MIG Welder

[Andrew S]

Carried outa small repair yesterday using my Clarke 130TE MiG welder that I have had for many years and its time I bought a new liner for it as it has seen better days. I have replaced the liner and torch before as a kit and its a simple job for around £50.

I have looked on Marchinemart's website and there are many welders on there some of which look the same as mine and they are showing them as Non Gas and the wire that you use has its own flux. On he basis that there isn't too much to how a MiG welder works, has anyone any experience or advice as to whether I could buy a new torch and liner that can take the non gas wire? I have used those small bottles for around £12 and you get about 20 minutes max out of them but if non gas could be used, it would be great and no need to replace my welder or use a bottle.

Cheers

Andrew

[stagmuffin]

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andrew,ive never been an advocate of gasless mig ,some people say its ok but if you can show me a good weld butt or fillet that will withstand any scrutineering and test that a normal gassed mig will sail through id like to see it. if it was any good then manufacturing as a whole would use it because of the savings gas is expensive.

i would suggest thet you persevere with gas,you can run C02 on bottles as supplied to pubs resturaunts etc its weld characteristics are similar to mixed gas eg argoshield but finnish might be slightly compromised then that said it will still be 100 times better than gassles.all you need is a new gauge /regulator and a bottle i have spares you are welcome to foc if you collect then have a chat with a landlord and hey presto cheap gas in a bottle that would last the average diy, about a year.

my two bob

steve..........

[jamcarr2]

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Hi Andrew

I have a gas/gasless mig and to change from one to the other you have to change the polarity neg earth to poss earth so no a new liner would not do it ........... sorry

John

[Peter Hills]

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Andrew,

I had one of the Clarke MIG welders from Machine Mart and it came with the option of either 'gas' or 'no gas' operation. All one had to do was fit the right sort of wire AND set the polarity. The polarity is reversed between the two types of welding. That said I found that 'no gas' was rather 'spluttery' and did not complement my, limited, welding skills. The major problem I had with the Clarke welder was its poor wire feed - gas or no-gas wire. I couldn't set a consistent wire feed rate. This may have been me.

For what it's worth.

Good luck

Peter

[Andrew S]

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Hi Steve

Thank you very much for your kind offer of parts etc. I am now convinced that the non gas route is not the way to go and I will get a new liner etc and get my old girl running properly and then go and see that landlord to see how helpful they can be.

Thanks for the advice and offer

Cheers

Andrew

[Mike Stevens]

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Having had a similar low-cost MiG for many years, I would agree about the gas-less type.

I have a BoC account (easy to set up) and use their argoshield gas mix. A bottle (about 4' tall) lasts a good year assuming normal DIY use and the costs are not too bad. I can also swap to those little bottles if I need to weld aluminium.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Mike.

[Andrew S]

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Thanks Mike

Yep decided to treat the old girl to new spool of 0.6 wire and a new nozzle. :shock:

Cheers

Andrew

[new to this]

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Mike Stevens wrote:

Having had a similar low-cost MiG for many years, I would agree about the gas-less type.

I have a BoC account (easy to set up) and use their argoshield gas mix. A bottle (about 4' tall) lasts a good year assuming normal DIY use and the costs are not too bad. I can also swap to those little bottles if I need to weld aluminium.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Mike.

ive done the same thing

Dave

[DJT]

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These guys advertise in Practical Classics: http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/stat_ind_p...FVc03godKkdlow

Could be the solution to low volume without setting up an account with BOC. Not used them myself, but would give them a try if I have another welding project in the future.

Dave

[Andrew S]

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Thanks Dave, this is excellent and is the best deal considering I don't use it for long period of time. Must make some more room in the garage and get one.

Can these be stored and used horizontally do youknow?

Cheers

Andrew

[Andrew S]

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OK, the old girl has had a Birthday this morning and has new wire, tip, cleaned liner and a good airlining.

Just out of interest, the wire speed seemed a little fast (or I am slower) when using at a high amperage say on 3 rather than on 1. You can hear the machine go up a rev. When I put it down to its minimum setting on 1 and then turn the wire speed knob which I presume is a rheostat, the speed hardly reduces. I am not sure if ever I have tried it, but was presuming that I could reduce to the wore speed to the point that it was only just moving and then increase to what I wanted. If this is not normal, then the unit is OK, but if I should be able to reduce wire speed down to almost just moving, then the knob is not working well enough, despite squirting some electrical cleaner in there and giving it a few turns.

Any comments appreciated. Its a Clarke 130TE

Cheers

Andrew

[Ian Durrant]

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My Clarke (90 EN) adjusts the wire speed according to the power setting, with the rheostat being meant for just fine wire speed control, though I find on the lower power settings it has more effect than on the high which may be the same as you are experiencing?

[Andrew S]

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Thanks very much Ian for this. The speed does slow down on the lowest settings but if its only a slight change when turning the speed knob and you can hear the machine change pitch, then as you say, its just fine adjusting. So, it just proves its me and since doing the refurb on the welder, the wore is smoother and may have been dragging. I blew the liner out with the airline and was amazed as to how much dust came out from both ends.

Thank for that and I wish you a Healthy and Prosperous New Year

Andrew

[charliebridger]

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dont buy the clarke gas bottles from machine mart they dont reseal properly used a bit one day two days later empty the sealey ones stay sealed for months use a bit here and there no probs

[nitronig]

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i have a gas less mig welder and they are good if you know how to use them . i found that doing lots of spot welds works well. but to be honest i just use it to tack the metal in place then i fill in with oxy/acetylene.