Hi folks

Anyone ever used one of these ?

Clarke 190 Ten Turbo 180amp Arc Welder & tools & rods

I'm going to try arc welding as my experiences with MIG have been plagued with wire feed problems, and I'm sick of paying hire charges for Oxygen bottles for my gas welding set

Haven't used a stick welder since my college days some 25 years ago. My experiences then weren't great, lots of stuck rods and bird poo welding.

I have a - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/151te-turbo-mig-welder/

I bought a medium sized gas bottle from my local welding supplier to avoid rental charges. Now it's a charge per refill and that's it.

For me gas MIG works well. I find it easy to use and the weld quality improves with practice.

I had something similar that I bought from Screwfix.

Note the on/off switch at the top left corner.

You fit either a single phase plug OR a three phase plug and position the stop screw underneath to the left or right.

Plugged into 3ph you can get the max setting but on 1ph it will be less.



As far as buzz boxes go mine was fine, and fan cooled made a difference. I did about £5k worth of railings with mine.
However, you will never better the smoothness of an inverter as far as arc characteristics are concerned, and if your
a beginner you won't find it easy to use.

My honest advise would be to buy a QUALITY MIG that is a recognised professional make. It will be easy to use,
reliable, and hold it's value should you ever wish to sell it.


(I'm an apprenticed pro welder with 45years experience.)

HTH
Paul G

I have that exact arc welder - its alright, I've built a fair few things with it well and bodged a few things with it too.



Think carefully about what you are welding, the buzz box welder are good on heavier gauge steel, but can easily blow holes on thin stuff.

Slag is a problem with arc welding, and can produce a poor weld if care isn't taken.

The rest of the normal welding stuff applies about careful setup and surface prep.

Do buy some decent Murex rods or similar, really helps - and keep them dry! I have a set from years ago, and in terms of consumables it's a lot better than a mig, but it isn't as capable on automotive stuff.

One further item I bought, which I find helps is a helmet with a reactive lens. You can see your work and start position then it darkens immediately when the welding starts. 907 may be able to comment further on this!

if you are struggling a mig then stick is going to drive you nuts. Personally I've found their just awful unless you are welding a ship or oil rig etc. Virtually unusable for cars and very messy slag to deal with, I have one and its only useful purpose I've found is to use it as a panel cutting lance!

It's also very good at blowing 13 amp fuses.

[Edited on 10/11/16 by Mr Whippy]

plagued with wire feed problems

Have you tried a steel liner? My 1st cheap Clarke was hopeless, my replacement SIP was equally bad until I changed it to a steel liner. I don't have wire feed problems any more

I have an equivalent (or even bigger/better) SIP fan cooled device that I've used for 20 odd years.
It's absolutely fantastic - it'll weld continuously, in wind, in the cold, weld quality is clean, good penetration on substantial steel. Ensure that that rods are dry and you'll really enjoy using the thing.
With 4mm rods you will have to circumvent the 13A fuse.

Don't even think about using it for bodywork though... disaster... for that I'll get the MIG or TIG out, period.

quote:

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Originally posted by JeffHs
plagued with wire feed problems

Have you tried a steel liner? My 1st cheap Clarke was hopeless, my replacement SIP was equally bad until I changed it to a steel liner. I don't have wire feed problems any more

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To be honest if you are after a stick welder and don't need it to be portable buy an old Oxford oil cooled one, nothing beats them but they weigh a ton.
OXFORD BANTAM 180 AMP OIL COOLED ELECTRIC ARC WELDER 240V SINGLE PHASE
They often change hands for under £100, many are single and three phase.
I was given mine as the old chap was giving up and didn't want to throw it away, it wasn't working took 30 mins to fix and cost about £1
Before you give up with MIG
Look at the tutorials here
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk
Then ask on the forum possibly some one local will pop around and help out, Migs are excellent but the skill is in setting them up.

Thanks for all of the tips and advice guys

My main problem with MIG was wire feeding, which resulted in welding up the tip. I looked at the forum, followed all the advice, swapped the liner for a new one and still had the same problem. It was only a secondhand clarke MIG (probably my first mistake), so I decided to cut my losses, and try something else. so after all of your advice, I've decided to go back to gas, and reduce the hire charges by going to HobbyWeld (recommended by some of the guys on the Transit forum) for my Oxygen.

I know I can weld with gas, and I'll be using all my existing kit, so it should be fine

Will give that a try and see how it goes rental wise..............we'll see

have you looked at 1 of these-
stick AND sratch start tig

PARWELD XTI 160 DC MMA INVERTER 240V METAL ARC WELDER WITH LIFT TIG

Hmmm, nice....

There is a vast difference between SCRATCH START and LIFT START


Be sure you know what you are buying.


Paul G