my 161 has been great thus far, but i ran into a issue with it about 6 weeks ago. using the HiFreq start mode i was welding fine for quite some time, then suddenly the unit would not shut off, the HiFreq would stay going no matter waht mode i was in. even unplugging the Amphenol, the unit would power on with HiFreq going.
local service center took it, but it takes 30 days to get it back. i got back a new unit.
i ran into the same problem today with the new unit. i did some swicth checking with the Fluke, the switch is fine. turns out i'm getting HiFreq through the torch cable and into the switch line. this apparently is causing the HiFreq to feed back into the switch circuitry and cause damage.
so now this unit, along with my HF-17 torch is going back.
the unit welds awesome, seems as if i have a bad torch cable, and now a bad unit... really sucks, but so far service has been good.