Newbie needing help with welding setup (MIG)

[choco]

Why not get a Clarke 90 if its cheap and get a cheap Chinese arc invertor?? That way you can weld your thicker pieces with the arc welder and thin stuff with the mig

Or just spend more and get the 160

 

[Jack-96]

Thankyou everyone for the great help and funny debate haha and all of this information is great help! I have re-decided to get a Clarke MIG 145 or 160en (or higher) as they can be converted to use conventional gas bottles, which by the sounds of things is needed! so have decided on the welder now just need to work out this whole generator power business.

 

[Jack-96]

Why not get a Clarke 90 if its cheap and get a cheap Chinese arc invertor?? That way you can weld your thicker pieces with the arc welder and thin stuff with the mig

Or just spend more and get the 160

That is a very good point but i just want a mig because its nice and easy and i dont want to spend too much on different welders if like you said i can save up for a 160 or higher and it can do all of it, im only working on a motorcycle and there really isnt any thick metal on them

 

[choco]

I'm the same, mainly bike stuff, bought a 160en years ago and still have it. Now iv a Tig, mig, arc, and a lathe. Its a disease lol

 

[Cobbler]

Thankyou everyone for the great help and funny debate haha and all of this information is great help! I have re-decided to get a Clarke MIG 145 or 160en (or higher) as they can be converted to use conventional gas bottles, which by the sounds of things is needed! so have decided on the welder now just need to work out this whole generator power business.

The 145 is one of the budget machines I think. See my previous post about them. The 160 is a useful bit of kit, I've got the 160tm. The 160en is about the biggest you can run off a 13a plug, may blow the odd fuse if used on full chat.

Edit. Just looked & the 145, 180 &196 are the budget ones, Chinese I think. The budget ones can be identified by the funny curved handle out of the front & the price.

 

[Jack-96]

I'm the same, mainly bike stuff, bought a 160en years ago and still have it. Now iv a Tig, mig, arc, and a lathe. Its a disease lol

hahaha the disease is everywhere! and in your opinion does the 160en do well with panels and frame ? how does it hold up ? as this is the welder i will more than likely go and buy as everyone seems to have it and get on well with it.

 

[Jack-96]

The 145 is one of the budget machines I think. See my previous post about them. The 160 is a useful bit of kit, I've got the 160tm. The 160en is about the biggest you can run off a 13a plug, may blow the odd fuse if used on full chat.

Edit. Just looked & the 145, 180 &196 are the budget ones, Chinese I think. The budget ones can be identified by the funny curved handle out of the front & the price.

i read your previous post and didnt realise the 145 was a budget one too, damn things haha well with all the praise going to the 160's ill have to buy one of them! plus I can convert it to bottle so even better! thanks for the advice cobbler especially about the curvy handled ones being the budgets.

 

[Jack-96]

for the Clarke Mig 160en does anyone know how much watts it requires ? because i found a nice single phase generator thats good value but i dont know how many watts i need :/

 

[Cobbler]

If run on full power it will just about run off a 13a plug, as I said, it may blow a fuse or two. This would make it somewhere around 3000-3500 watts I would guess. You would need a generator at least twice this to run it successfully. I've never tried running off a genny, but I understand the sudden loading when you pull the trigger will overload the genny as it cannot react quick enough & cause it to "bog down" the sudden volt drop can damage both the genny & the welder. As I said, I've not tried to run one, but someone who knows more than me will be along in a minute.

 

[Jack-96]

If run on full power it will just about run off a 13a plug, as I said, it may blow a fuse or two. This would make it somewhere around 3000-3500 watts I would guess. You would need a generator at least twice this to run it successfully. I've never tried running off a genny, but I understand the sudden loading when you pull the trigger will overload the genny as it cannot react quick enough & cause it to "bog down" the sudden volt drop can damage both the genny & the welder. As I said, I've not tried to run one, but someone who knows more than me will be along in a minute.

I read the owners manual for the 160en and it sais not to run the welder on a 13a fuse but a 15a fuse instead, and yea i can imagen it would blow a fuse or two if the manual says to use a 15a fuse haha and thankyou ive been needing a rough estimate of how much i would need and yes thats what im scared of, i really dont want to spend a bunch of money and end up damaging everything :/ but i just dont have the option to plug it into my household plug :/ and i hope so haha

 

[choco]

Its good on really thin stuff, car panels(but you need gas for this) and you would just about get away with 4mm. I converted mine to use a spool gun for aluminum too. Iv had absolutely no problems with it.

Now there is an option for cheap Chinese MIGs like tigmig sell, and personally I think they are great and much better than the Clarke range, but quality control can be a problem and you might not have any come back if its faulty

 

[Jack-96]

Its good on really thin stuff, car panels(but you need gas for this) and you would just about get away with 4mm. I converted mine to use a spool gun for aluminum too. Iv had absolutely no problems with it.

Now there is an option for cheap Chinese MIGs like tigmig sell, and personally I think they are great and much better than the Clarke range, but quality control can be a problem and you might not have any come back if its faulty

thats good then! and thats fine ive got a few shops near me that sell and refill bottles and i dont think ill need to weld aluminium any time soon haha but thats pretty cool! and thats the thing i know some of the chinese brands arnt as bad as people make out but it is all about quality control and some of the materials they use are questionable