contact tip question

[PhilG]

just bought a clarke 135te mig welder.... and already screwed up

used too much power and not enought wire feed and ended up with the (0.6mm) contact tip covered in a blob of weld.

So needa buy some more contact tips but as im new to this i dont know if the tips are universal, or must i buy a clarke one?

 

[shenion]

The Clarke's use a clone of a Tweco torch. Many of the parts are the same. The tips are #11-xx (xx = 23 for 0.6mm/0.023".)

Many other brands use the same. I buy mine at a local home improvement store and are Lincoln Electric.

weldequip can supply a bag of tips (starting out you will go through a few.) Bring the old one to anyone who has tips and you can probably match them.

You can grind the end off to get a bit more out of the tip after they are covered in spatter.

 

[disco_monkey79]

I've got a clarke 110, and bought new tips from Halfords (I think they were SIP branded ones).

 

[reno]

The SIP ones that Halfords sell will fit although they work out more expensive than getting them from Machine Mart (about £5 for 4 tips IIRC). Alternatively as Shenion has suggested get a bag of them from weldequip that will work out much cheaper in the long run.

 

[TH1983]

What symptoms are there when a tip goes?