New Clarke or Old Murex

[Christmas Jones]

Hi

Hopefully someone can help.

I am looking at purchasing a welder for some car panel work and I can’t find an answer to my question, do I buy a new Clarke 151 or 160 or an old Murex.

I have been looking on feabay and found some of bother for sale, but I am struggling to find out which way is best to go. Go for a smaller hobby Clarke welder or an industrial Murex welder but taking onboard that these are getting old but better.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Welderpaul]

Obviously depends on condition of a used machine, but i would go for an older Murex before something from the hobby market. Things to be aware is than many industrial machines will be three phase and may not be suited to a 'garage' environment. Also, industrial machines may not go low enough for welding thin panels.

 

[Christmas Jones]

Update

Thanks for responding so quickly.

The Murex I’ve seen on feabay is about 20 years old. According to the seller it’s been used for car work and some fabrication. The machine is about £80, what do you think? Should I buy or walk away?

If I walk away from the Murex can you tell me are Snap on 130 Turbo any good compared to the Clarke 150TE, I’m aware of the power difference.

Thanks for all you time and help.

 

[Engineer]

Even if the Murex is 30 yrs old its probably going to be an awful lot better than current DIY sets from China!

 

[Hitch]

Id throw me cash towards the murex.

 

[julianthegypsy]

If you can see the murex working so you know it actually does work, then no contest. I picked up a murex miget for a mate and it's worked perfectly for him. £80 sounds like a real bargain too.

 

[madkayaker]

id see it working have a try welding some thin stuff with it. but to be honest even if it is a lemon at that price you could stick it back on as untested or spares and you would get your money back.

 

[arceyed]

I have a murex midget it's old school but the quality of weld will be far more superior than the clarke or similar (depending on the chap doing it...lol) i have struggled for years learning to weld with hobby welders...then i got the murex...and wow i could weld straight away

also some of the parts if the Murex go wrong will probably be serviceable, not like the throw away generation of hobby welders out on the market, although i'm not mentioning all hobby welders as some are damn good value, and produce good results

oh and i paid £200 for my midget and thought that was a good price, it's earned it's money back long ago

 

[Chickenjohn]

Oddly enough, I'm the other way round- having learned to weld on my Clarke 150TE using CO2, I struggle to get as good a weld on the big three phase Industrial ESAB's and Argoshield they have at college. The college welders should be MUCH better for me, but they are not.

It may be more familiarity with the machine than superior performance that counts. Plus maintenance.