clarke 150 TE?

[johnakay]

I have a clarke 150 TE(turbo)
its says in the manual about the size of wire spool..can use mini or 5kgs.
I can get .08mm,15kgs spool cheaper than the 5 kgs.
the question is can the spool motor handle this weight?
also I know by using 8mm wire will put more metal in the same given time as the the 6mm wire.
I've always used the 6mm and it ok for me, but curiosity is getting the better of me so which is better 6mm or 8mm wire for better and smother welds. .
the welders I used to use at my last job the welds were smooth and uniform.

 

[malcolm]

I'd avoid anything heavier than 5kg - the motor is only little and will take longer to get to speed with a heavier reel resulting in irritating starts. That's assuming there is physically space in the Clarke 150 - if they don't specify it chances are there's not the space.

0.6mm allows lower amps than 0.8mm so is much easier for anything under 1.5mm steel.

 

[johnakay]

ok has any one tried making their own(winding wire from a large spool onto a small spool)
with out any hic ups etc.
and if so how?

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

I've not tried it but I have considered it.

I'd go for a home made rig, handle (or motor) attached to the 5kg holder, wrap the wire round it a couple of times and then start cranking.

You may want to consider some form of wire guide that moved slowly left and right to spread the wire evenly.

I found a supplier on the internet some years ago (so long ago I have no idea who it was!) and bought ten reels of 0.6mm wire at around £8 each including postage and VAT, etc. It's pretty good wire and I'm about half-way through the box now, so I didn't need the bigger reels in the end.

The guys here may say you need to be wary of buying cheapo wire, maybe I was just lucky, but it worked out OK for me.

Regards
Peter