Gas & Wire Help on Clarke Pro 90.

[dazzul]

Hello,

Back in 2011 i brought a Clarke Pro 90 Welder from Machine Mart.

Well anyway after looking at it for so long today i thought i would have a play, so ive followed the manual and it all looks good, im facing two problems.

1. When i start my gas bottle makes a small hiss, not a continuous one which i expected. Is this normal?
2. My wire although kept in a sealed box, in side the welder in a sealed bag it seems to have gone rusty. Would this now be useless?

The box has been stored in the veranda since i had it. So is a little damp

Also ive had many of people telling me its much cheaper to convert and run off pub gas, where would i start with this

Any help would me much appreciated.

Thanks
Daz

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the forum.

You should have a continuous flow of gas as long as the trigger is pressed. Assuming you have a disposable bottle, make sure the regulator tap is fully open and that the bottle still has some gas in it.

You would be much better off with a proper bottle, but be careful as some pub gas is a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen, which is useless for welding. Have a click on the Weldequip link at the top of the page for a suitable regulator and connecting kit.

As for the rusty wire, just unwind enough wire to reveal brand new shiny stuff. Don't be tempted to use the rusty stuff, it will clog up the torch liner.

 

[dazzul]

Thanks for the welcome

Ok, ill do that,

The bottle was brand new, over time to they loose gas on there own or anything?

Cheers


Update,
if i fully open the bottle to 6 it just makes no noise at all

 

[rtbcomp]

They have been known to loose gas, especially if you leave them connected to the regulator.

 

[dazzul]

there dont seem to be any continues air flow just a quick burst and everything was brand new, never used

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

My wire is sitting vacuumed packed waiting on my 285 arriving so no rust, putting rusty wire through it will cause you no end of problems, you would need to strip your torch and clean it if you ran rusty wire, as for the gas well worth getting yourself a 10l hobby bottle, will hast much longer

 

[rtbcomp]

Sounds like there's a constriction somewhere, with the valve in the torch closed pressure is building up in the pipes. Opening the valve releases the pressure, but the constriction doesn't allow a decent volume of gas to flow.

Look for kinked pipes for a start.

 

[dazzul]

the nut on the bottom of the regulater is loose looks like it is only held on by a piece of rubber,it looks like the pin will not reach the bottle to let the air out