Clarke Pro90

[RodAndTom]

Hi

I had been told that the Clarke 90EN was good for car restoration jobs but I've since read that it struggles with even 3mm mild steel. I thought the big deal with the 90 was that you could get a low enough ampage so as not to just blow holes in thinner sheets of steel but can any of the larger migs go that low or are easy to use on 1 or 1.5mm sheet?

Cheers

Rod

 

[cumbriasteve]

One of the lowest machines is the Portamig, it goes to 15amps, being a bit more of a professional machine this is reflected in the price.

Most hobby machines stop at 30 and a couple at 25 and loads of people repairing cars with them.

Gasless is more difficult on the thin material but handy if working outdoors a lot, buy the best you can afford, many future welders waste money with their first set, soon realising they have use or would like something a bit better than the lower hobby range.

Many machines offer the option of gas or gasless by switching the cable polarity.

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

i have been welding landrover footwells for the past 2 days with a clarke 151en without a problem on C02 and 0.8mm wire, the footwells were 1.2mm and the landrover itself was about 1mm and i didnt have a problem with blowthrough atall apart from reconstructing the bottom of a door pillar but no joke the paint that was on there was thicker than the metal!!!!

 

[keith19]

"I thought the big deal with the 90 was that you could get a low enough ampage so as not to just blow holes in thinner sheets of steel but can any of the larger migs go that low or are easy to use on 1 or 1.5mm sheet?"

The Clarke 90, both gas only and gas/gasless versions, are made to a price for the hobby welder to weld thin metal. Because they go down to around 25A output they should be easier to learn with on thin metal than something that only goes down to 30A. So they are a single purpose machine; a thin metal machine. They evolved in a time when mig welders were fairly new and expensive. At that time anyone who called himself a welder, even a hobby welder, would have used an arc welder on anything over about 2 mm or 14 gauge steel. Or you would take the occasional heavy job along to a pro welding shop.

Most of the other Clarkes go down to 30A, and after some practice it is quite possible to weld down to around 0.8mm clean metal with these. So 1.2 or 1.6 mm should be a doddle.

A big pro workshop type machine, like Steve's reference to the Portamig, is made to deal with both ends of the everyday welding spectrum, and costs accordingly.

 

[Nomad]

I have a Clarke Pro-90 with pub co2 gas, have been using it for a few years for car repairs and very rarely use the low power settings.
If the metal is so thin it needs low power then it's a sign the metal has just about rusted through and need to be cut out and replaced.
Has worked well on some thicker pieces (security cages, etc) but there's not much in reserve then.
Horses for courses, I find it fine for occasional car & general DIY, if I had to do heavier work I would buy something bigger.