Parweld XTI160 first time!!

[Johnseat]

Well I've cranked up this cracking little machine for the first time.
Instantly loving it, I will struggle now to get the Cebora MIG out now with this little machine.
No gas to faff with, no wire feed speed or power to dial in ect...
I'm now coming up with excuses to go out and use it, the Mrs will be mostly upset!

 

[BrokenBiker]

you wont struggle to get the mig out if you need to weld anything under 3mm lol

i must be honest though, i have had mine since just before xmas and im still trying to think of random reasons to use it lol...will be ordering some 50x6 flat bar friday to cut into 150mm strips and run load of practice joints

its my second one and i forgot how good it was compared to a buzz box

 

[daleyd]

I've got almost exactly the same machine (mines dual voltage), and it's an excellent little set.

Compared to my previous experience with buzz boxes many years ago inverters have been a revelation.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I've got almost exactly the same machine (mines dual voltage), and it's an excellent little set.

Compared to my previous experience with buzz boxes many years ago inverters have been a revelation.

the hot start, anti stick and arc force (fixed) settings are brilliant IMO, anyone could pick the torch up and get into quite easilly i think

 

[daleyd]

the hot start, anti stick and arc force (fixed) settings are brilliant IMO, anyone could pick the torch up and get into quite easilly i think

Yes, exactly. I make no claims to be anything more than an enthusiastic ham fisted amateur but it's a very easy machine to use. I used up some old rods of unknown make that are >12 years old (I worked at Pilkington at the time, cos I got them out of their stores!!, and I left in 2004) and been kept in a damp garage for a long portion of that time - no bother.

I remember trying to use them a few years back on a really cheap b and q bought buzz-box (not mine)- bloody things wouldn't run for love nor money and kept sticking!!

 

[BrokenBiker]

same thing with my fathers buzz box that i have been using for a while. he had a go with my xti the other day and he thought it was brilliant

 

[daleyd]

I got a valved tig torch with mine, I'd like to try the tig function out at some point. I believe it works pretty good. ( just need to get an adaptor for my argon bottle first...)

 

[cumbriasteve]

I used a buzz box for 30 years (the same one) and when you use them for that long you can weld with them no bother at all if you have the right rods... BUT, I decided it was time to move with the times so to speak and bought an inverter about 5 years ago and yes they are brilliant without a doubt

The size and weight alone make them worth having but I think the biggest positive is they give a newbie a better chance of learning without giving up because they feel they will never be able to strike up and get going.

 

[cumbriasteve]

I got a valved tig torch with mine, I'd like to try the tig function out at some point. I believe it works pretty good. ( just need to get an adaptor for my argon bottle first...)

I keep meaning to do the same but not got around to my supplier for the gas yet, a mate off here has offered me a torch too...I need to get my act into gear but a bit in limbo at the moment, keep us informed how it goes with yours.

 

[daleyd]

I keep meaning to do the same but not got around to my supplier for the gas yet, a mate off here has offered me a torch too...I need to get my act into gear but a bit in limbo at the moment, keep us informed how it goes with yours.

I bought mine off tom and he reckons it works very well. I'll let you know!

 

[BrokenBiker]

I got a valved tig torch with mine, I'd like to try the tig function out at some point. I believe it works pretty good. ( just need to get an adaptor for my argon bottle first...)

did teh valved torch not come with a reg on it?

 

[BrokenBiker]

i used my first one for lift tig and it worked very well, even if i am a crap tig welder, it strikes an arc really easily, really smooth and stable arc too

 

[daleyd]

did teh valved torch not come with a reg on it?

It did but I cut the pipe as I used the torch on my r tech- I need to get a male - male adaptor to re - join the pipe to use it on the parweld.