Is this a stupid idea?

[BillTheMini]

Before I splash out on my own welder I thought I would get a second opinion on this. I have a Mini that needs some welding work done to it. There's enough room in the garage for the Mini but otherwise it's cramped with lots of flamable stuff. Does anyone think it's a bad idea to weld on my drive?

My main concern is the neighbours and also the white doors. Would there be a lot of reflection off the white? Does the drive look suitable to be welding on? There's a 3' high wall to the left which could block the view in that direction. The drive is about twice as long as what's in the picture but it slopes quite steeply from behind the Peugeot here.

It's bound to be a silly question but a second opinion is always useful.

 

[algreenplus3]

I can't see no problems with it, just warn the neighbours when welding. and make sure you jack the car up right with it being on a slope.

 

[malcolm]

Main things with welding outside in a built up area are protecting onlookers from arc eye and stopping the wind from blowing your welding gas away. Some screening to protect onlookers would be a good idea - doesn't have to be a fancy welding screen - an old fence panel or a sheet over a table would probably do the job. Reflections from the white doors might give you arc eye after a couple of hours of welding, but I'd have thought onlookers should be OK.

It's a good thing that the contents of the garage are flamable - you can have a good tidy up and burn everything. Then there will be room for the Mini in it's rightful place.

 

[BillTheMini]

Thanks for the comments.

I might have just been thinking out loud. (With my fingers) Someone else suggested I could do the welding on the side with the wall and put some big sheets of wood up to make a solid wall between me and the road. The car would make another barrier (hopefully) or I could find some more wood to cover that side. Then the garage side would be left free for an escape route. When I need to weld on the other side I can just turn the Mini around.


I'm doing a night class on classic car repair which involves some mig welding. First night was last night and I overcame my fear of welders by actually using one. We were doing the basics - welding a line along a piece of metal but it was enough to get started. I didn't do too badly in the end.

 

[malcolm]

You are still in for the fun of thin metal then. At college they'll tend to give you 2mm or 3mm sheet to weld and when you get home you'll want to be doing 1mm or less that's maybe a bit rust eaten in places and be doing it at a funny angle too. Once you have the hang of the thicker stuff it's well worth taking some 0.8mm into the course and having a bash at it when the tutor is around to offer advice. It's not difficult but speeds things up if there is a human there offering tips when you try it for the first time.

 

[BillTheMini]

You are still in for the fun of thin metal then. At college they'll tend to give you 2mm or 3mm sheet to weld and when you get home you'll want to be doing 1mm or less that's maybe a bit rust eaten in places and be doing it at a funny angle too. Once you have the hang of the thicker stuff it's well worth taking some 0.8mm into the course and having a bash at it when the tutor is around to offer advice. It's not difficult but speeds things up if there is a human there offering tips when you try it for the first time.

The scrap metal we were using was pretty thin. I would definitely say it was well under 3mm. I'll have to ask next time. Seeing as it's a paid course, they said they would give us plenty of scrap to take home and try with our own welders. They also suggested taking in reasonable sized bits of car that need welding, like door skins. Unfortunately, my doors aren't bad enough to worry about at the moment.


Now I need to research some welders, but I'm sure a search on here will bring up plenty of suggestions. Clarke 150TE perhaps? Although I've just seen it needs 15A minimum. Obviously I'll be using a home power supply on 13A.

 

[madkayaker]

Where is the fuse board for the house in relation to where you intend to weld? It might not be that difficult to put a 16Amp socket next to Board and run a suitable lead out to Welder. Best to get a competent spark to do it if you don't know what your doing.

 

[BillTheMini]

Where is the fuse board for the house in relation to where you intend to weld? It might not be that difficult to put a 16Amp socket next to Board and run a suitable lead out to Welder. Best to get a competent spark to do it if you don't know what your doing.

I believe the garage's power runs off it's own circuit but I'm really not sure. I remember looking at the fuse board in the garage ages ago. Behind the garage are an office and utility room added as an extension so they had a new circuit put in when that was done. (This was before we moved in.)

It might be that the garage is like "Upstairs lights" or "Downstairs lights" where they have a switch for a section from the main board. I know for sure that the garage has a separate fuse board. The main board for the house is right in the middle of the house, away from the garage.

As you can tell, the work would have to be done by a professional (even though it's required by law). I'll have a good look tomorrow.

 

[madkayaker]

Well strictly it isn't required by law.. As the home owner you can do pretty much what you like in your own home part P only applies to a contractor contract to Carry out the work. Doing the work yourself I wouldn't recommend though 1 if you don't know what your doing and 2 could cause issues with your insurance when if you needed to claim (its in the exceptions) and 3 when you came to sell it would probably cause problems.

