clarke 150en turbo power settings

[pondy]

have this old welder, works fine until i put it on what i think is max power. the noise of the weld changes from bacon sound to somthing really fiere and there is alot more splatter and there is a small ball on the end of the wire. i have played with the wire feed mid welding and its not making anything better. runniong .8 wire and C02. have looked at the manuals but they dont show this model, think its to old.

this is how i think the power works, from min through the range to max
1, 2, min
1, 2 , max
a, 2, min
a, 2, max
a, 3, min
a, 3, max

 

[keith19]

Clarke get at least some of the manuals wrong. The 151en, a slightly later version, is as follows:
1-min
1-max
a-2-min
a-2-max
a-3-min
a-3-max
These are the actual settings gradient based on several members' voltage reading experiments, not what's in the Clarke manual.
There have been several threads on this, can't remember if the 150en was featured, but it's likely. Just do a quick search in the site box above for something like "Clarke 151en settings" and you'll find more advice.
Balling at top output suggests the power isn't enough to melt the wire quickly, or the wire speed is too slow or catching somewhere? Have you checked the wire turns easily on the spindle, and the wire feed runs without catching, and no hesitation coming out at the torch?

 

[pondy]

Hi thanks for your reply. Every aspect of the wire feed is ok. Resently installed and I have checked it over again. Played with wire feed when welding and still doing it. Do you have this welder? Do you get a totally differant noise on maximum

 

[keith19]

No, but I have the 151en, which is probably as close as you'll get. I have only ever used mine on max a few times, mostly 4-5mm bar for brackets and gate repair and suchlike, so individual runs were only a few inches long. But I did notice after doing several runs in quick succession that the m/c makes a kind of 'scouring' or 'hunting' noise inside the case, like it's labouring for breath.
I had it cut out once doing this, but it had only blown a 13A fuse in the plug. By the time I'd found another fuse it was running okay again, but I took it much steadier after that, and didn't get that noise again.
There was more spatter than usual, but I just put that down to using it at high amps; I've sometimes used it with flux-core gasless and that makes a bit of a mess too.
Wire feed seemed to keep up just about okay, but I got the impression the wire motor was struggling a bit, nowhere near as smooth and effortless as a Murex I'd used at work.
Although these little Clarkes will weld at 145-150 amps, I don't think they are designed to do it for long, just for the occasional short runs job. For anything much heavier than about 4 mm or so I usually get the old buzz-box out.

 

[pondy]

Sounds like yours welds the same on max as mine. Had another play tonight and the beads look good just the noise it fierce and more splatter and pop. Wire feed is ok on mine, Clarke motor was under powered so I had the PCB modified, installed a portamig wire Feed motor and euro torch

 

[keith19]

Clarke motor was under powered so I had the PCB modified, installed a portamig wire Feed motor and euro torch
That sounds a good mod! Pity the transformer duty cycle can't keep up with it! Does it seem to feed the wire better on thinner stuff or don't you notice it?

 

[pondy]

Its much smoother on the smaller metals, no stutter in feed so welding is much smoother, don't weld thick metals a great deal so duty cycles not been an issue