Everlast Welder... I have seen the light!!!

[SLP82]

Well, I have seen the light. As some of you might recall from some of my previous posts, I purchased a Everlast PowerMIG 210, new from Everlast directly for my home use. I liked the warranty and specifications (best in class duty cycle). Most posts on various websites from welders who had welded with both Lincolns and Millers but also owned Everlast had very positive stuff to say about Everlast. Many people who weld full time at work with a Miller but had a Everlast at home, said they could tell almost no difference in welds. So after literally MONTHS of debating and researching, I pulled the trigger on my Everlast welder. It is dual voltage and currently I do not have a 220 outlet in my garage (I have all the materials to hook the 220 up but have not yet done it), so I figured I would take it for its first spin yesterday. I set it up per the instructions, turned it on, and about 60 seconds later it made a very loud "pop", like a .22 rifle going off. The welder shut off, I quickly slipped the switch on it and unplugged it. Checked the breaker box and it had flipped. Turned it back on and checked the outlet with my grinder which worked fine. So reluctantly I plugged the Everlast back in and turned it back on. It immediately made a couple small pop noises to which I flipped it off immediately. This was at 4 pm central time so knowing their office in on the west coast (2 pm there) I called their tech support. No answer. Left 3 message, called 6 times over the next 30 minutes. Finally I chose sales and low behold they answered to take my money. I asked why the tech support wasn't answering and they said they are on the East coast and so they are closed. So today I called again at 9 am central time (my time) which is 10 am east coast, and the number says they are closed until 9 am west coast time (11 am my time or 12 pm east coast time). So apparently their tech support is only open from 12 pm east coast time to 5 pm east coast time. Needless to say, I am beyond irritated at this point. The only "con" that anyone could say about Everlast through all this research was that there is no local support for them, but since I had not seen almost anyone say they had a problem with their Everlast, I thought it isn't a big deal. Well it is a big deal now. I am seriously thinking after I get through jumping through all these hoops I have a feeling I am about to jump through, I am going to sell this thing at a loss and just bite the bullet and buy a Millermatic.

So that being said, this thing was rated for 210 amps at 220v on MIG, could run a 44 lb spool, and had a 50% duty cycle. Does anyone have a recommendation for a similar model through Miller. I want a invertor to keep the weight down some, but it has to be able to run both full size spool and adapt to a 10 lbs spool if needed. I want a minimum 40% duty cycle and no less than 200 amps.

[clint738]

Sorry to hear that. I was considering getting one of their dedicated Stick welders for like 399. Now you are giving me second thoughts.

[SLP82]

To be honest, I had never read anything negative about them, and their "bang for buck" considering their specifications, output, and price is amazing. I know all things fail. I have seen brand new trucks with 2,500 miles on them need a new transmission. It just happens sometimes, and I accept that. But what is irritating at this point, is how much trouble I am having now getting someone to help me with troubleshooting or repairing this thing. Depending on how smooth this does or does not go, will ultimately determine if I keep it or not. So far, this does not look promising.

[SLP82]

Well just called again at 11:15 am my time (9:15 am west coast time) and the phone system allowed me to go through. I chose technical support and nobody answered once again. I left a 4th message and still have not heard anything. I will keep updating this as it continues.

[H80N]

Well just called again at 11:15 am my time (9:15 am west coast time) and the phone system allowed me to go through. I chose technical support and nobody answered once again. I left a 4th message and still have not heard anything. I will keep updating this as it continues.

do a thread search on "neverlast" and read the threads

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/search?q=neverlast&searchJSON=%7B%22keywords%22%3A%22neverlast%22%7D

[SLP82]

Ok, so I just spoke with Alex in the sales department and he told me that its rare, but during shipping these units sometimes get dropped, and the boards crack internally. He said this is by far the biggest failure rate they have encountered on these welders. The board shorts out and overloads the capacitor and it "pops". Every time this has happened they find a small crack in the boards once it is returned. So this was not a Everlast quality issue but rather a shipping issue. Now here is the part that really made me happy. Alex told me they are kicking around the idea of getting rid of the PowerMIG 210 model, so he told me they are just going to upgrade me to the Everlast 230 and send me a new one out. This is a upgraded model to my current 210. That my friends is customer service! Alex apologized for the inconvenience and all the postage is being taken care of on their ends. He is also shipping the new welder to me expedited shipping to have it here in the next couple days. I was very skeptical about my purchase of Everlast but I feel much better now. Also Dan the guy from the tech department, called me literally 2 minutes after I got off the phone with Alex from the sales department and apologized for the inconvenience as well. He wanted to make sure I was getting taken care of. He did confirm though they are on the East coast and that the tech department is only open to calls for 5 hours a day. I think I will keep the new 230 model and see how it goes for awhile. It does have a 5 year warranty after all which should be plenty of time to get a feel for its overall durability.

