24 replies to this topic

[BMH]

I have a clarke something or other mig welder, and it can be used with either gas or no gas, to change you just change the polarity (swap the leads for earth clamp and torch on the front of the unit) and add a regulator on the back. The good thing about gasless is you can do it in wind. Personally my who project is gonna have to be done out-side as there is no room in my garage, hence being able to weld in wind is a big advantage.

Yes the weld is abit more messy with gassless - but that doesnt mean it doesnt clean up. You have to clean most welds up anyway, so whats the difference?

I have a clarke 100e that i have had for about 16 years, i use the 5kg reels of 0.8 and a pub sized bottle of co2 which i get from my local pub suppliers for £9.98 with the vat, a gauge should be about £15-20 and the co2 gauge will also fit a fire extinguisher but not a argon bottle.
I use my welder very regularly (i welded 2 transit vans for mot last month and am on with another allready this month) and i probably go through a couple of bottles of gas a year, but i do have a habit of leaving the gas on.

Hope this helps Bryan

[Burnard]

Right, so where can you get these pub sized bottles, and how much do they cost?

and also how does the system work, do you own the bottle and have it filled up, or something else?

[BMH]

Right, so where can you get these pub sized bottles, and how much do they cost?

and also how does the system work, do you own the bottle and have it filled up, or something else?

Hi there burnard, i can't remember where i got my original bottle from bottle from but when i started using the pub supplier i took my bottle to exchange and as it was different to their's they gave me the bottle, no deposit or paperwork, nothing, now i just go exchange empty for full for £10.
I suppose i don't own the bottle but i don't have any rental charges.
Have a look in the yellow pages for pub / drinks suppliers or try your local pub landlord, empty bottles do come up for sale round here and are normally no more than £10, you could also try a site called freecycle.com.

Hope this helps Bryan

[Burnard]

Are you talking about Argon/CO2 bottles or just CO2 bottles?

I will talk to my local pub landlord next time i am in there, and also see if i can find a supplyer locally. Would it be worth asking at a garrage or auto factors to see if they can give me any information about supplyers?



Thanks,


Chris

[Ethel]

I've never tried argon in my lager, is it like lime

You'll want 100% CO2.

Anyone else using pub gas? I thought it was always hit 'n miss getting cylinders filled - understandable, I'd be nervous about stuffing 100+ bar into a bottle I don't know the history of too. I see my local supplier has a welding regulator listed among all the cellar hardware so may be I'll give them a call.

[Burnard]

I've never tried argon in my lager, is it like lime

You'll want 100% CO2.

Anyone else using pub gas? I thought it was always hit 'n miss getting cylinders filled - understandable, I'd be nervous about stuffing 100+ bar into a bottle I don't know the history of too. I see my local supplier has a welding regulator listed among all the cellar hardware so may be I'll give them a call.

lol, its more of an appley flavour
i honestly have no idea how a pub works, if coke comes out the tap, im happy

right, ill see if i have any local supplyers, and how much it will cost.


Cheers


Chris

[BMH]

Anyone else using pub gas? I thought it was always hit 'n miss getting cylinders filled

I can walk in to the supplier and get a full bottle for my empty and £10, i would assume they send all there empties to somewhere like boc for refilling. I will be there in the morning as i need another bottle, i'll get the name and put it up and you can see if they have a branch near you.

Bryan

[robtheplod]

had a similar supply problem so spoke with a steel fabrication company up the road from me who happended to be an 'Air Products' stockist - now have a bl**dy big bottle of argon/co2 (cougar) mix which is chest height for £7 a month and about £45 to fill it up (which wont be that often!)

worth asking around garages/stockists etc...

Edited by robtheplod, 04 May 2009 - 05:26 PM.

[Ethel]

There's Adams gas, info on the mig welding forum. It wouldn't surprise me if beer dispensing gas was easier for the casual user. Apart from all the pubs, there's small hotels, clubs and events caterers who must use gas at a very slow or adhoc rate.

[Burnard]

Finally made a desicion and went for it, so we bought a MIG130EN Turbo from machine-mart today.
It comes as a no-gas welder, but has everything you need appart from a regulator to convert it to use gas wire, which we thought was great.

Unpacked and Built it up, very pleased with it, better quality than i was expecting. Going to try it out on saturday, cant wait


Thanks for all your help guys


Chris