I bought this

[imjamesy]

http://www.weldequip.com/clarke-160tm.htm
with guidance of someone on the forum
and its come without a plug, ive found a commando to do onit, but i was hoping to run it off my household plug. i cant find a transformer box anywhere. anyone have and ideas? dont really want to have a socket put in

thanks alot

sam

 

[imjamesy]

on the website it says runs off a household supply,
in the manual it says a 13amp socket isnt suitable

 

[Paul.]

At maximum settings it will draw more than a 13 amp plug is designed to safely carry, however many people run mig welders of 13 amp sockets without problems, (me included), you will probably not get the welder cable into a 13 amp plug, so fit a 16 amp plug to the welder, and make an adaptor lead with a 13 amp plug on one end and a 16 amp socket on the other, use a short length of 2.5mm cable, you can also buy 13 amp to 16amp adaptors.

 

[ajlelectronics]

on the website it says runs off a household supply,
in the manual it says a 13amp socket isnt suitable

That's quite right.

The 13A plug is right at the limit of its capability when you wind the welding current up. The inrush current will take the fuse out.

All you need to do is to provide a higher current feed. Usual method is to put a 16A trip in a spare way in the consumer unit and wire that via 4mm+ cable to a dedicated socket, somewhere handy to where you will use it. 16A sockets are normal, but I use 32A throughout, for no real good reason except I had them lying around.

 

[Luke]

i cant find a transformer box anywhere.

You don't need a transformer, it's still 230v, not 110v.

As said, an adapter lead is a good solution if the welder cable won't fit in to a 13A plug.

The best solution would be to fit a 16A socket.

 

[langy]

I would agree Paul, I've used my Cebora 196 Stag on a 16 to 13 amp plug adaptor for the last 22 years without any problems.

At maximum settings it will draw more than a 13 amp plug is designed to safely carry, however many people run mig welders of 13 amp sockets without problems, (me included), you will probably not get the welder cable into a 13 amp plug, so fit a 16 amp plug to the welder, and make an adaptor lead with a 13 amp plug on one end and a 16 amp socket on the other, use a short length of 2.5mm cable, you can also buy 13 amp to 16amp adaptors.

 

[imjamesy]

interesting, i emailed the company anyway to see what they say, if they say just bang a 13amp on then i will, wont really be used for high current, mainly exhausts and cars and such.

i found a nice blue commando plug
so is this all i need?

http://www.caravanparts.org.uk/shop...INLAND-POSTAGE.html?shop_param=cid=14&aid=14&

cheers for the replys guys

 

[langy]

Same as mine but mine has a better/bigger bit of cable.

interesting, i emailed the company anyway to see what they say, if they say just bang a 13amp on then i will, wont really be used for high current, mainly exhausts and cars and such.

i found a nice blue commando plug
so is this all i need?

http://www.caravanparts.org.uk/shop...INLAND-POSTAGE.html?shop_param=cid=14&aid=14&

cheers for the replys guys

 

[Wozzaaah]

Yes, that is what you need........or simply fit a 13A plug as has been mentioned.
Why are you worried about fitting a 13A plug? The fuse is the weaker link, whether it's in the plug on the end of the welder or the one on the end of that adapter lead so you won't damage anything!

 

[imjamesy]

im not worried just confused, to why theyed say 13amp on the site, then clearly state not to use a 13amp in the book :P

but cheers guys ill get these bits ordered i think lol

 

[Wozzaaah]

Because, as was said in one of the earlier replies, the fuse will tend to blow either on startup (which is probably quite rare on a smallish machine like that) or if the machine is used flat out for any length of time.
As I said, if you fit a 13A plug on the welder lead or use that coupler lead you'll have a 13A plug on it regardless of whichever method you choose.

 

[imjamesy]

if i get the 13-16amp connector above, wont it just blow the fuse when it draws more current? or is the whole thing fused up to 16 amp?
cheers

 

[Luke]

No, it'll still blow the 13A fuse, there's no way round that, apart from fitting a new 16A socket, as has already been said. See Woz's post above!

As I said, if you fit a 13A plug on the welder lead or use that coupler lead you'll have a 13A plug on it regardless of whichever method you choose.

 

[brightspark]

im not worried just confused, to why theyed say 13amp on the site, then clearly state not to use a 13amp in the book :P

but cheers guys ill get these bits ordered i think lol

as said above fit a 13 amp plug irespectve of what the manual says. that may be 15 or 20 amps which shouldnt be exceeded .u are downrating the fused supply so not a problem apart from blowing the odd fuse if u are running at full current.

 

[kenmac]

Do you have a cooker/oven socket behind your cooker as this runs 45amp and you could take a spur off of it and fit an outside female 16amp socket to the wall or run it to your garage (if you've got one)

Cheers
Ken

 

[brightspark]

Do you have a cooker/oven socket behind your cooker as this runs 45amp and you could take a spur off of it and fit an outside female 16amp socket to the wall or run it to your garage (if you've got one)

Cheers
Ken

the cooker controll unit cant be taken off if its in use .if not in use it can be taken off but the fused supply would have to be down rated to 16 amp . run a line back to the db with seperate fuse is the prefered method if going above 13amp

 

[kenmac]

the cooker controll unit cant be taken off if its in use .if not in use it can be taken off but the fused supply would have to be down rated to 16 amp . run a line back to the db with seperate fuse is the prefered method if going above 13amp

Sorry meant to say that as that's what I had to do.

 

[grandads_shed]

as long as you are not useing the oven at the same time ,, but if you use it and u have an electric oven u can be sure that at some point you will want to weld when the oven is in use, i myself would not use the oven socket if i had an electric oven .. its not worth the risk of having them both on and burning the house down by accident

 

[kenmac]

I'm lucky then as we have an all gas cooker.

 

[brightspark]

as long as you are not useing the oven at the same time ,, but if you use it and u have an electric oven u can be sure that at some point you will want to weld when the oven is in use, i myself would not use the oven socket if i had an electric oven .. its not worth the risk of having them both on and burning the house down by accident

wether your using the oven or not at the same time if its conected u CANT take a supply of it