160A ARC WELDER

This little welder went above all my expectations and then some!! I have put this welder through the paces for the applications I need it for and now its review time. I'm a machinest and mechanic by trade. Our old shop welder stopped working one day and I was on search for something small and compact. I saw the reviews on the little welder and pulled the trigger and got one. I was on the fence because to me I thought I needed the best welder on the market for the types of applications I need and let's face it Lincoln and Miller are the Red and Blue and run the show for welders. After this purchase i can definitely state that it is not the case and Im so glad I did make this purchase! I weld cast, and various types of metals. I do alot of Drive End, Outer End Bell housing for electric motors, Gearbox and Pump Impeller repairs and the arc on this this little welder is mind blowing. Cast Iron: (240v) (Does not work well on 120v) I barely even touch the surface and it has the smoothest start on every run. Im running on 240V can weld Cast 99 and Cast 55 rod like butter. Making repairs a breeze and I can get more jobs done so much faster now with a better quality weld. It out performs the old welder we had in our shop and im laying down dimes on Cast now. My old welder dosent even come close to how well this thing lays dimes on Cast. Trick of the trade when welding Cast is making sure your surface is ground down and sand blasted and then heating it with a torch to between 200F-250F and then reversing the polarity when stick welding Cast 99 and 55 rod. Alot of inverter welders I have tried have a hard time doing this but this thing little welder works perfectly, and I honestly don't know how. General Steel: (240 and 120v work just fine) I've ran 7018 also and again the smoothest arc start. I've had to go and do fan balancing out in the field to weld on weights so it's very portable and small so I can fit it in a backpack and go on top of roofs. It works very well on 120v for 7018 also. Now on to stainless steel: (240v and 120v work just fine) I've even welded 308 stainless steeI rod to build up material on the OD and ID of stainless steel Impellers because the material just washes it down so im able to build it up and turn it down on a lathe. Shaft Build up: Also I've had rotor shafts that the bearing journals are just trashed after a motor tear down. So I run 6013 rod beads and then turn the shaft down to the proper bearing tolerance diameter. A perfect finish everytime!! Final Note: Ive done 45 rotar shaft repairs so far, 37 cast repairs and 19 stainless steel impeller repairs and 55 gearbox repairs at the time of this review and this welder hasnt had a hicup yet! I did however upgrade the stinger and ground clamp before using as mentioned in the majority of reviews because it is a definite must. If you are like me looking for a welder and might be on the fence get this welder you will be blown away as I have!! I dont know how this welder perforns so well but im so blown away on how well it works! I would highly recommend this welder to anyone, just pull the trigger and get it!! You won't be disappointed!

I was skeptical because of the cheap price, but bought it based on it's good reviews. I am beyond impressed. I haven't welded since high school shop class (other that a handful of mig welds). I used it for a fairly ambitious project... an in-ground trampoline for my kids. I first welded the 125 "bumps" where the springs attach to the 4x4 1/4 thick angle iron.... each clip is a 1/4 inch rod bent into a small U shape... top, bottom, right and left side... total of 500 welds! I played around with different rods and settings. It performed flawlessly with 6011 rods and 6013s. I struggled with the 70 series, but that's probably my limited skills. These welds were done in my garage where I have 240V. Then I took the 4 frame pieces to the backyard (110V) where I had to weld them together... an important structural weld on 1/4 inch steel. I watched some Youtube videos and then ground a 45 angle on the edges and first did a fill with 6011 and stitch over the top. It worked great. However, I found it's more forgiving with the higher voltage. On 110V, make sure you use a heavy duty extension cord as short as possible, have good ground, clean rod holder. Suggestion: If you're beginner, make sure you anchor your arms on something so you can comfortably and precisely control the ARC. Start with 6011 rods. What I really like: digital display shows the amperage. Very simple to set and change. Very simple to set up. Very light and small. Seem to be very well made. I wish DEKOPRO made a Tig welder for Aluminum!... my next project.

I needed a welder to apply hardfacing on a piece of agricultural equipment and this DEKOPRO got the nod. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially after opening the package and holding the small, lightweight welder in my hand. I plugged it in to 220 volts and began hardfacing steel at about 85 amps with some 1/8 hardfacing rod. It went better than I expected. I subsequently tried welding with 3/32 6011 and 7018 rod. Both welded fine once the amperage was dialed in. 1/8 inch welded OK too. I tried 5/32 rod but that seemed like too much for the little machine. I never tried 110V but I feel like 3/32 6011 or 7018 would be fine. I don't think it could handle 1/8 rod on 110V. I usually weld with MIG or TIG in an enclosed shop, but I have found my new 'outdoor' welder. The DEKAPRO perfectly compliments my 110V flux core MIG for outdoor use and now they both reside on the same cart. This is a great utility welder at a great price. Also, a good welder for any beginner!

