My Clarke 160EN torch has the gas shroud on it that came with it. Its looking a bit tired now.
What advantage does buying a new one give, or is it purely cosmetic to have a nice shiny new one?
New ones are easier to clean up - spatter doesn't stick to them as much. As an aside - have you discovered tip dip? Little tin of white stuff you dip the shroud and tip into to stop spatter sticking - it's brilliant.
If the shroud gets out of shape then the gas coverage of the weld might not be as good as it could be. The one at work was terrible - I replaced it with one of my second hand ones.
You can also get problems with the spatter building up and shorting the shroud to the gas diffuser. (assuming it's an insulated shroud) This is what causes the shroud to become live and stick to the workpiece.
oh yeah i've got a tic on that i'm cleaning the thing all the time , i find it's welding better when your shroud's clean...
imagine: you're making a perfect weld, really smooth and all that and then......a big chunk of built up spatter from your shroud falls right into that.....aaaaaaargh....
I prefer the original tip dip, basically a red wax stuff.
Keep it coated, every few welds just knock it on the job or bench a few times , and all the spatter falls out.