Quote Originally Posted by performance View Post
We've had very very few issues out of the 140ST...or any of the powerarc welders.
I believe what you say because one of the things that enticed me to buy this model was the lack of much negative stuff on the forums.

I got the new one today (Amazon is AMAZING as far as returns go) and fired it up as fast as I could. This one seems to work much better than the other two. I tried a bunch of stuff at around 20 Amps and it works very well. Unlike the others, I can strike an arc at an indicated 10 Amps, but the duty cycle lamp flashes and the arc goes out. As soon as I increase the current to about 12 on the display it works OK, so it's an improvement but still not "as advertized" performance. I tried some 22 gauge stainless and cannot reduce the current enough to do nice work, big disappointment since that's typically the kind of thing I do. Gotta keep remembering I can't compare it to the Lincoln.....

I have heard several times from tech support that the duty cycle lamp should NOT light at any time other than to indicate over-temperature. If it does then something is wrong. Since the lamp always lights during lift-arc starts, I assumed that was normal (book does not mention this) but should never light otherwise. Since the lamp flashes during low-current operation, I'm sure that the problem is with the lift-arc circuitry.

I'm kind of sick of yappin' about this. Just wish the units would work as they should, but every time I get too picky I remember the price, and being a veteran of the product development business I know that when the money comes out something is traded off. I'll probably keep this one since it does most of what I want and I need the portability.

Thanks to all for the generous help and advice, Neil