I am looking for a stick welder, dual voltage, portable (sub 20 pounds), with an arc force adjustment... 160 amp, 200 amp max out... I am not a big fan of the cheap chinese welder — I bought one and it went back to the source as soon as I received it...
I am looking for something middle of the road, could be chinese but with some quality control... I was thinking of Klutch stick welder (but not available in Canada). Or Jasic PFC 180 — coming with a european plug that I would need to change.
There is also the small Primeweld 160 — without arc force adjustment though... I heard good comments about it (I know I can't rely too much on that...).
Any suggestions?
So this stick welder is dual-voltage, but it does not have arc force adjustment that you require. None the less, my initial observations/testing tells me it's pretty good. HTP's customer service is 2nd to none, and I doubt that they have relaxed any quality control to get this new machine produced.
I know this wont be helpful but having quick googlate at USA stick welding offerings.......WOW 
I checked at least 5 online stores the cheapest decent brand was 500 usd.
And quite heavy.
How does that happen? Why?
I use the jasic or the WIA 185i or cigweld weldskill 180. Can be used for tig, and they go alright too (just remember to flick switch over
) They are all about 300-400 aud which is maybe 20usd 
seriously about 250.
They are like T shirts over here, its not odd to have a few of them.
Have I missed something?
Anyhow the jasic is alright as a welder the ones over here take a few knocks in a ute and keep going. I personally have a couple of unimig jasic products myself.
I checked at least 5 online stores the cheapest decent brand was 500 usd.
And quite heavy.
How does that happen? Why?
I use the jasic or the WIA 185i or cigweld weldskill 180. Can be used for tig, and they go alright too (just remember to flick switch over
) They are all about 300-400 aud which is maybe 20usd seriously about 250.They are like T shirts over here, its not odd to have a few of them.
Have I missed something?
Anyhow the jasic is alright as a welder the ones over here take a few knocks in a ute and keep going. I personally have a couple of unimig jasic products myself.
That's just how it is, I suppose. A lot of times the power supplies add to the cost since they [at times] come with 120V & 240V input capability. Overseas, it's pretty much all 220V(?). Pretty sure that simplifies designs.
From Chinese welders i would place Hugong brand at the top,then Jasic and WTL.Those 3 would be in my opinion better ones,after them comes 99 other china brands,some will serve u good ,some don't,by this i mean ofc not only on welding machines,but all other thousands of tools they make.Here in Balkans we use allot of those Chinese products ,almost everything u can imagine for complete workshop at home.And honestly,if there were no for them,many peoples wouldn't even have any tools at home.For hobby and half professional purposes they can serve u very well.Ofc here we have service centers for most of their better brands,so no problem with repairing.
ESAB Miniarc 161 is a good machine. I am surprised no one suggested its replacement, the Miniarc Rogue 180i https://bakersgas.com/products/esab-700500070
Multimatic 255
Very good indeed! I can weld with very low amperage with a consistent arc! I am very surprised. Can't wait to do some more test...
I also had a surprise when I received the welder; full of dust, bad receptacles, bad connectors, etc. Once I took care of it, everything worked flawlessly... I bought it (blinded) from a farmer couple of hundred km from my place... When I opened it to dust it off, I realized that it has been used as a mice pantry, fridge... But noting was chewed up.
I also had a surprise when I received the welder; full of dust, bad receptacles, bad connectors, etc. Once I took care of it, everything worked flawlessly... I bought it (blinded) from a farmer couple of hundred km from my place... When I opened it to dust it off, I realized that it has been used as a mice pantry, fridge... But noting was chewed up.
