hello everyone

[flames]

hi all,i am new to the forum,and new to welding too.i have owned an arc welder for several yrs,but only recently started to use it.today i bought a mig welder from a mates brother.i have never even tried mig welding so am a complete novice.i cdnt tell u what make the mig is,it is blue,and on wheels.i am told it is italian.it has 150/1 turbo written on the front,i will take a foto and post on here soon in the hope someone may b able to identify it.the writing is very similar to that found on clarke machines.there is a silver sticjker on the front which i guess should have a serial number on it,but it appears only the sticker has survived over the yrs so i have no way of identifiying it myself.cannot use it yet because i have no gas bottle with it,tho i have a regulator for the bigger bottles.and until i find out what model/make it is,i dont know if i can use flux cored wire in it until i get meself a bottle.i am modifieing my motorbike,its an xj600 that i am chopping.i will mainly only b doing the tacking and then taking it to someone at work to do the actual welding for me until i get gd enough to tackle some of it myself.hopefully i will b able to do the welding myself in the future,if the 2 welders i have are actually up to the job that is.
thats all i can think of to say at the mo.hopefully i can find my way rnd the forums ok,and no doubt will b asking many stoopid questions in the near future.

 

[spaffmonkey]

Hi welcome to the forum

Try and get a picture up of you welder. sounds like a Clarke ive got an
old 200t turbo but could be wrong.

I'm sure if you get some gas and have a good practice you'll soon get the
hang of it and there's plenty of help at hand on hear.

 

[flames]

rite,here goes.i am gunna try put a couple of pics up of my welder.hopefully someone will recognise it,and b able to tel me what make it is.

 

[flames]

cool.it worked.lol.here are some other pics of it.

 

[flames]

also,is there a way of telling if it is gas only or gas/gasless.i will be getting gas for it,but it wd b handy if i can use it without gas as most of my welding will have to be done outside until i get myself a garage.
thankyou.

 

[Chickenjohn]

I could be wrong! But it does look very much like it is an early Clarke model, in which case you are in luck as they are just about the best/ most reliable budget welders. Mine (also a 150 turbo) has certainly been excellent for years now. I believe they are made in Italy.

Yes, I'd say it is a Clarke!

 

[Chickenjohn]

also,is there a way of telling if it is gas only or gas/gasless.i will be getting gas for it,but it wd b handy if i can use it without gas as most of my welding will have to be done outside until i get myself a garage.
thankyou.

The other side from the controls should have an inlet pipe (thin plastic) for the gas if it is a gas model. Gas models of Mig are easier to leatn on and give neater welds than gassless.

 

[flames]

thanks buddy.i thought it looked like a clarke,but the ones ive looked at have clarke written on them.tho i kno this 1 is old.yes it is a gas model,i have the hose and regulator for it.what i ment is,can i use it without gas if i use flux cored wire? i read sumwehere that sum mig welders will only work with gas,and cannot b used with flux cored wire? if it can b used without gas,is there anything i need to do apart from change the wire to flux cored?
thanks again.

 

[spaffmonkey]

Looks very similar to my old clarke.

Excuse the messy kitchen lol.

 

[shenion]

also,is there a way of telling if it is gas only or gas/gasless.i will be getting gas for it,but it wd b handy if i can use it without gas as most of my welding will have to be done outside until i get myself a garage.
thankyou.

Looks like a gas model as the work lead looks to be marked '-'.

 

[spaffmonkey]

It is a gas model as its got the back step bit like mine.
in the picture you can see where a bottle has been sat on the back.

 

[flames]

thanks guys.it is deffo a gas model.i wasnt sure if i cd use it as a gasless welder aswell with a change of wire,but have read a few other posts on here that say u must reverse polarity aswell.if this means swapping the earth lead connection with the connections on the gun lead,then im not sure i can do this.perhaps if i take the covers of i may b able to,but they go inside the welder,so im guessin they are not meant to b swapped.thanks for all yr help.i will have to wait till i can find a bottle and find somewhere to getit filled before i can start practising.
thanks everyone for akll yr help.
neil