Clarke 150en Help

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Hello guys, new to the forum bit of a dilemma really i'll explain, i started to get a few bits together to start doing a bit of welding well learning but anyway I've got gloves coveralls clamps ,esab warrior ad a few other bits and pieces too but we were given a old Clarke gas/no gas 150en mig by friend of the family basically.

I asked at work if anyone had used one no one had but they had used other clarke migs just not this one.

i wanted to know if this little mig is ok for starting out firstly and anything about it as i can only find the 151 en or the 150te?

Any help is much appreciated.

note i have just seen several posts on here about the 150en il read them lol

 

[Cobbler]

It will be fine. Get youself a new liner for the torch, a metal one, not the plastic one originally supplied, their rubbish & cause allsorts of wire feed problems, some new tips & a shroud & your good to go. You can get the bits from Machine Mart or Weldequip mail order (button on top of the forum header) your looking at under a tenner. The old Clarkes are a very useful diy welder, some 25 years old & still going strong. It was a very nice present you were given.

If you decide you need something with a bit more oomph later on, you will have no trouble selling it on.

If you go on the welders section, click on Clarke, you can get the instructions for it., they are all basically similar, just the size & output changes.

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Cheers Cobbler , il have a butchers. it was sat in a shed for several years wrapped in plastic sheets works a treat just a broken handle on the mig itself, it is missing the regulator though any recommendations on one of them?

 

[gaz1]

the 150 manual

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richard.martin/discovery/MIGPRO90_100E_150TE.pdf

its the better one to learn on and also has a higher rating than the others that are lower

first off have you tried to weld with it so far ?

if not get a piece of 3mm steel plate and try and run a bead along it setings should be around

max 1, max a 2, max a 3 then refine with your knob to control wire speed rough guess 4-5 on any of those settings 0.8 wire check your wire roll is right way around as well as theres 0.6 and 0.8

thats before you buy any more for the welder

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Cheers gaz , its got the flux cored wire in at the moment 0.9mm rings a bell - my ucle used it on a van repair a few days ago said it worked lovely for that job prefered it over his snap on mig thats flipping old that beast tho.

Il be picking it up later so il grab some scrap plate from work and have a practise myself.

 

[gaz1]

0.9mm is not the best size to use with your rollers

0.6 or 0.8mm is

as for gasless wire

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/gas-unit-gasless.62010/#post-781134

as yours is the older unit after testing it to check motor spins and the unit welds then get a internal wire tips and shroud for it as suggested
as goes for gas pipe you may need to test that for a seal mine worked ok some do leak

ive read that some of the older type give better duty cycle compared to the newer models but not my much

 

[Cobbler]

For your regulator, I suggest you give Weldequip a call, he only sells good stuff, you can put tips etc & anything that you need, gloves maybe, all on one order to save postage. He will know exactly what you need. Other than that, see if you have a local welding suppliers nearby.

As Gaz says check the gas tubes ok, it's all straight forward, basically the tube goes from the bottle, into the case & up to a gas valve in the torch. You may need a connector from the reg to small bore tube though. After the reg it's all low pressure so no danger sorting it.

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Well ive just picked the welder up it is a clarke 150en unfortunately its a no gas version , it says how to switch the polarity for gas so my uncle assumed it was a gas no gas one and was just missing the regulator , so now I have a a question can I convert it to a gas mig dont mind a bit of diy, or do I look for a gas mig instead.

Cheers for the info so far guys much appreciated.

 

[Cobbler]

Well ive just picked the welder up it is a clarke 150en unfortunately its a no gas version , it says how to switch the polarity for gas so my uncle assumed it was a gas no gas one and was just missing the regulator , so now I have a a question can I convert it to a gas mig dont mind a bit of diy, or do I look for a gas mig instead.

Cheers for the info so far guys much appreciated.

I don't think they make an "only no gas" version, the en versions are all gas/no gas. If you look inside there will be a clear plastic tube going up into the torch, unless someone has taken it out. This should extend out through the back of the case. If it's been cut off, no big deal to extend it. The only no gas only one to my knowledge is the very basic 90. If you take the torch apart with about 6 screws you should find a gas valve under the trigger, if your changing the liner, you will have to take it apart anyway. I cannot see why anyone would go to the trouble of removing it all, though the tube could easily be cut off, it's all readily available.

