Clarke 151te

[veedub2007]

having problems with my above welder with the wire time to time getting tangled up, I've also noticed that the reel with the wire is on very tight tension and i've messed around with all the settings but what looks to me is that the last person who had it has tangled the reel of wire slightly causing it to do this I think.

I've attached a pic to give you an idea

i have taken the cover off to show you properly and when welding its fine.

Just wondering if anyone agrees that this could be the problem?

I'm going to buy a new reel of wire currently has 0.8 just wondering weather 0.6 will be fine?

 

[malcolm]

Quite possibly. When you put the cover back on pull the wire liner as close as possible to the rollers. That helps reduce the stretch the wire has to travel unsupported.

If the reel has been tangled it might be possible to pull off a layer until you get to untangled stuff.

Wire liner that's more than a year old would add to the trouble.

 

[shenion]

Make sure the liner is as close as possible to the rollers. I ground a bit of a V on the end of mine.

Hard to see, is that a plastic liner? A new steel liner would help.

 

[veedub2007]

Make sure the liner is as close as possible to the rollers. I ground a bit of a V on the end of mine.

Hard to see, is that a plastic liner? A new steel liner would help.

thanks for the quick replies

yeah its plastic I think, can you add a new steel liner to it to improve this?

will this welding wire be suitable for this welding or am i best sticking with 0.8 or is it just down to personal prefence with the size of wire?

 

[shenion]

Fore metal 1mm or less 0.6mm is much easier.

I bet weldequip could send you a steel liner quick and cheap. I installed a plastic liner in my 130EN in an attempt to do alum welding. The steel liner worked better, the plastic ones just have a lot of drag and wear out fast.

 

[Wozzaaah]

If the wire is birdsnesting then slacken the tensioner off a bit, it should be set just tight enough so that the rollers slip rather than keep driving the wire towards the liner in the event of a snag. We've all done it, suffered erratic feed so wind the tensioner down a bit tighter but that can do more harm than good, better to fix the problem then set the tensioner up properly.
Like others have said, fit a new steel liner but also a new tip and make sure anything else in the wire's path is clean too. (I'm not sure about Clarkes but some machines have a long thin spring inside the 'swan-neck' which is also a service item but can also get clogged up so a good blow through with compressed air might help.

 

[shenion]

Yes, the Clarkes have a spring in the swan neck. Will get clogged up with plastic from the liner. Then when the end gets hot the wire sticks to it.

Remove tip and wire, and blow with compressed air. In worse cases, take torch handle apart, unscrew liner and pull out the spring. Also check for distortion, the spring on mine warped when I overheated the tip.

A steel liner will eliminate this problem from occurring again.

 

[Splatfest]

I had very similar problems with my Clarke Pro 90 until I changed to a steel liner.Made a big difference to wire feed(lot smoother) Its easy to do and doesnt take too long.