clarke 130en or 135te which one?

[whitedog]

hello

Im on the verge of buying a welder for my new project (ford fiesta mk3 ).
im a complete newbie to welding,but i have seen these 2 welders

clarke 130en gas or no gas

clarke 135te gas

im beating my head against the wall trying to decide which one to get ,so i was wondering if any of you guys could lead me in the right direction,for a newbie,
which one is easier to use?

please help my headache

any help appreciated

cheers jon

 

[FranV8]

Well, for what it's worth - for doing bodywork thickness material, you'll need gas (some will tell you that you can use gasless wire to do bodywork, I can't see it myself but hey ho).

Which of hte two is more adjustable?

 

[cumbriasteve]

Working indoors or outside?.. could be handy to have the choice if outdoors or you will have to pick a calm day or have a windbreak for the gas.

 

[NeilH]

i used my friends 130en the other day.

its a good hobby machine.

id buy one and run it on gas.

i havent used a 135te

 

[whitedog]

cumbria steve,i will be welding outside,unfortunatley i have no garage just a shed.
wot would i need to convert the 130en to gas?

cheers
jon

 

[shenion]

All that is needed on the EN is to swap polarity, put in gas wire. Then add a regulator/bottle of gas.

 

[cumbriasteve]

cumbria steve,i will be welding outside,unfortunatley i have no garage just a shed.
wot would i need to convert the 130en to gas?

cheers
jon

I think I would go for the 130en, you then have both options, a small spool of gasless wire is not costly and if you could find a CO2 pub bottle you would have the option of gas.

BUT... gasless takes some practice when using on car thickness and CO2 does work but again it's not as good as argon/co2 mix...it's all about the cost against your budget and the amount of use.

 

[whitedog]

thanks shenion

wot sort of regulator do i need?

sorry for seeming thick but im a total newbie,all the help i can get the better,lol

cheers jon

 

[whitedog]

cheers cumbria steve

appreciate the advice,im swaying towards the 130en just needto sort out a regulator?

cheers
jon

 

[whitedog]

has anyone used the 135te?

cheers
j

 

[shenion]

There are 3 different regulators:

one for disposables
one for refillable CO2 bottles (pub bottle)
one for argon mix gas bottles.

weldequip;s shop on the top of the page has all 3 with pictures.

Disposables are very expensive for the argon/CO2 bottles as they last less then 10 minutes. The CO2 ones are not as bad but for the same cost you could probably find a pub bottle that would last you at least a year.

I had a 135EN and it was a real nice machine. Used it gasless only once. Once I went to gas, never looked back.

 

[cumbriasteve]

cheers cumbria steve

appreciate the advice,im swaying towards the 130en just needto sort out a regulator?

cheers
jon

The regulator you require depends on the bottle you have, CO2 or Argon/Co2 I bought mine from Weldequip... the link is at the top of the page if you want, Steve is the owner and if you give him a bell he will advise you before buying.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Did not notice Shenions reply before I replied...his advice is spot on

 

[whitedog]

so this one from weldequip would be ok for co2 and co2 argon mix with there disposable bottles?

http://www.weldequip.com/disposable-regulator.htm

cheers
jon

 

[shenion]

Yes.

Note: the 130EN in weldequip's shop comes with the gas regulator. Others sell it separate.

 

[whitedog]

thanks to everyone for there help and opinions,i have made my mind up and im going to get a clarke 130en and run it on gas,

cheers
jon

 

[NeilH]

good choice.

 

[Henrik]

has anyone used the 135te?

cheers
j

I've got a 135te and I use it with 0.8mm wire and argoshield light gas.

It's not a patch on the industrial kit, obviously, but for a hobbyist like myself it's perfect for the money. My only gripe is that it only has four amp settings from 30-130 amps, which isn't all that great at times.

It does welds like the attached pics fairly easily, which I think look OK for a novice such as myself, and it would probably be even better with 0.6mm wire.

The 130 gasless will be much the same with gas, i suspect.