 

[cobminor]

You can run the welder on a 13A plug, you just won't be able to use it up to the top of its rating.

 

[Hitch]

One other thing to watch.... neighbours car/garage door. Dont get grinding sparks on them

 

[BillTheMini]

You can run the welder on a 13A plug, you just won't be able to use it up to the top of its rating.

What happens when it's accidentaly turned to max? House go boom boom or just a blown fuse?

One other thing to watch.... neighbours car/garage door. Dont get grinding sparks on them

The double garage and drive is all ours. The nearest drives are maybe 7-10 metres away.

 

[Robotstar5]

What happens when it's accidentaly turned to max? House go boom boom or just a blown fuse?

Just a blown fuse.

 

[BillJ]

As the home owner you can do pretty much what you like in your own home part P only applies to a contractor contract to Carry out the work.

This is not true. In England (I am not sure of the current situation in Scotland) building regulations apply to the work no matter who carries it out. Whether or not the homeowner decides to abide by the law is up to them but the law still applies.

However, you are correct that is not required by law that the work be carried out by a professional. The only requirement is that building regulations be complied with but I understand this does require testing by a competent person, who will almost certainly be a professional.

 

[BillTheMini]

I had a look at the garage fusebox and there are two 15A fuses and two 5A fuses. Not sure what that means because I thought they should be 13A.

Anyway, I've had a little look and the Clarke 151TE seems to be an ok welder, but the 160TM is only about £20 more. Is it worth going for the 160TM? I doubt I'll need high power if I'm only doing body work on a Mini. I can't really see what the differences are. Do I even need one in that range?

Sorry if this seems like spoon feeding.

 

[jugs]

I had a look at the garage fusebox and there are two 15A fuses and two 5A fuses. Not sure what that means because I thought they should be 13A.

Anyway, I've had a little look and the Clarke 151TE seems to be an ok welder, but the 160TM is only about £20 more. Is it worth going for the 160TM? I doubt I'll need high power if I'm only doing body work on a Mini. I can't really see what the differences are. Do I even need one in that range?

Sorry if this seems like spoon feeding.

Hi bill

Dont be ashamed to ask, we each cant know everything, thats what the forum's for.

Open wide here comes the next bit

On a fuse or distribution board 30A protects a Ring circuit, 15A a socket spur 5A a lighting circuit

So in your case the 15A protects the socket you put your 13A plug into (In theory plug fuse should blow first, in practise the 15A might go leaving the 13A intact.)

It might not be that difficult to put a 16Amp socket next to Board and run a suitable lead out to Welder. Best to get a competent spark to do it if you don't know what your doing.

That would allow you to run at full amps when you want to.

I run a clark 130 full belt on 13A plug, it never blows. (And no I haven't put a 6mm bolt in)

 

[Wozzaaah]

Anyway, I've had a little look and the Clarke 151TE seems to be an ok welder, but the 160TM is only about £20 more. Is it worth going for the 160TM? I doubt I'll need high power if I'm only doing body work on a Mini. I can't really see what the differences are. Do I even need one in that range?

The 151 and the 160 are both 150 amp machines Bill, don't take any notice of Clarke's model numbering system, they seem to like to 'big them up'.
The main difference is in the style of the machine, the 151 is a small cased machine ideally suited to portability and the use of disposable cylinders whereas the 160 has wheels and a shelf on the back to take a full-size refillable cylinder. The duty cycle @ 60% is slightly higher on the 160 too, 75A as opposed to 65A and the OCVs are different on both machines so there are some considerable internal differences between the two.

I know which one I'd choose (23 quid extra? not even a night out nowadays .)

Oh and weldequip is a clarke dealer, you could drop him a pm asking for a quote, he is usually a bit cheaper than MM .

 

[BillTheMini]

Thanks, everyone! The nearest Machine Mart is in Swindon, which is on the way to a Mini show at Castle Combe next week, so I think I'll pay them a visit.

Oh and weldequip is a clarke dealer, you could drop him a pm asking for a quote, he is usually a bit cheaper than MM .

I did PM him on Friday evening but I assume he's mostly on during office hours. Not to worry, I can wait.





Also, I've been trying out a makeshift "curtain" to stop the neighbours being blinded. It's going to be screwed together for security nearer the time when I need it, so I can then take it apart afterwards. I think it needs to be a bit higher. I did ask my neighbour if he had any spare fence panels but he said no.