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Well just had a bash the wire feed is a bit odd slow up to about 5.5 then quick at 6, but anyway on 2.5 mm plate no 3 not without being charged for it its gone ok max 3 is too much power for 2.5 mm 2 is ok aslong as wire feed is at about 6-7 steady pace otherwise blows through.
If I can Il post a photo

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

With regards to the gas pipe found it was inside the main cover looks unused so it is a gas /no gas even though it says no gas on the front

Anyway weld photo, top to bottom
1- wire feed 5 1Max
2- wire feed 5 A 2 max
3 wire feed 6 A 2 max
4 wire feed 6 A 3 Max
5 wire feed 6.5 A 2 Max

Bit messy but better than I expected for a gasless weld after the wire feed being a bit meh

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Ive got a dispossable argon Co2 bottle somewhere and turned out my neighbour had a spare regulator so may be gas welding later on so quite chuffed, oh and my esab lid works like a charm so quite pleased on that front.

 

[Cobbler]

The disposable bottles don't last long & are an expensive way of doing it. Also the regulator fitting for the small bottles leaves a lot to be desired. If you have a friendly pub that you frequent, you may be able to borrow a co2 bottle, it's not as good as argon mix, but plenty good enough for most things. You have to make sure it's just co2 though as the cream flow beers use a co2/nitrogen mix & is no good.

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Ok cheers cobbler il hava word with the older guys at work as most have their own setups and do some work from home so il see where they get theirs from.

Im not sure why ive got it tbh dont remember buying it but its unopened , il sort out a proper regulator asap now I know it all works ok , just need to practise read up

 

[gaz1]

you could also get a boc account easy to set up and go for the volkzone deal many on here have done already

just a phonecall, fill out the details on the form sent to you and send back cost though on first getting is high about 80.00 - 90.00 but every year you only pay for the gas bottle which this years cost is only 45.00 or around there bottle refil isnt that dear at only 35.00 to 40.00 per refill of the gas bottle

first year i went through 4 bottles whilst learning so far this year gone through 1 bottle and im on a new contract as just paid for the hire of the bottle will pay for refill when bottle is taken back to boc when run out

as you may have already noticed it looks brighter when welding with gasless wire with gas wire it looks less bright spits like a swine as well some do some dont on the gasless wire

3 and 5 look to be the best ones though between 5 - 6 maybe better and go a little slower dont rush it if you blow through speed up a little

torch 5mm to 10mm away from the material hard to judge but gasless wire is a little forgiving compared to gas wire

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Had a bit more of a bash this evening still had a few bits of 2.5mm plate so simple butt weld went ok , same again tho splatter im not a fan of so gas welding it will be when I get to it , I hooked up the lil disposable and after a quick adjustment on wire feed had to go down to 6 rather than 6.5 difference is night and day, flux core splatter and vibrates a bugger where the shielded smooth and felt more controlled, occasionally would pop or stutter due to wire feed being a bit iffy, was great until ran out of gas lol

Werent kidding they really dont last long, back to the flux core and bit neater this time but no where near the shielded runs.

 

[gaz1]

5 mins with disposable 5 hrs with big bottle as a rough guess

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

ok random one for you welding mask even though its comfy as owt i find it makes my forehead a bit sore well redness any remidies on that?
im also going to get some more flux core as halfords funnily enough sell the sip .8 core as reading on here the clarke stuff i've got is pants lots of issues with it from the sounds of it and id rather have good quality stuff.

 

[gaz1]

most are the same its all within the price you pay to quality that you get

the one your going to get is 1/2 a kg roll

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gasless-M...hash=item25ae07cb15:m:mqx4HZ-ts4JtPECijhanspg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GASLESS-M...077709?hash=item45f6a9f84d:g:5kQAAOxyirJSGLZs

5kg is max on most systems unless you get a 15kg roll either re roll it or use an adapter to use a 15kg roll

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mig-Weldi...hash=item25a6ede245:m:mG5FTym7h2Gi8dWqmmjT-Hg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIG-WELDI...973635?hash=item2595ad9f43:g:bEUAAOSw~OVWxLc1

 

[Daniel Wilkinson]

Thanks pdg nah the one in at the moment is a 5kg 0.9mm flux core reel its ok can weld 2.5 well 4mm is a bit of a push it welds but doesnt penetrate all the way through , ie no metal through the opposite side of weld lots of heat discoluration and strong but not quite right so il keep practising, altho my dads nicked the welder for go karting at the mo his old age crisis haha

Anyway il post some photos of welds etc or any lil projects i undertake if i think my welds are good enough that is to take on a project.

Cheers guys