[H80N]

Ok, so I just spoke with Alex in the sales department and he told me that its rare, but during shipping these units sometimes get dropped, and the boards crack internally. He said this is by far the biggest failure rate they have encountered on these welders. The board shorts out and overloads the capacitor and it "pops". Every time this has happened they find a small crack in the boards once it is returned. So this was not a Everlast quality issue but rather a shipping issue. Now here is the part that really made me happy. Alex told me they are kicking around the idea of getting rid of the PowerMIG 210 model, so he told me they are just going to upgrade me to the Everlast 230 and send me a new one out. This is a upgraded model to my current 210. That my friends is customer service! Alex apologized for the inconvenience and all the postage is being taken care of on their ends. He is also shipping the new welder to me expedited shipping to have it here in the next couple days. I was very skeptical about my purchase of Everlast but I feel much better now. Also Dan the guy from the tech department, called me literally 2 minutes after I got off the phone with Alex from the sales department and apologized for the inconvenience as well. He wanted to make sure I was getting taken care of. He did confirm though they are on the East coast and that the tech department is only open to calls for 5 hours a day. I think I will keep the new 230 model and see how it goes for awhile. It does have a 5 year warranty after all which should be plenty of time to get a feel for its overall durability.

Wanna buy a bridge..................??................

[ryanjones2150]

Time will tell. I truly hope it works out for you. That, in itself, is a huge problem for me...hoping it works. I can't hope for it to work. It has to work. Support for my machines has to be available. Parts have to be available. I get the cost part, I really do. For me, down time is far more costly. I bet if you had requested a refund, you'd be out of luck.

[clint738]

For the guys who depend on their welders for work, I can see the parts and down time issues. For me as a hobby welder now, I can handle waiting a few weeks for parts or a replacement as I have other welders for the task or the task can wait.

What really confuses me is the new inverter style stick welders say they have auto adjusting hot start and Arc force. I don't know if I'll find that a plus or be pissed if i'm trying to hold a tight arc while running an uphill 7018 and then the arc force kicks in and ramps up the amps when I don't want it to?

Not sure if thats how they operate, but from what I've read it seems like that could be the case...?

[SLP82]

Look, I know a lot of people don't like stuff made in China. In the past, stuff from China earned its reputation for being junk. Now that being said, let me attempt to explain my view on this. Many companies, such as craftsman, snap on, MAC, and hundreds if not thousands of companies now choose to have their products foreign made. What I think, in my humble opinion, is that companies have realized that you can American engineer a product, build a prototype and then find a foreign manufacturer who will agree to stay to your strict requirements (materials used, and tolerances) and then follow up with strict product quality control by checking at least one of each batch produced, I feel you can have a quality made product foreign produced. Now again, a company has to ensure their quality control by constantly checking units to ensure the foreign factory is not deviating from their USA standards. Assuming this all happens, a quality product can be produced with substantial cost savings.

