Hi there

[highlander1v]

Hi there,

Thought i would come on and introduce myself after lurking around for a while and picking up some great tips!
I'm Garry and i have decided to try my hand at welding, partly as a hobby and partly because i have a mk5 transit
I have just bought this helmet and now i'm trying to figure out which welder to buy, i will be doing some bodywork on the transit no doubt but also want to make stuff like gas bottle barbecue's and stove's, any recommendations welcome! budget around £300 or so depending on whether Machine Mart give me a VAT free voucher or not.
I have been considering a Clarke 151te among others.
Another thing i will probably need help with is where to get a bottle and gas from, i think i should probably start a thread for all these questions, sorry about the long intro!
Seems like a great site though!

Cheers Garry.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Welcome to the forum:

The Clarke will do you fine for your plans, if you were making a lot of the heavier stuff I would suggest more power but for the occasional project it will manage well.

MM VAT frees are usually going on here, the members that don't want them pass them to the members that do.

Although for after sales and customer satisfaction I would suggest this..

http://www.weldequip.com/clarke-160tm.htm

Comes with a good quality regulator of your choice to suit the gas you intend to use, so there is about £30+ savings on that alone.

 

[highlander1v]

which one?

Is the 160 en better than the the 151te as most seem to say the 151te is better?
I know the 160 has a better regulator but i would be willing to pay the extra £20 for a proper regulator if the 151 is better, plus i want to make my own cart for the unit and bottle anyway so not so fussed about the 160's bottle carrier, i just want the best unit for around the £300 mark!

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

Someone told me that the 151 has an aluminium wound transformers and the 160 is copper, Meand better duty cycle

 

[shenion]

The 151 is set up for disposables. You would need to add a regulator for refillables.

The 160en comes all set up and has a shelf to hold the bottle. The EN model can do gas and gasless, TE is gas only.

Internally, they are about the same. If you read the specs, the duty cycles on the 151 and 160 are identical.