HTP InverArc 160 Plus DV - Dual-Voltage Stick/TIG welder

[Oscar]

Just got this new little guy from HTP. It looks like they're wanting to compete with some of the other "lunchbox" stick welder offerings from other companies, with a few advantages.




Thinking it was going to be a box-inside-a-box, I was pleasantly surprised it came with a pretty big plastic carry case. The small box had the work/ground clamp, HTP stick welding gloves, and HTP T-shirt.




The case is not uber-high quality, but it's better than nothing. The large size lets you put the gloves and plenty other stuff inside with so much space.















Initial observations:

• Power cord is a nice, soft flexible rubber 12/3 cord with a 6-50P plug, 10 feet long
• Work/ground clamp is pretty normal 400A rating, cable is 10 feet long.
• Stinger is 250A rated, good strong spring as one would expect in a good stinger. Cable is 15 feet long.
• both clamp and stinger have USA-made Flex-a-prene 4awg cable, very flexible, and both are included with the welder
• No Arc Force nor Hot-start
• can be used for TIG (not sure if scratch-start or lift-start yet)
• has a PFC circuit so I assume it can run from ~90V to ~270V, and I would be willing to bet it will run on a wide variety of portable generators, where as other cheaper/lower-quality inverter stick welders will void your warranty unless you have clean power with <5% THD. That is usually one major advantage of a PFC circuit.
• Low-end is 7 amps.
• receptacles are standard Dinse 35, ½" size.
• Duty cycle is very respectable
  
  • 
• As you can see it's not Italian, but none the less the performance is on-par with the stick-welding side of my Pro Pulse 220MTS
• Despite the rather low OCV of 55V, it will properly run 5P+ and 6P+ 6010s, Hyweld 6010s, but not Blue Demon nor Böhler Fox 6010s. The latter doesn't matter too much, since the Lincoln 6010s are the better smoother running 6010s anyways, IMO.
  
  • by "properly" I mean no beating around the bush and "forcing it" by burying the rod in the puddle the way a cheap small inverter stick welder would require. You can whip and drag using a normal 6010 arc length, and the arc will not extinguish when a lesser quality welder would.
• As one can expect, to go over 95ish amps on 120V, you do need more breaker than a standard 120V/20A breaker. I1max is 33A, so to get the full 125A on a 120V outlet, you do need a 30A breaker.
• The arc dynamic/performance does not decrease when using it on 120V vs 240V. I assume this is a secondary benefit of the PFC circuit; where as in other cheaper inverter welders, if you are not on 240V you see a noticeable decrease in arc intensity when on 120V at the same welding amperage.

More info tomorrow after I do some more testing.

[Oscar]

Oops, on the Hot-start and Arc Force, I meant to say, "No adjustability on Hot-start nor on Arc-force".

[lugweld]

Nice unit from WTL, same as the esab factory.

[El Greco]

Oscar,

just saw this machine today on the HTP site and your review. Any thoughts on how this compares to the Esab 180 mini rogue? I have an HTP 221 Tig but for me it does not run normal Lincoln 6010 very well at all. I think you stated yours does good, but you are probably a better stick welder than me. Anyway I would like one of these small lunchbox and the price on this one is really good.

Tony

[kize]

Oscar,

just saw this machine today on the HTP site and your review. Any thoughts on how this compares to the Esab 180 mini rogue? I have an HTP 221 Tig but for me it does not run normal Lincoln 6010 very well at all. I think you stated yours does good, but you are probably a better stick welder than me. Anyway I would like one of these small lunchbox and the price on this one is really good.

Tony

I have the esab 180 rogue. I have been super impressed with it. 6010 is a breeze. I love the portability of it.

[Oscar]

Oscar,

just saw this machine today on the HTP site and your review. Any thoughts on how this compares to the Esab 180 mini rogue? I have an HTP 221 Tig but for me it does not run normal Lincoln 6010 very well at all. I think you stated yours does good, but you are probably a better stick welder than me. Anyway I would like one of these small lunchbox and the price on this one is really good.

Tony

IMO, the 221 is a better 6010 stick welder than then Invertig 160. To me, Lincoln 5P+ and 6P+ are the easiest of the 6010s to run, and the 221 does it very well. I've never used the Esab 180 mini rogue so I can't compare it.

[Sberry]

How much $?

[Oscar]

Right now its $499 shipped, but they said in a flyer that is introductory pricing.

[Welder Dave]

You should try it with 5P+ before commenting on how well it will work. 5P+ is the most common 6010 so could be used as a baseline. If it struggles with 5P+ it may be worse with other brands of 6010. Some might be better though. Since practice rooms are all but gone from welding supplies, it would be nice if manufacturers could at least have videos of their machines (particularly the lower end machines) using different rods. You buy and XMT350 and it doesn't weld how you like, you send it back. The higher end machines tend to live up to their expectations. The tiny portables are great when you have to climb 270 steps to the top of a roller coaster to do repairs. Pic. 8 shows where the stairs start. It's a long way up. First we ran a power cords up and then just had to carry a small inverter. Way easier than dragging welding cables up and the biggest advantage is you can set your heat right there. Remotes are generally limited to 100 feet. A good video of the stairs to the top too.

https://rcdb.com/193.htm#p=54237

[Oscar]

You should try it with 5P+ before commenting on how well it will work. 5P+ is the most common 6010 so could be used as a baseline.]

Yes, I already commented on that specifically here:

Despite the rather low OCV of 55V, it will properly run 5P+ and 6P+ 6010s, Hyweld 6010s, but not Blue Demon nor Böhler Fox 6010s. The latter doesn't matter too much, since the Lincoln 6010s are the better smoother running 6010s anyways, IMO.

• by "properly" I mean no beating around the bush and "forcing it" by burying the rod in the puddle the way a cheap small inverter stick welder would require. You can whip and drag using a normal 6010 arc length, and the arc will not extinguish when a lesser quality welder would.

In this context, will = does.

[Welder Dave]

OK, I wasn't sure if it was you doing the testing or HTP making the claims? The first machine I used was a Thermal Arc and it was a decent welder. I'm sure there have been improvements along the way too. The tiny inverters are the bomb for a lot of applications.

[Oscar]

Testing E6010s was the first thing I did because it is somehow the "gold standard" for a stick welder. If it can work with those, the rest are eazy peazy.