I will give you a couple examples. I have a 9,000 lb winch on my 4x4. My favorite hobby is offroading and I have been doing it very regularly for about 19 years. Well about 5 years ago, after much research, I chose to purchase a Engo 9,000 lbs winch after it won a "winch shootout" by a popular offroad magazine. They tortured about a dozen winches and by the end only 3 winches survived. Warn, Super Winch, and Engo. They actually went to play with the winches after all the testing was done and realized on the last test, that the Warn had actually broke internally but stayed together under a load, and once put in reverse, came apart. So actually the Superwinch and Engo were the only survivors. So I started doing research on Engo. I found out the company was created by the sons of the founder of Mile Marker winch. They wanted to create a quality winch for significantly cheaper using foreign built winches. I spoke to one of the owners directly for about a hour years ago and he explained that the winch design was created, and made here in the USA. They then spent almost a year finding a China located manufacturer who agreed to stick to strict quality standards. They constantly test units from each shipment to ensure quality. They also are I believe the only company to offer a lifetime warranty on their winches. I paid about $320 shipped for my 9,000 winch as opposed to Warn asking $1,000 for a comparable winch. The first thing Engo started with was a series wound motor which most people know is the reason Warn winches lasted longer than most cheaper permanent magnet motors. I looked at all the specifications side by side with a equal Warn series winch and found no difference. So to make a long story short, I have fully submerged my winch in water and mud at least a dozen times. I have pulled out Ford F350 diesels with 37's tires using a snatch block to double my pull strength and full maxed out this winch many times. To date I would say I have used the winch over 100 times. I have had one solenoid fail which cost me $15 for a new one locally as the solenoid they use is a generic one you can find at any auto parts store. Other than that, the winch works like a champ. I have even pulled out a Toyota FJ cruiser that was buried very deep and broke his 9,000 Warn winch trying to get out. So I have first hand seen quality products produced from China assuming the company constantly ensure strict quality control.

Yes it is a gamble to a degree, but if you do some research, and make educated decision, I feel you can score some very good products occasionally from quality made foreign manufacturers.

Toyota had a similar history. They showed up here in the United States in the late 70s or early 80s and I have seen interviews where reporters asked in the 80s to the head CEO of Ford if he was worried about Toyota. He laughed and said never will there come a day where Toyota would ever be on Ford level. Fast forward now, and Toyota leads the market in sales on midsize SUV, midsize car, compact truck, compact SUV, all areas that Ford use to hold the crown on. Every year the Toyota Tundra gains more market shares on the Ford F150. Also if you google "most american made truck" you can see that Ford and Toyota are with in 1% of each other and go back and forth for the most American made truck. Chevy and Dodge are more foreign made than the Toyota Tundra now.

I will attempt to give Everlast the benefit of the doubt until I can fairly test out a welder and see how it works. I ensure you I will post back and let everyone know, as I have no problem calling it like it is. I write tons of reviews for amazon and google in hopes that it helps other people avoid crappy products and drives companies to ensure they produce a quality product. Also just a quick update, they are not only upgrading the welder, but they called me back and said they are choosing to have it air shipped to me so I can get it as soon as possible. I can't imagine having a 70 lb welder flown to a customer is cheap, so their customer service so far seems pretty good. It would be nice if they had local offices everywhere but I am sure it would substantially raise the costs of the units which would be then passed on to the customers. They are attempting to keep their costs lower so they can sell welders at a substantial discount.

[SLP82]

Clint, not sure if this helps you or not, but this is the welder that they are sending me as a replacement. I went and looked online and found a review that ChuckE2009 (guy who makes tons of welding videos on youtube) did on this new welder. I will tell you ahead of time, it seems like Everlast sent him the unit for review. I have seen him recommend tons of other brands though, including people who compete with Everlast, so I know he is not someone who works for Everlast. I have been watching his reviews for awhile and I trust him to give a fair and accurate account of products. He explains how the arc and other settings can be altered. I don't stick weld much but I do know that there is a specific stick that almost no invertor welders can run, and this new Everlast supposedly has been modified to be able to run this difficult stick. Here is the review if you want to take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYegvdWhbcc

[H80N]

A short term "Out of the box review" will tell you nothing about long term reliability..... durability....& sustainability....

DON'T be fooled..... that data takes time

[MAC702]

If something is a gimmick, you give it a name like "Everlast," "Longevity," or "Duramax." If it's going to last forever, you put your name on it, like "Miller," "Hobart," or "Cummins."

[Aeronca41]

I was (very) briefly tempted by Everlast, but decided to wait and save longer. Glad I waited for the Dynasty 200.

[ryanjones2150]

SLP...nobody here said that it's impossible to produce quality products in China. It's not just about being produced in China that makes some of us cringe every time someone pops in here and starts asking about everlast and longevity and some others. I think you'll find all the help you want from guys here, regardless what machine you have. And we are all very well aware of the process that some companies go through and yada yada yada. We won't hold it against you.