Clarke mig welder

[rich a]

cheers mike for the tips/help will get an 02 bottle an keep practicing then might have a go on the car

[paul james]

I tend to turn the regulator all the way up on the gas, I'd rather have good welds than try and save on gas, those lttile bottles do actually last quite a long time. Another vote here on using just co2 and not a mix.

[Mike]

I tend to turn the regulator all the way up on the gas, I'd rather have good welds than try and save on gas, those lttile bottles do actually last quite a long time. Another vote here on using just co2 and not a mix.

Yea this too, have the reg on full. Always. Every time you weld something. W

hen you pack it away, turn the reg off and unscrew it completely off the bottle (if using hobby bottles).

Them little regulators love to start randomly leaking.

[gearbox90]

You use pure argon for ally. You should use a mix on steel, you will get better penatration with a mix and less splatter. Has for setting I'm afraid a can't help, each machine is different so its just a case of playing around with it.

[BRoadGhost]

Idd; open the gas right up the try.

[GRUNT 16V]

To be honest clarke welders are crap and so are the welds in produces, get a propper welder not being big headed but its the truth i have used allsorts clarke, cebora, kemppi, esab, sealy,boc,eland the list goes on ! Clarke is the worst performer ever get a cebora 130 turbo as a bare minimum for welding cars

[Iain]

I quite like my little Clarke 150TE, but I don't have much experience of other machines. Much prefer CO2/argon mix to pure CO2.

Try this site for working out rough power/speed settings to get you started and fine tune from there: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/calculator.htm

Take note in the manual of whether the welder is MIN 1/2/3 MAX 1/2/3 or MIN1/MAX1/MIN2/MAX2/MIN3/MAX3 settings as I think some models differ in their behaviour.

[rich a]

Thanks a whole heap guys had a little go when I got home turned the gas right open an now im in welding heaven not sayings its perfect but its a million times better hardly any splatter an with a little more practice an fine tuning I might let myself on the car thanks again guys rich

[L14MNP]

Ive got the same welder too. Use feed between 6 ~ 6.5 and run it on high power. Don't do massive continuous welds as itll blow through it. Also youd be better off using a C02 not a mixed gas.

Incedently, I used that very same welder to do these end plates onto 10mm RSJ's with nothing more then a hobby bottle of gas (C02), feed on about 7 and full power. Was accidently drop tested from about 8ft in the air narrowly missing Lee's feet and didn't even crack

That looks like almost zero penetration!
On thick plate like that, the colour change alone is usually staring you in the face, when the weld has penetrated.

That is seriously helping to support a house?

[gearbox90]

Running too much gas is just has bad had running too little , you will introduce perousity into the weld , also cause brittly welds.
I have never used a clarke but have used many 'budget' welders and have never really had a problem, I have also used 20k welders and can say a lot is down to set up rather than make. Yes a Clarke will never run a weld as good as a high budget welder but neither could the person using it. For car repairs I would expect the Clarke welder is more capable of running a perfect weld than most people using them.