Got my first welder. Clarke 151EN

[RustyBucket]

Finally brought my first welder today, Clarke 151EN. Brought it for £140. Not sure if it’s a good price or not but compared to eBay seemed pretty decent. I brought a park side flux cord welder as a back up sealed but will return it now since I got the welder that does gas AND gasless.

Just a few tips guys, is there anything I need to look out for servicing wise? Any parts I should ideally change? Also looking for some wheels for it as they were missing.

Don’t have any gas at the moment so currently trying it on gasless and making little spots everywhere . Will need to buy a swan neck as I accidentally melted it welding at too much of an angle. Oops.

 

[gaz1]

nice bargain there at the price

ive got wheels on mine but no handle and to be honest i just pick it and carry it as is

swan necks and liner inside of the swan neck you might need

later on you will need the metal cable inside of them to feed the gun easy change though

get yourself some tips as well

i just the 0.8 mig wire its fine for most things including thin steel 0.8mm

dont be silly and bend that swan neck into a tighter bend its not worth doing so

 

[chrismac]

If the wire starts snagging, the liner could be blocking with dust, take the tip off and blow the liner out with a compressor if you have one and you will be surprised how much dust gets blown out

 

[arther dailey]

they are a great tool , and a bargain at what you paid , well done , enjoy

 

[eddie49]

I brought a park side flux cord welder as a back up sealed but will return it now

If it is still sealed in its box and you paid a normal in-store price ( and still have the receipt ), rather than taking it back to the shop, consider offering it for sale here - or even elsewhere.
The Lidl/Parkside PIFDS 120 A2 or B2 is a good synergic fluxcore-only inverter welder. Forum member @willie.macleod has one, and he says that the voltage vs. wire speed ratio is spot-on. They cost about £50 to £70 in-store, and sell for £80 to £100 online.

 

[Hutcho]

I find using the next size tip up on gasless seems to help - only because knurl seems spread the wire a tad .
As said use 0.8 you will get better tension off the tensioner .

 

[Cobbler]

I find using the next size tip up on gasless seems to help - only because knurl seems spread the wire a tad .
As said use 0.8 you will get better tension off the tensioner .

Clarke used to do a 0.9 tip for gassless wire as you say, the serrated roller distortes the wire. I don’t know if they still do. You can always run a 1 mm drill through a tip.