21 replies to this topic

[mike.]

I've been wanting to learn to weld for ages now, but whenever my cars needed welding, i've managed to get very reasonable quotes which didn't make it worth buying a welder and having a go myself.

I've tried welding before but it was when I knew nothing about welding and I borrowed my dads mates welder which he'd not used in years and was generally in bad shape. It had a little or no gas in the bottle, the wire was rusty/tatty and I didn't have a clue about wire speed and power settings. So I gave up straight away pretty much.

Now I need some more welding doing on my shock absorber mounts, but trying to find a mobile welder is a pain, and because my cars outside, the welders are reluctant as they say wind can blow gas off the welder.

So now i'm considering once again, trying to learn how to weld. I've been pricing up welders and they're pretty pricey considering I might just fail at welding and never use it. So i'm thinking of buying this old welder off my dads mate, replacing a few bits on it and having a proper go at learning. Then if I am bad at it and decide against it, i've not wasted too much.

The welder is a clarke 100E, so from what i've read should be up to the job of 2mm steel - So fine for a mini.



The bits i'm more bothered about is the wire feed. Looks a bit worse for wear to me:



I can't imagine that'd be good to learn with!

But what do people reckon? Could I replace the wire liner/feed and put new wire and gas with it and give it a go?

All I'm thinking is, if I can get this welder fairly cheap and spend £50 on parts for it and £50 on a half decent helmet - I'll be better off for learning.

[Yoda]

clean up the wire feed mechanism, replace the rusty wire and add new gas, and personally i would replace the gun assembly completely. then it will be like a new machine and well within your budget.

[Yoda]

double post

Edited by customcart, 10 January 2011 - 06:11 PM.

[MrSporty]

Just as customcart said. I picked up a Clarke 105 Turbo for next to nothing and it was in a similar condition.

A new liner and a quick once over and its been great. It comes in sooooo handy knowing you can just tack things up when needed.

[DAVEY_C]

your on the right track... you will certainly need a new liner because rusty wire destroys liners so wire will also be needed, after that as you said a bottle of gas aand give the wirefeed wheels a lick of a wire brush to clean them because they need to be rust and oil free. when fitting the new liner make sure it is as close as possible without fouling these wheels because otherwise your wire will just get knotted up there.... check the gas line to make sure its not cracked or leaking from age or it will need replacing too but you might be best to do it anyway to be safe, both are 4mmo/d...

[DAVEY_C]

here's a 30m coil of suitable liner hose that is suitable for both wire and gas for £10 or you could pay aprox £2 for a 3-4m lenght on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.ie/w...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[mike.]

Cheers guys.

So are these bits cheap to replace? I know how much the wire is and things but where do you buy liner or other spares from apart from direct from clarke?

How much do you think it would cost me to give that welder abit of a refurb with new bits?

[DAVEY_C]

http://business.shop...d=p3286.c0.m282

for alot of spares you will have to go direct to clarke because they are the only distributor but you shouldn't need anymore than the essentials mentioned unless replacing a broken part (welders are usualy prity reliable unless abused).... you will also need spare tips and spare shrouds handy which are usualy the same amoungst hobby welders.

[ibrooks]

The feed mechanism looks OK to me (OK it's a blurry picture but it just looks mucky/dusty). The bottom wheel is motor driven so if it spins smoothly when the torch is triggered it should be fine. The upper wheel is just a bearing so swing it away and see if you can spin it with your thumb (again smoothly).

Has it got a plastic or metal liner? If it's a plastic one then unless it's been stored with rusty wire in it then it should be fine. It's generally UV that kills plastics and inside the torch lead is nice and dark. Gas tube - check and change if necessary.

My course of action would be to give it a once over and only replace something if it visibly needs it. Then try it (or in your case maybe get an experienced welder to try it) to see if it's working OK. If it's good then learn with it and at that point maybe start spending money on it for longevity. If you don't get someone who can already weld to try it then you might not be sure if any problems are with the welder or your technique.

Iain

[mike.]

Ok, so I can get most parts off ebay and nothing apart from maybe whole spare parts like a new trigger assembly are specific to the welder?

I was reading here, that you should use a steel liner over PVC, thats why I was saying about replacing the liner: Link

Edited by mike., 10 January 2011 - 07:20 PM.

[mike.]

Also another thing is gas. Are the small bottles of gas worth considering for learning? Bottles like this: Link

How long do they last?

[mattista]

could posibly work out cheeper buying a bigger bottle if you planning welding again in the future. but if your only practising welding and welding your shock obsorber mounts then it might work out chheper buying 2 of those little ones.

when we used them they lasted about 10-15 minutes :L

Edited by mattista, 10 January 2011 - 07:40 PM.

[DAVEY_C]

the steel liners are not for that welder because it doesn't have a euro tourch, as for gas, the small bottles i'd say would be fine to learn with as the will last you longer than 10-15 mins im sure. if you are happy and confident enough to proceed at welding your car then a large bottle would be good otherwise starting with a big bottle would make moving it arkward and could be money wasted if you don't proceed imo...

[mini670]

With some TLC, that could become a great little welder.

I was in the same boat as you, my Dads mate had a Clarke 90 welder that didn`t work. After some playing with it, I had it up and running (someone had messed the wiring up inside, and there was a dry joint on the circuit board). At first I struggled like crazy, but after fitting a new coiled steel liner, tip, and insulating, it made a world of difference and my welds started to look sort of acceptable.

Parts for Clarke welders are available from Machine Mart, that`s where I got all my bits mentioned above. CLICKY. The coiled liner is # 010140118, there is also a teflon type, but its twice as much £££. Get a new reel of wire also, puttign that rusty stuff through a new liner will knacker it back up.

What I would strongly suggest is that if you are doing a lot of welding, think about getting a contract bottle and gas. I used the disposable bottles from machine mart, which ended up costing me a small fortune (12+ bottles @ 12quid a pop)

I got so close to finishing my project, then it packed up on me. A bit of messing around with the multimeter pointed to a faulty board transformer. Luckily my mate is in the stair lift business, and had an old obsolete 24v transformer that dropped straight in.

Edited by mini670, 10 January 2011 - 08:28 PM.

[mike.]

Well i've got about 24" of seam welding to do and probably around 40 plug welds to do.

Whats the deal with renting gas bottles? Did you pay the full amount upfront and keep the bottle or pay as you use it?