I bought this welder as a beginner. Never welder before. Reason for purchase was I got sick and tired of having to pay mobile welders to come fix farm equipment and paying them for their drive time plus work time etc. so I decided to purchase this and see how it would do. I practiced for about 2 weeks on scrap before moving to anything else. Welder is very easy to use showed up on delivery date box was not damaged everything except a welding helmet was included. The ground clamp is a little cheap in my opinion. So I went to harbor freight and bought a 300 amp ground clamp. World of difference, also bought a magnetic ground from race brothers farm and home supply and it works great on it as well. Over all I am very pleased with the design and the lightweight and ease of use. I have not used it on a 110 volt outlet. I have only used it on a 240volt circuit. The adjust knob is very touchy tho. Wish the control knob had a little resistance to it but it’s okay. I have used it to fix my bush hog my grader blade my tractor and some odds and ends pieces. Welder is very easy to strike an arc etc. love the inverter design. I used an old Lincoln of my buddy’s and I like the inverter design much better. Only thing I wish is I wish dekopro would step it up and do a 200 or 225 or even a 250 amp arc welder. Very good quality. Light weight. Good length cable for stinger and ground. Power cord could be a little longer or leads could be a little longer or both. Over all very happy. 5 stars all around. I’ve used 6010 6013 7014 and 7018 1/8” rods and 5/32” rods. All worked well.

I rarely make a personal comment for anything I have purchased at AMAZON- this welder is awesome, small compact great price. My background is of 15+ years; 3 yrs- pipeline (owned my own rig) welding all phase types; arc, mig, and tig from aluminum, SS, iron. I never did like using 6013 rod (light plate metal) as I am a 6010(DC only) and 6011 (ACorDC) and 7018. I made a pigtail for my welder as my new home had a 220 outlet already in the garage, and did not want to change out the outlet just for the welder. It arrived as promised and repaired an iron table for a client that evening right out of the box when it arrived. 3/16 angle iron. The original top for the table was 1” sqr tubing and used outside. The tubing was not primed and rusted from the inside out- the main cause of the rusting is the welding process. Here is just a little understanding of arc welding rods; the first 2 #s are the tensile strength of the rod “60” means “60,000”, the next # 1 means all position and the last is the flux. What I mean by all positions is you can run an arc, flat, vertical, horizontal or overhead. The highest-rated is 7018 and this rod is a drag rod, whereas the ’60s are pushrods. As for operations of this welder in 110- not in my home, but will update later. The pigtail cost me $26 and the wire is from an old dry conversion as I run a handyman service and always have gage 10 cords. If you purchase 7018 rods, make sure you keep it free of moisture and it is kept at a minimum stored temp of 180-250 degrees. If you break the flux in the middle to the end of the rod, it is no longer useable.

I was looking at a few welding machines , 120 volt , stick welder. The prices I was seeing where over $600.00 on average for the leading brands, Miller , Lincoln bring the most popular.I've been welding for 30 years and I've used both and they are very good machine's yet rather expensive, and I'm a firm believer of you get what you pay for. I have a gas powered Miller and it's excellent yet for small jobs indoors it's a bit much , and very noisy. I was looking at several small machines and the reviews on this machine truly made me smile , I was beyond skeptical I just finished using it for about 2 hours straight welding up a standing shelf, I ended up doing about 30 to 35 one inch welds two passes. I used 1/8 , 6010 5p rods. This machine upon opening it was so light and small I thought to myself , you get what you pay for would be nice to finish this small job , yet I thought it would not be capable of finishing due to the appearance , the size very small , super light totally threw me for a loop, I was truly very impressed at how good the welding machine performed , I'm not readily impressed by much but this small machine was what's called a sleeper , looks like a dud but packs an impressive punch.for welding 1/4"and 3/8" flat stock and 1"x1" angle iron it's perfect , feel guilty about the price lol and the quality it has. The chipping hammer and handle and ground are on the cheap side but , more than capable of getting the job done and easily replaced.I've welded it all just about stainless, mild steel , chrome , inkanel , cast iron , heavy wall , Mig , tig 30 years welding and I'm truly impressed highly recommend this lil welder and the price well that's just a bonus.

Been using this machine day in day out, for the price i didn’t know how long it was going to last, i bought the 4 year warranty BUT! this has been a solid unit, ive put it through some heavy use burned about 7lbs of rod in one day and it performed perfectly with ZERO issues. the only downside is it can’t weld 6010 i tried and it just won’t do it. it can however burn 6011 and even 7010. 7018 can run with a super smooth and steady arc, if you’re a hobbiest welder, want something for small jobs or even medium jobs, this machine is a GREAT start. best part is it’s cheap enough where you can buy 2 in the odd chance that one breaks you can pull out the other and continue working. the only things i’ve changed on it that i suggest you do immediately is the leads. i pulled off and threw away the old leads and put some 0 gauge wire along with 200amp rated stinger and ground clamp. hope this helps!

Great little welder. I need a poastive lead with rod handle/ clamp. Can new leads be purchased?