It seems I've finally done it. My poor old second hand £50 pound Cebora welder has given up the ghost. The chassis is almost complete - but not quite (

So.......... Machine mart have a VAT free day on Sunday. What welder would you get?

Its got to run on a normal domestic supply so i think 150 amp will be blowing fuses (the garage only has one supply that covers lights and sockets)

I have a 140A that runs fine on domestic 13A. In fact it runs off the same circuit as a 300W lamp at the same time, and I run it at full whack so that's 1 point something amps gone.

ah, but i run 3 fluroessent lights, 1 60w spot light and the radio all off the same supply ............ along with the welder

I was thinking i should figure out what that lots drawing but have never got round to it.......... in fact i bought a special plug that measured current so i would know, perhaps i should try it

thanks for the info tho, found out that 130amp equates to 2.2kw (ish)

why not run the lights off a separate extenison lead from a house socket? Or, run a 45 amp 6mm lead out to the garage, and install a second consumer unit in the garage? no more worries about power.

always confuses me how the amp rating of a welder works. 130 amps should be 30kw. (P=VA) is it a transformer or something? ive asked this before but i forgot...

i'm fortunate enough to have a house made just before they changed the rules and regulations on house building in 1988ish. I've only got one ring main running around the house and an 80amp supply into the house - so i'm loath to run anything extra to anywhere else!!!

Anyway, turns out i've got 3 strip lights doing 40w each, a 40w light and 4w from the radio ...... So i'm going to get two more strip lights installed (light, glorious light) and ....... a new welder....

The question is whats the difference between the two Clarke ranges they have and the gassless? I'd have thought gassless was just a different tip and wire, am i right?

Oh, welders have a transformer, they run somewhere between 18 and 30 volts.

As long as you keep thinking about gasless, and keep it at that!

I don't want gassless, just the option. If i'm going to have to splash out on a new welder i want the most sizzle for my pound (well bang for my buck just didn't sound right)

Well after speaking to both Machine mart staff, friends and Carke themselves i've found that there is absolutely no difference (apart from 10 pounds) between the clarke 150te and the 151te. With it being VAT free today at machine mart ..... i got the cheaper!

WooYeah - at power level 5 (of 6) its pulling 14amps (13 amp fuse working ok) its great, soooo much better than the cebora! Just need to sort out the attachment to my big gas bottle.

A friend of mine has one of those and it performs well. I read somewhere that the red ones have a heavier copper wound transformer to improve the duty cycle. It shouldn't make a lot of difference as you will not be pushing it to anywhere near its limit welding locost stuff.

Interesting, i phoned up Clarke UK and they said thats not true. They checked and the duty cycles are the same. The difference is simply the case! The blue is the 'old' model and the red the 'new' model.

Peteff, you're nearly right but not quite.....it's the 150 TE (red one or blue one) that has the heavier copper wound transformer, which is why it's better than the 130 or whatever the next smaller one is.

I used a 150 TE for several years at home, building roll cages etc with it, but also had the bonus of fabricating with a very big "Rowan Arc" 500 amp (I think it was) at work, and loved the way the big machine was so much smoother etc. I realised that 3 phase helps a lot, being that little bit nearer DC (which is really smooth) but it made me sell my 150 TE in the end and buy a big MIG (230 amp, the biggest that will sensibly run on single phase) and it is the best thing I have bought for the workshop so far.

It was £400 very very well spent. It has the replaceable "Euro Torch" type fitting, and the torch is smaller than the clarke hobby one, but takes the bigger Euro tips. The controls are super smooth and the welder never seems to get "stuck between settings" like the Clarke used to on thin steel (circa 0.8 - 1.0mm)

Clarke 150te is a bargain, but get an ERP 230 mig from Weld-UK ltd and you won't look back!!!

tish, you're at it again - i had to put up with an hour of this last week ......... well it was my fault, i did ask

have to say i love the welder, it isn't as good as NS_Devs big boy but its 100% better than my old welder..... should have done this years ago!

Ok!

No, seriously, there's nowt wrong with the Clarke 150 TE, for the money I don't think there's better really (and it's cheaper now than when I bought mine a few years ago!)

I just need to justify the TIG set to myself now

The TIG set ........... oooh, i can help justify that for you

Just think how many fuel tanks you could make for people, then there is the welding air intakes onto bonnet with no distortion, and then theres .........

go on, you know you want to