Clarke welder
 

What are peoples opinions on this welder
Clarke mig 90 en

I can get 1 for £70 with extras and will not be welding full chassis but only bracckets etc will this be suffice and adequate for the jobs.

cheers
Craig

Have a look on www.mig-welding.co.uk - it's a really good site. That Clarke will only do up to 2mm really, bearing in mind brackets will be at least 3mm thick.

It would be ideal if you wanted to weld up monocoque cars because it has a really low min current.

IME, Clarke welders are not bad little machines, although the power settings aren't exactly intuitive.

I got the same and hot handyandy to come have a look he said that it is no good for plates and brackets but would be ok to do the rest as long as I dont mind waiting every time it cuts out so I am on the lookout for a min 150 hope this helps

Dave

Thats just £70 worth of door stop.:rolleyes:

Bob

Bear in mind that you can only go so powerful a welder on a standard single phase 13A plug.

I've run my welder at 130 amp without any problem in my garage (13amp plug). So from experience I'd want at least 130amp welder to make the Haynes Roadster Chassis and help fabricate the extras like engine mounts and roll bars.

I've got a Clarke 130TE, which is fine for the chassis tubes, and borderline man enough for 3mm plates.
I think you want to be looking for a welder that will do at least 120 to 130A (although like deezee says, much more than that and it won't run off a 13A plug).
If you go for a second hand one budget a tenner or so for a new liner. I was amazed what difference it made changing mine.

You won't get anywhere near the claimed amperage output of those cheap migs, they are for mot bodge welding not for fabrication work. Just because a weld looks ok doesn't mean it has penetrated the steel, it's more likely it's a cold weld just sat on the top.
You have to take into consideration the plate and tube thickness when welding, not just a bit of 3mm plate etc, as two pieces of 3mm surprise surprise becomes 6mm when welding so those cheap n cheerful migs are not up to it.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/calculator.htm

^That's a handy page to look at if you're looking for what thickness steel a welder is likely to weld. In fact, the whole site and forum is really really good.

I'm intending to use a 130A mig for the chassis tubes and hopefully for the 3mm brackets. If not then I'll tack them using the 130A and borrow a bigger welder to finish them :D

I have run a 16A socket in the garage took about 25 mins and should be up to the job

I got a 151te from machine mart on one of their vat free days. It's done a brilliant job with my chassis, even managed the heavier stuff like 5mm+ plates. Although you're not supposed to run it on a 13amp plug you can if you're carefull. I found it worked fine in short bursts of no more than 30 mins and only when it was on max power it would dim the lights in the house & garage lol.

Just purchased this little beauty....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CLARKE...em2565d2 b7de

Just got to wait for it to turn up now! :)

Hi Dave ( Vmax).

I have a clarke 151T gas mig that I could let you borrow if that would help ( as you are local to me, easy to get it to you etc ).

Tho , I will need to check that the current forum member who has it at the mo has finished with it ...I think he has .

I,ll let you know asap.

cheers
andy

Thanks andy would be ideal although not in a massive rush still the table to build and the chassis kit to order have not done much so far just made a load of decisions on the spec just saving the pennys to order the chassis now as I spent what I had when the wife said she wanted a holiday lol

No worries Dave, the offer is there if you wish to borrow my Mig....saves a few pennies buying one....now you can use the money you,d have spent on a Mig & get that order placed at Saturn for your chassis kit :D

Just shout when you need the Mig.

cheers
andy

Guys thanks for the advice and i will give that welder a miss i just wanted 1 for bits i may be able to do myself but am trying not to spend a couple of hundred on 1 as like i say im going for a pre built chassis so there wont be a full chassis to weld.

will have to keep my eye for either 1 chap or see about renting i suppose.