I had an interceptor and found the same thing, dealer should have done it on first service but l could tell that the bolts had never been removed when l checked. Great bike.....loved it, shame it got written off in a accident.
It depends if you are talking AC or DC and what exactly "affordable" actually means to you personally? "Affordable housing" for example means what???? DC for basically anything other than aluminium alloys can be had for under £500 a complete set up. Here is my ac/dc 200 amp set which cost over £1200 quite a few years ago. This is relatively cheap compared to Fronius etc. This set has covered all my needs, but add a further budget of around £120 per time for a non-rental Argon cylinder exchange.
Yes, a nice piece of kit, from what I've seen if you want to weld aluminium it is the way to go. I would love to have that kind of capability but can't justify the cost to use ratio.
This is what I have had my eye on....https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/tig-welder-240v-ac-dc-160amp. which should be adequate for my needs. I already have a rental free Argon/CO2 bottle for the MIG so would probably get another Argon if I got the TIG welder.
That is basically the lower power model of mine. Aluminium is a good conductor of heat so consequently a higher amperage may be required on thicker sections i.e. non-uniform castings. 160 A should be ok on 2.5mm thick walled box section for example but 3mm may need additional pre heat. I often use 175-180 A on 50 x 50 x 3mm box.
An accelerator pedal ( it is what you'd expect it to be and do) can really help a novice i.e. low amps to 100% of set value, or be of benefit to a skilled welder on tricky jobs. Thats the spare unplugged jackplug in my photo. A further expense but worth having.
In addition to my above comments running the equipment at 100% is ok for the odd job but keep an eye on the duty cycle. For longer jobs the thermal cut out will do your head in and extend your working time massively.
