Welder

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jonny mac

jonny mac

Active Member
Posts
240
Location
north wales
Ive seen a local ad for a 130 amp clarke turbo mig welder, i currently dont weld. Is this as good as any to learn with. Also are there any restrictions with the ampage as to what i can weld? ie. on a disco 1 is there any metal too thick to weld with a 130a mig? Taking in to account i may end up replacing sills with 3mm box section.
 
I use a 195 amp welder (put out about 160 amp max I think) but for welding disco bodywork id be looking at usually using it on lowest power setting anyway which is about 50 amp apparently. For chassis etc I usually use power level 2, only ever used max power level 4 when testing welding 2 brake discs together :D
 
Wire thickness makes a hell of a difference in mig welders effectiveness.I have a couple of MIGs, one being a clarke 120 of some vintage pre "turbo" ,ie,they put a fan on it to up the duty cycle. One of the main problems with MIGS and vehicle work is getting the power setting LOW enough that you dont burn away or through what you intend to repair.The large sealey welder is all but useless on panel work with 0.8 wire but fine with 0.6. The clarke is a handy "chuck it in the back of the truck" welder and is versatile enough.....with practice and various wire grades. For costs sake you will want to be using bigger gas bottles than the disposables and avoiding flux "no gas" wire for bodywork as it burns considerably hotter than regular. That and health reasons,BOC have stopped selling it for just that.Speaking of BOC,theres no need to go to the big 2 for gas nowadays,look on the net,there are plenty of independent gas places around the country who will help you out.

The best advice I can give is to look at .....

MIG Welding Tutorial, Techniques and Practical

and read the tutorials,ask questions and even buy stuff off them,they wont see you wrong.
 
thanks for all the advice lads, and shocker thats a belting link for welding mate, thanks for that. just picked it up tonight, 150 notes it cost me, looks pretty much new, with a big reel of 0.6 wire and bit of co2 left in a disposable, im chuffed with it. gonna badger me local landlord for a big cannister now :D also need to sort out welding mask, think im gonna get one from machine mart anyone got one from there? any good??
 
I am new to welding and the best thing I did was buy a light reactive mask - superb - I can now weld ok because I can see where I am putting the mig nozzle - well worth the cost.

I bought an Aldi one a year ago a Powercraft 130 amp -done loadsa jobs with it and was cheap - great for home use. Uses fluxed wire or gas.
 
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what does it cost to rent the bottle tho matthew? i wont be welding often, only repairs to the bus. i can buy argo/co2 from halfords disposable but its like £16 and ive heard it dont last for ****
 
Pester your landlord for an old beer gas bottle and then get it filled at your local agent with argoshield. Costs me 12 quid for a fill I think.

I got a beer gas bottle off the boc agent over the road, said it was one he "acquired" a while back. Not the biggest but does me fine, bought it for 20 quid.

Nice :)
 
Mr Noisy said:
Pester your landlord for an old beer gas bottle and then get it filled at your local agent with argoshield. Costs me 12 quid for a fill I think.

I got a beer gas bottle off the boc agent over the road, said it was one he "acquired" a while back. Not the biggest but does me fine, bought it for 20 quid.

Nice :)
Click to expand...

Nobody in their right mind should fill a co2 bottle with anything other than co2 :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I don't have my boc paperwork with me at the moment but I know a years rental with a fill for a half size cylinder was under £140. I use a lot of gas though :blabla:
 
Oh and boc will only fill their own bottles that you rent from them.

co2 has a male thread on the cylinder, argon and mix has a female thread on the cylinder.
 
I should perhaps add that we are mates with the boc agent so they are not arsed about what bottle the gas goes into, but I'm curious about why you say I shouldn't have argoshield in the beer gas bottle...!
 
I read online that co2 bottles are usually filled to 800psi, my pressure gauge reads around 1300 psi when I have a fresh fill. That could be interesting!

However it's been sat around, full/half full/nearly empty for about 6 months so I'm happy it's not going to get itself into a skirmish any time soon.
 
Mr Noisy said:
I read online that co2 bottles are usually filled to 800psi, my pressure gauge reads around 1300 psi when I have a fresh fill. That could be interesting!

However it's been sat around, full/half full/nearly empty for about 6 months so I'm happy it's not going to get itself into a skirmish any time soon.
Click to expand...

You've answered your own question there. Also regulators are different. Get the HSE round and they'll tell you all about it ;)

Whoever is found to have filled the bottle would be sacked on the spot not just through company policy but quite possibly a law somewhere in the uk's or eu's book :rolleyes: Also if he cylinder colour and label is different then that is another law contravened :p

Have you ever seen 230 bar of cylinder go off? It'll quite happily shove itself through a industrial unit wall :eek: :eek: :eek:

Your "mate" doesn't work at the one in Ellesmere Port does he? Was in there quite a lot up until 6 weeks ago; been doing a job near there. And I wouldn't call someone handing me a bomb my mate ;)
 
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Yeah I know what happens when cylinders go pop.

Anyway thanks for the info. I'll scrub up the cylinder and see what it was pressure tested to. Luckily I'm doing quite a bit of welding at the moment so the pressure will be down to a safe level in no time.

And yeah I see your point. I'm not going to do anything about it tbh but thanks for the info. Dare I say the lads who sorted me the bottle are happy it's safe, in fairness the guy who gave it to me has been in the game longer than I can remember. It wasn't a place in ellesmere port though.

I'll keep the bottle lying down against a wall though in future so it doesn't get chance to get any momentum up!

Cheers.
 
Sorry to drag an oldish thread up, but incase anyones interested i got a bottle of cougar 5 (equivalent to bocs argoshield) from beer gas wales yesterday. £50 deposit which i have 18 months to collect or refill, then £32 +vat for the gas. No rental charge, but £5.50 delivery, theyre based in wrexham so was a bargain for me. Just gotta remember to turn the gas on before i start welding now as i found out today, whoops.
 
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