Micro 185 First impressions

I have been welding in different jobs since 1999. Custom exhaust, machine building, Pharmacutical piping and machinery. I am Not certified in any form of welding (except orbital welding, but to me it doesnt count cause I mostly push buttons). I have been lucky enough to not need it.
So the following is my OPINION of the Micro 185.
I will start with the bad.
The torch:
A little big for my taste. My hands are about average size and I had a real hard time pencil holding the torch while welding some smaller stuff. I found it nearly imposible to activate the switch from this grip as well. It worked fine while welding bigger stuff in fillet welds and a normal grip.
fit of the included collets was very rough. Tungsten did not slide in and out easilty at all. I ordered a weld craft torch last nite and I am anxiosly awaiting its arrival.
The pedal:
Crap. Rough opperation. Came inopperative from factory. Had to do some tweeking to get it to work. I dislike it completely. At least it was cheap.
The Good.
I can tell right away this welder is going to be just what the doctor ordered. Seems well built. Opperation is simple and straight forward. Perfect for home/hobby use. Low amperage was outstanding! I was welding some stainless steel trays for a local diner last nite and had it turned down to 6 amps. I suspect it is actually welding a bit higher that that due to it blowing thru some .030 sheet a bit fast. But was fine once I adjusted my timing. AC hasnt been tested yet but I will report as soon as I do. All in all a fine machine so far. Cant speak on longevity yet but I have high hopes.
Kenny

I just got one too, and I've only welded aluminum with it. I agree that the stock torch is quite the handful. I'm going to order a small male to large female DINSE adaptor so I can try the machine out with my WP20 water cooled setup. So far, I'm impressed at the performance of such a small machine, at such a small price. I'll try some thin gage stuff as soon as time allows. What size tungsten were you using?

Being that you likely purchased the unit in the USA i am not sure what pedal would be supplied or even if you have the WP17 torch with this unit.
I find the foot pedal i have with the units while certainly not top of the line still they are decent enough. The WP 17 torch is a little smaller than the 26 ( not sure but i think you have this model)
but it is still a little bulky. We will likey be looking at options for torches this coming year and will be seriously looking at changing these for the future.
Cheers
Duncan

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Originally Posted by hooda

I just got one too, and I've only welded aluminum with it. I agree that the stock torch is quite the handful. I'm going to order a small male to large female DINSE adaptor so I can try the machine out with my WP20 water cooled setup. So far, I'm impressed at the performance of such a small machine, at such a small price. I'll try some thin gage stuff as soon as time allows. What size tungsten were you using?

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I am in the process of changing to the WP17. I failed to realize that the adapter (Q5g-150) has a DINSE 50. Now I need the small male to large female adaper.
What a pain in the ###.

I got my micro 185 in december it came with the wp26. I agree the torch which came with the welder is quite a handful. I'm in the process of building a water cooler and going to a wp20 water cooled torch. I got the slwhat 25 adapter from arczone it connects the welder and torch power/water cable perfectly. I machined my own adaptors for the argon and water hoses.