowave 180sd and a Miller diversion 165.

The packaging was pretty **** poor from the get go.

I open it up and the power cord was loose on the machine side. No biggie, I just tightened it up.

The machine looks to be well built but the attachments are like toys or fakes. The torch, ground clamp, regulator, and comsumables that come with it are a joke. I understand that the price reflects it but they should have more pride than to include such poor quality attachments with the machine. My regulator was broken right out of the box but since I didn't have a 220v outlet to use it right away (because I had recently moved), Longevity wouldn't stand behind it. I bought a smith and it's twice the regulator that comes with the longevity anyways.

The torch on my Diversion 165 was pretty bulky and heavy but the the Longevity one has it beat hands down. It's a pain in the *** to weld with. I just recently bought a WP9 flexhead to replace it. That will help a lot.

As for actual performance:

The machine welds good. It works like it should, the buttons all do what they are supposed to be doing. My biggest gripe or pet peeve with this machine though? You cannot set the base amps before you strike an arc. The only time the amps are displayed is when the arc is going. In a production setting, this thing will not fly. I know you get what you pay for but if they built this machine to compete with the the blue and red machines you need to be abel to set base amp. I also don't understand the whole control **** on the pedal. Why not get rid of that and just use the machine to control it like the big guys do.

So with buying the machine, buying a good torch, a good regulator, and shipping, I am close to the HTP invertig 221 price range already. I should've just waited longer and bought the HTP. Don't get me wrong, it does what it's supposed to but the money you save on the machine, you will spend somewhere else to make it comfortable to weld with.