Richard Evans
New Member
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- Norfolk, Uk
Morning guys, long time reader, first time poster here - found the guides on MIG welding to be very useful!
So, I have a Clarke 151TE that i acquired second hand off Gumtree recently.
My plan is to be competent at welding as I am in the process of building a kitcar. Engine mounts and brackets are obviously a way off yet, so I am beginning with small projects like making a trolley for my welder, firepit etc.
The welder I purchased had an empty bottle of gas with it, and I had a bit of an issue trying to get more, so I tried a few test welds to make sure everything functioned ok - needless to say the welds were not ideal so far...
After reading a few reviews - I saw that people had issues with the standard regulator and recommended upgrading it to one like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000R9XVVY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I purchased one of these and screwed it to my newly arrived bottle of gas:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000R9XWN6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Apparently, 2-3 litres/hour is the correct amount when doing simple welding jobs like this, so in theory I would be able to easily control how much gas would come out, not waste any - but also be able to see when my tank was empty too?
All set up to go last weekend, connected, and turned the valve on the top and nothing happened. I recorded a short video of it on my phone just to show what was/wasn't happening:
Tested it with another bottle of gas (I bought two) and the same happens. nothing that I can tell coming out of the end of the torch either.
I put the standard regulator back on again and began turning the dial on there, and gas was released - I figured that somewhere between 3 and 4 was correct (I think I read that online for this welder) - but I am curious why the regulator I got did not work - have I done something silly here?
Thanks,
Richard
So, I have a Clarke 151TE that i acquired second hand off Gumtree recently.
My plan is to be competent at welding as I am in the process of building a kitcar. Engine mounts and brackets are obviously a way off yet, so I am beginning with small projects like making a trolley for my welder, firepit etc.
The welder I purchased had an empty bottle of gas with it, and I had a bit of an issue trying to get more, so I tried a few test welds to make sure everything functioned ok - needless to say the welds were not ideal so far...
After reading a few reviews - I saw that people had issues with the standard regulator and recommended upgrading it to one like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000R9XVVY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I purchased one of these and screwed it to my newly arrived bottle of gas:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000R9XWN6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Apparently, 2-3 litres/hour is the correct amount when doing simple welding jobs like this, so in theory I would be able to easily control how much gas would come out, not waste any - but also be able to see when my tank was empty too?
All set up to go last weekend, connected, and turned the valve on the top and nothing happened. I recorded a short video of it on my phone just to show what was/wasn't happening:
Tested it with another bottle of gas (I bought two) and the same happens. nothing that I can tell coming out of the end of the torch either.
I put the standard regulator back on again and began turning the dial on there, and gas was released - I figured that somewhere between 3 and 4 was correct (I think I read that online for this welder) - but I am curious why the regulator I got did not work - have I done something silly here?
Thanks,
Richard