Everlast 250 EX

First heard about this welder from your review while I was spending 6 hrs/day in a TIG class at the local CC welding with a brand new Dynasty 200DX. Re: quality control, w/in the first semester's use, about 30% of the coolers on those machines had issues. Taken care of under warranty. I never saw any issues with any of the machines.

Ordered machine... and waited for delivery. Approx. 4 months after ordering, and paying, I had finally received my complete order. To be fair, a couple of months of wait was for the cart and water cooler. Sales approach and communication suck. That was 1 1/2 yrs ago. Things may have changed. Personally, I suggest having everything agreed in clear writing, especially with respect to stock status and availability. Phone technical support has been very good, although I've had no major issues. The front bezel cracked in shipping was promptly replaced.

As to the machine, I absolutely hated the foot pedal and torch. Replaced with SSC pedal and CK flex torches. (I actually prefer the SSC pedal to the Dynasty pedal. I believe the Dynasty pedal has an audio taper pot in it, because the fire goes out more than I thought it should with a small pedal movement. I got used to it, but it was never intuitive.) I love my CK 20-series flex torches. These changes transformed my take on the machine.

Low amp HF starts and welds in both AC and DC are at least as good as the Dynasty, and it has 50 more amps at nearly twice the duty cycle of the Dynasty. All up, I have about 1/2 the money in it that a Dynasty 200DX with cooler would cost me, and I wouldn't trade even (I would prefer to have a Dynasty 350 for its separately adjustable EP and EN amperages in AC, and that will be my next TIG machine). I know and love Lincoln's 350 MP mig machine, but know nothing of their TIG machines. I have a MM211 and love it for short arc MIG, but want the Lincoln for its pulse aluminum and pulse spray capabilities. I'm no bigot for any color of box. My welder is a tool and I will buy what I think will give me the best bang for the buck performance and reliability-wise.

The welder has no big potted circuit boards which I think I like, as some folks with issues were provided individual parts for replacement and apparently solved quite a few issues, without having to ship the machine. Personally, I have had no reliability issues so far (knock on wood). I have heard several stories of potted board failures rendering both red and blue machines economically unrepairable, and am not crazy about that, irrespective of any possible reliability advantages potting offers.

The bottom line is that my experience leaves me little doubt that my green welder will make me more than enough money to buy whatever I wish to succeed it. And I would never have known about it withour Jody's objective review. Thank you for doing that, and posting all of the helpful vids. Sorry to be so long-winded and hope this is helpful.

Paul