hello, i am thinking of buying a Clarke MIG230TEC Welder. i will be using ti for welding up cars, exhausts, the odd roll cage and mayb a trailer or woo, tho i woudl normally use mma for a trailer. is this welder any good ? as i cant aford anything more expensiv, i have a van free card for machine mart, so was thinking of getting one there. would this be ok ? http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cl-migwld-230v230tec
- Thread starter bunnymofo
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Hi Bunny,
the Clarke is a decent enough machine, but for that sort of money I'd be looking at a Portamig 215, or pay a bit more for a 235. Better duty cycle at the top end, lower ocv for thin car panels -down to 15 Amps, and overall a more solidly-built machine. Take a look:
http://www.weldequip.com/portamig-mig-welders.htm
the Clarke is a decent enough machine, but for that sort of money I'd be looking at a Portamig 215, or pay a bit more for a 235. Better duty cycle at the top end, lower ocv for thin car panels -down to 15 Amps, and overall a more solidly-built machine. Take a look:
http://www.weldequip.com/portamig-mig-welders.htm
cumbriasteve
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I agree 100%
ahh, so if i can stretch to a portamig 235 it will be better for what im doing ? i would be welding car pannels too. i cant see it on the page, but what sizes of wire will a portamig take ? as the clarke one only uses 0.6 and 0.8. also, whats the best thing to do for gas ? just go to boc and rent a bottle ? or get a rent free one / pub gas botttle ?> sorry for all the questions but ima kinda new to owning a mig, i have one but it dosent work 
so now im selling my junk (compressor, jet washer, genorator etc) to hopefully buy a decent mig
-sandy
so now im selling my junk (compressor, jet washer, genorator etc) to hopefully buy a decent mig-sandy
Yeah, the Portamig 235 will do everything you mention in your post, and more. It will do very thin car panels too, despite being a powerful machine at the top end of the scale. Like the other Portamigs it can go down to a very low amperage, which helps to establish a 'soft' mig arc that won't blast through thin metal.
It uses wire of 0.6 and 0.8 mm, so far as I know, like the Clarke models. Pics of wire feed mechanism here:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wire-feed.htm
Gas you will have to do a bit of research on. Take a look through the Gas Suppliers List on here first, and if there's nobody in your area, ask around in the Shielding Gas section of the forum for help in choosing your best nearest supplier.
It uses wire of 0.6 and 0.8 mm, so far as I know, like the Clarke models. Pics of wire feed mechanism here:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wire-feed.htm
Gas you will have to do a bit of research on. Take a look through the Gas Suppliers List on here first, and if there's nobody in your area, ask around in the Shielding Gas section of the forum for help in choosing your best nearest supplier.
cumbriasteve
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Mine is the 235 and it's spot on, for Gas you need to find an independant supplier, I use Inngas and get Argon/co2 mix for £35 a year and £30 refill, thats for a full size bottle that would last most people well over a year
shenion
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Has been posted here before. The Clarke's are good up to 180A. Above that the price shoots up and you can get machines with a better duty cycle and a beefy wire feeder along with a Eurotorch in the same price range.
I really liked my little Clarke 130; it worked well. Fine for lite use. The PortaMIG looks to be more like the beast I replaced the Clarke with. Built to last.
I really liked my little Clarke 130; it worked well. Fine for lite use. The PortaMIG looks to be more like the beast I replaced the Clarke with. Built to last.
