Which machine mart/Clarke welder?

I'm going to buy a welder. Probably from Machine Mart, as it's close to me and I like to see stuff before I buy. This is their range...

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/diy-mig-welders/

These are the last few welding jobs I've had to pay someone to do or will be doing myself soon

-Weld a gate bracket together
-Repair a failed factory weld on a garden tractor front axle
-Weld repair patches in a 110 bulkhead
-Weld repair sections into a 110SW rear cill under the doors
-Cutter deck repairs on a ride-on mower
-Repair a snapped 110 drovir's seat frame back
-Weld a Disco 200 air filter mount onto a 110 chassis
-Repair a small hole in a Porsche Boxster back box

So it's not massive stuff, and it will be occasional home/hobby use. However it makes sense to buy one as it will probably pay for itself over the next few years. I guess it makes sense to get one that will weld a Land Rover chassis but that should over it.

Any recommendations for a bit of a newbie? These "No Gas" systems look quite good, however are they not the real deal? What about the 145 gas/no gas?

Any thoughts appreciated...thanks.

I would not recommend getting a No Gas one. You can get a small cylinder from BOC that costs £20 a year to rent , it is what I use, the small throwaway cylinders are a waste of space.

There is a very good welding forum , that has a lot of very good info on it. You may find the website f you do a search on here as it has been discussed.

Cheers

I've got a clark 135te. Does the job fine, could maybe do with being a bit more powerful, but should cover your list above

I had a Clarke 150 mig and all I can say is it's probably the biggest waste of money ever in fact it is
the welds are that bad out of that machine I ended up paying for a 12 week course to get coded for lap overlay vertical up and down horizontal at a local college they use lincoln and millers first day we got to play with the machines and wow what a difference I could actually weld quite well lecturer thought I had been doing it for a while

couldn't replicate it at home no end took the crap welder into the night course lecturer had no joy and it was deemed broken got it replaced no better so i saved up and bought a recommended brand by the college

I now have a sealey supermig 200 it was £500 but its a very good machine its supposed to be run on a 16amp blue plug but i use a 13amp domestic and its fine never used it maxed out tho

the Clarke welds but its not pretty because the wire feed system is stupid and doesn't work consistently i wouldn't say the welds are even strong as they are all over the place to hot to cold etc

cheers
Boab

I had a cheap sip welder. I spent more time trying to get it to work than using it.

Made sure I got a eurotorch next time. And a real gas cylinder.

Ended up with a portamig 215, and box y size.


Machine cost me, I think, 450, used, but you wouldn't have known...

If I were to buy again, I'd probably go for a rtech. Not because the portamig is bad, but just that its so heavy, and awkward to drag out to the motor. For workshop, or actual garage use, it would be nice, but moving it about is just a chore.

For the bigger stuff ie gate and axle get yourself a stick welder for thinner stuff a mig.
Got a Clarke mig myself and as said the wire feed is a pain in the arse but after loooots of messing I got it sorted also fitted a fan out of a sun bed into the case next to the transformer to extend the duty cycle.
The other problem with Clarke stuff is the spare parts availability, wire feed went nuts on mine they wanted almost as much for the pcb as a new welder, so I took a dimmer switch apart and used the transistor from that for free instead.
Personally I'd look for a good make secondhand one instead.

We bought a secondhand Oerlikon MIG welder, 250A. Takes any size gas bottle up to full size and also takes 15kg reels of wire which are cheap compared with the small 1kg reels.

We rent a full-size bottle from our metalwork suppliers, but we also have a rent-free bottle for our TIG welder from Air Liquide: http://www.albeegascylinders.com

We've done a lot of work with the MIG welder, and although it was initially more than a small one to buy, it has been 100% reliable and the wire feed works, that's one of the things you find with the smaller machines, lousy wire feed and poor welds.

Have a look at this thread to see some of the work it was used for:

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/sankey-widetrack-camper-conversion.284492/

Peter

I have an R-Tech DC inverter ARC pro135 and its ace. Much better than the draper DC I used before. It's small and light and easy to use. Fits in a carry case with the leads and a box of rods

Thanks guys.

