Advice needed from fellow builders

[poshguy]

After reading the welding post on here I could use some advice regarding buying a welder.

First off i have a machine mart vat free day coming up and was going to buy myself a welder to assist with building my roadster.

i will only be doing little bits of welding as i am getting a fully welded chassis so will only have the extras to weld on.

does anyone have any advice reagrding clarke machines as i am absolutely clueless when it comes to welders and have looked at the following.

clarke mig 196 turbo
clarke 160 en turbo
clarke 151 en turbo
150 te turbo
151 te turbo

does anyone have any opinions on these or even if i can get better for the same money.

thanks in advance and sorry for the long post

[Bonzo]

Although I have not personally used any of the Clarke range of MIG welders, I do know that they are a very popular hobby machine & come highly recommended by users

To keep it simple, the higher the model number, the more powerful it is ( As a general rule of thumb )

If you only want to do a few odd jobs on your chassis, I would imagine that any of the Clarke 150** range should provide enough power to do the job.

No point in spending too much on a welder if it is only going to be used for a few one off jobs.
That said, You may get a liking for welding or perhaps have other projects in mind, if that's the case it may pay to spend the extra money on a more powerful machine.

[poshguy]

Thanks for the advice Bonzo i have no other plan for the welder other than for the bits that are needed on the chassis.

Anybody with any opinions on use of these machines

[deezee]

I have a Clarke 160 TM Welder. Its works great. Takes full sized gas bottles and 15kg wire rolls. Has a better torch on it, so spares can be sought from anywhere, not just clarke.

The likes of a 151 en is that they take hobby gas (expensive and doesn't last long) and that spares all need to come from clarke, so can be expensive. You can buy a new regulator to change it to standard gas bottles. But you might as well buy a better machine to start off with.

Incidentally they all weld up to around 150amps regardless of the name on them (excluding the 195TM, but at that money I'd get a proper mig welder, like a portamig). You can look at the Mig Welding Forum for some good advice.

[robo]

From another forum.

Cool Which Hobby MIG to Buy???
OK, you have decided you are gonna take the plunge, have a go & buy yourself a small Hobby MIG; which make to buy?? (As this is a UK based site this is aimed at UK buyers & other countries will have other options).
There is now an ever growing number of brands to choose from but I will base this on 'The Big 4 Brands' in the UK which I have had hands-on experience in selling AND, more importantly, servicing & repairing.
These are my own OPINION's (for you legal eagles out there!)

SIP
+ Points:- Very widely available so parts are never a problem. Good performance on low settings. (25amps low setting)
- Points:- Wire feed assembly is poor & gives really annoying problems with age. The Torch connection to the machine is also very vunerable to damage which can also cause ALL kinds of problems.
OVERALL: 5/10

SEALEY
+ Points:- Again, available everywhere so parts never a problem. Seem to perform better on straight CO2 gas (over Argoshield) than most others. Now have a 3 Year warranty (Limited) which has to be worth something.
- Points:- Not that many really. Any Professional would consider them as 'Chat' but, for the money, they are pretty reliable.
OVERALL: 6/10

CEBORA (SNAP-ON)
+ Points:- The Cebora 'Pocket Turbo 130' was THE first small MIG on the market & has hardly changed since the original. Has a proper, heavy duty contactor unit fitted (as used on bigger industrial stuff) & generally very, very reliable with superb spares & technical support.
- Points:- Not the very best performance on extremely thin stuff & don't like working on CO2 (most makes don't). Expensive to buy & spare parts expensive (but you won't need em that often!).
OVERALL: 7/10

CLARKE
+ Points:- Overall best build quality with a reliable wire feed unit & the nicest quality torch in it's class.
- Points:- Hardly any really. The only gripe is dealing with a large national chain of 'counter sales' staff.
OVERALL: 8/10

Again, I stress that these are my own opinions (based on 15+ years working experience with the machines!) & should not be interpretated as a gospel 'league table'.
For you American viewers the Lincoln SP170, Millermatic 175 & Hobart Handler 180 ALL have 11/10 in comparison with the above.
weldequip



Bob

[monsterob]

I started with a Clarke pro 90 for bodywork etc after starting this last project and borrowing a cemont 140a I got the taste for larger powered machines. I waited for the last vat free day and purchased the Clarke 205te and can only say how impressed I am with it. Only double the price of the original welder wish I'd gone larger long ago. I'd say buy the most powerful you can afford I really should have spent that bit extra for the 230 tec but I needed a new mask as well.

[poshguy]

guys thanks for the input im still open to any other advice people have as got till next weekend for the vat free day to make my mind up

[will_08]

Ive a sealey mightmig 150, using straight Co2.

I couldnt weld when i started but im nearly finished tacking my chassis now.

I find it pretty easy to use.

[TheArf]

I use a clarke 151 en turbo, it works fine provided you remember it is designed for hobby work and not 40 hours a week working, so treat it as such and it wont let you down. You can easily set it up for larger gas bottles quite cheaply through ebay for regultor etc.

Arfon

[monsterob]

As touched on the best thing to do once you have purchased a welder is convert it to run off pub co2 bottles I pay the same for a large pub bottle as you would for the small canisters and it lasts a gazillion times longer still trying to find a way to get argoshield into it ! But the co2 gives a great weld factor in about £30 for a bottle and regulator .