Kevin is ready to weld with Longevity’s TigWeld 160SX, a dual voltage, 160 amp, TIG / arc welder that handles steel and aluminum up to 1/4″ with the flip of a switch – really. In this how-to video, Kevin welds 16 gauge steel plate, 1/8″ steel plate, 1/4″ steel tube, and 1/8″ aluminum box using the welder. He sets up the machine with the foot pedal, which is how he’ll control the amperage. The pre-flow is set at 2/10 of a second, and the post flow is set at 2.5. He sets the machine to TIG, DC and “foot pedal,” and fires it up. Kevin comments about how quiet the machine is, then, using 1/16″ rod, welds the 16 gauge steel (the video is sped up for you in each welding segment), then the 1/8″ plate steel, depressing the foot pedal very lightly, about one-quarter of the way down. Next he welds the 1/4″ steel pipe using 1/8″ rod. He pushes the pedal down all the way, then backs off a bit, with the adjustment on the pedal turned all the way up to 160 amps, and find it handles the 1/4″ pretty easily. Then it’s time to weld some aluminum. Kevin flips the switch from DC to AC and is ready to go! He doesn’t have to change welding gas or do anything else except grab some aluminum rod, and he’s ready to weld aluminum. He notes that the weld started out a little cold – “I should have given it a little more pedal,” he says – but then he got a nice bead with nice clearance (on the welder it’s called “clearance effect,” but it’s basically the AC balance). Kevin concludes that the 160SX is a nice machine: it’s quiet, compact, easy to set up, easy to use, and is only $815 plus shipping. It produces 160 amps on both AC and DC, is easy to switch from 110 to 220 (at 110 it does drop it from 42 to 32 amps maximum), and includes an adapter plug. It’ll even do 140 amps as an arc welder. For more information about this TIG welder, visit the Longevity Web site.