TBH I'm wary of buying second hand as I know very little about welders and might not spot faults or issues. As the above list of welds probably spans a 2 year period, I really don't want to spend that much. It really won't get used much at all.

Interestingly on that welding forum linked above there seems to be quite a lot of love for Clarke welders! I'll probably toddle along to MM and have a look, and quiz the sales guy on some of the feedback here.

Good feedback on the gas though...I'll certainly rule out a "no gas" or "little bottle" system.

Will report back!

How about this one best of both worlds or not!..................

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/010110125/

A couple of things you need to ask yourself is:

How much are you going to want to use it in one quick go.
Look at duty cycle.

Also , are you going to run it in a 13A supply.

Also , it may be preferable for it to be fitted with a Eurotorch, and that spares are easily available for the shroud and tip.

Cheers

I would not give MM a brown penny of my money. The stuff they sell is the cheapest of the cheap. Try taking something back if it breaks!!!! You will have to jump through a hundred hoops to get it fixed or replaced.

meego said:

I would not give MM a brown penny of my money. The stuff they sell is the cheapest of the cheap. Try taking something back if it breaks!!!! You will have to jump through a hundred hoops to get it fixed or replaced.

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Cant speak for their welders but bought a trolley jack from them which didn't work straight out the box, they took it back no problem at all

biggeeeee said:

Cant speak for their welders but bought a trolley jack from them which didn't work straight out the box, they took it back no problem at all

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maybe that's their procedure. Sell it and see if it comes back !!!
I got a set of pullers and an oil filled Radiator. Both were junk. Had to drive in and out of Glasgow 3 times to get a resolution. Amazon, Gumtree and ebay for me

I've got a Clarke 135te and never had any issues with it, it ( and the user! ) actually produces quite acceptable welds.
I lent it to a friend, who happens to fabricate multi-thousand £ sundials for a day job, as it was easier enough to sling on the passenger seat. He used it to do a small job at home and he gave the machine the big thumbs up! And I don't think he was just trying to be polite!

MIG as a process relies totally on consistent wire feed. and the thing with low end MIG welding machines is that they are often too cheap to have a wire feed setup worth a light.

IMHO, save up for a proper machine, not an MM "special". The other advantage of this is, in the unlikely event of it breaking, that it is repairable, whereas the MM ones are not.

I'd also agree on the Eurotorch - and, ... IMHO do NOT buy a machine without one - it indicates the lowest of the low

bluedog333 said:

I've got a Clarke 135te and never had any issues with it, it ( and the user! ) actually produces quite acceptable welds.
I lent it to a friend, who happens to fabricate multi-thousand £ sundials for a day job, as it was easier enough to sling on the passenger seat. He used it to do a small job at home and he gave the machine the big thumbs up! And I don't think he was just trying to be polite!

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Have to say I have the same model and agree 100% with your comments. Great bit of kit, I have a modified the gas pipe and have a hobbyweld bottle attached.
Take 5kg drums of wire and has been reliable for me.

Thanks guys. I too ended up with a 135TE. Seems to get good reviews pretty much everywhere and I think it will be fine for my needs. Now the tricky bit..learning how to use it.

As they used to say on Top Gear..."how hard can it be?"

I'm on my second Clarke welder (in 25 years). If you read through the mig welding forum, the Clarke Italian made blue box welders are quite well regarded for home/light use. (The Chinese built red box welders are not quite so well regarded)
Don't bother with "no-gas" it has it's uses but gas is more satisfactory, there are lots of gas supply options, the worst of which is the small disposal bottles, I'm happy using a pub CO2 bottle although Argon mix gives cleaner, better looking welds.
If you've got £500+ to spend buy something better if you have £200+ to spend the Clarke range is a good option, much better than no name stuff from ebay.
If you want to weld your Land Rover chassis you will need a 150 amp machine, you can get away with less with good weld prep and technique but having more power makes things easier..