I just bought a Clarke 180EN off ebay. Was looking for the most bang for the buck out there and this machine seemed to fit the bill for what I was looking for. I used to have an older Lincoln SP-125plus and I loved that machine, but it was a little bit weak on power. This time I wanted to step up to a 220v machine with more *****. I'll be using this as a MIG, not flux core.

A few specs:
-220 volt single phase
-30-180amp output
-6 heat settings
-0-700 IPM wire speed
-Flux Core / MIG capable
-.023 - .035 Wire Size

From the research I've done, it appears to be a middle of the road machine. Not quite up to par with Lincoln or Miller's, but not a ultra-cheap brand either.

If you've used one, or have any experience with them at all, please comment. I'm curious to see if this machine will live up to my expectations.

Thanks,
Mike

 

I have the Clarke 135EN. It's the first machine and first time I've ever welded. I LOVE IT!
I can't penetrate much more than 1/8th steel but it does the job for anything I'll ever need it for. I found mine at SUMMITRACING when they were having the 20-percent off Tools sale. It was like $360 total.

This is T304 Stainless
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Those are real decent looking welds for stainless. I tried welding some stainless with my old Lincoln MIG, and it was very difficult. Have you tried welding mild steel with it at all? What gas mix did you use for the stainless?

I picked up this machine brand new for 408.00/shipped and it comes with a gas regulator. I didn't think that was a bad price considering it's 180amp and should be capable of 5/16" penetration on mild steel. Just hoping that it'll lay down some decent welds.

I used my friends Miller MIG to weld in the LCA relocation brackets on the 9" and that thing is a dream to weld with. This ia after I had it powdercoated, but you can see that Miller almost did the welding by itself lol...







Mike

 

That looks really good. The price you got it for is outstanding too.
I've welded mild steel but I find that stainless is Much easier for some reason. The arc stays nice and smooth right from the start.

Someday I'll get a stronger brand name setup.

I'm using the 75-25 argon C02 mix for both Mild and Stainless.

 

I just upgraded my welder.

Had a Millermatic 135. Been using the MM 135 for the last five or so years. Used several brand welders prior to that.

Finally had to upgrade again because of the cage work we do.

I bought a Millermatic 212. What a fine piece of equipment it is. Between discounts, rebates and being on sale, I got it delivered for a just a tick over $1K

 

I have a 220 volt unit...it is ok work for the little welding I do at home. And is best with soild wire not flux core, use 90/10 Argon co2 mix for best look. For S.S. use tri mix...which is Argon,co2,Helium. Use this mix when wire welding. If use tig straight Argon. Did you know you can weld Alummin with it also with straight Argon.

 

Does that one have digital readouts for the wire speed and amps? If so, that's the same machine I used to weld the lca's in the pics above. That thing is a VERY nice machine, but even at that price it's still too rich my my blood lol.... If I did production type welding, I'd step up to a Miller or Lincoln though.

Mike

 

I thought the price was good too, and since I was on a pretty tight budget, I think I got the best new machine I could for around 400.00.

Yes, argon/c02 is what I was using before also for stainless. Seems to be a very good mix for general/mixed use. I'm going to buy a bottle of argon/CO2 mix tomorrow so I'll be ready to go when it gets here.

Mike

 

Nice to hear some decent feedback for this machine. I thought you needed a spool gun to weld aluminum with a MIG. ?

Mike

 

No, its still has variable dials for wire speed and voltage.

It has an Autoset feature where you select the thickness metal (voltage) and put the wire speed in Auto and just weld away. It automatically adjusts for travel speed, distance from the work, etc.

I can see it being very handy for cage work, specifically floor plate installation where 1/8" plate is being welded to a 16g floor pan.

In looking at the Hobart I had, the 135 and now the 240, the biggest difference I see is in duty cycle and the wire feed.

The Hobart uses nylon/plastic parts to guide and drive the wire. Its a consumable that will have to be changed periodically.

The 135, had steel rollers fit over shafts with a drive pin. Less wear, but the alignment wasn't perfect. It would crush the wire if it got out of alignment.

The 212 has gear driven rollers. The rollers attach to the gear drive via a twist-lock style clamping device. Its pretty sweet and makes for changing roller very quick and very easy. But I wonder how much slop will get in the twist-lock mechanism over time.

Another feature of the 212 that I'm looking at is its ability to auto-select guns. I have steel wire and mixed gas hooked up right now. But it accepts a secnd bottle and regulator and has a seperate attachment for a spool gun.

The machine auto selects which bottle when press the appropriate trigger. Nice for a small shop.

 

Ive been using a Clarke 130EN for over 5 years now. Always with solid wire...and a few times with 309L for welding stainless. That thing has never let me down. The only gripe I ever had with it was the hose that connects to the tank is pretty crappy. Just nylon hose like you'd find on a mechanical gauge or vac gauge.

Im holding out for a Miller 220v unit. From what Ive seen/done, 220 is the way to go. My welder performs great for a 120v unit, but just lacks the umph in certain situations.

I would have no issues purchasing another Clarke though...that thing has proven itself time and time again for me.

J.

 

Yeah, my buddy has a Clarke 130EN and the only complaint he has with it is the lack of power (110 volt) and sometimes popping breakers when using it. Hopefully the 220v 180EN will be enough power for just about anything I'll want to weld now, and in the future.

Glad to hear that you like your Clarke and that it's been trouble free for you.

Mike

 

I'd echo what everyone else has said. I have a 130EN 110v and I use it only with solid wire running gas. As long as you keep your consumables up and have enough gas you can get good welds with it. The only thing I wish it had was a more precise power selector. With my old EN I get maybe half a dozen big clicks on the power ****, and what I need better be one of those. The feed speed is fine though.

I have not had problems with breakers. I don't know if you can use other people's consumables on these so I just order clarke consumables from some welding site on the net, as not many places near my commonly stock theirs. I thought about trying to run some aluminum in it once to see what it could do, and I got a new liner and some other junk to convert it over but I haven't gotten around to giving that a shot.

I'd would imagine the 220 version would only be better.

 

I might have the 130EN instead of the 135EN that I mentioned earlier.
I'm not sure now haha.

 

Nice, and glad to hear that again lol. I did my research on a DIY Welder forum, and one guy mentioned that Hobart Handler welding tips work great in the Clarke machines. He also mentioned that Home Depot stocks the Hobart tips and they're cheap, like 10 of them for 5 bucks or something? I'll probably give them a try.

Here's that forum, lot's of good info in here if you're in the market for a new machine, or just looking for general welding info. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

Mike

 

Ah the tables turn! Thanks for the tip, and terribly sorry about the pun.

BTW you wouldn't happen to know which sort of 220v outlet that welder uses, would you? I have a nice unfinished wall in the garage I want to put some 10g into and run over to a nice big double breaker at the box for just this purpose, but when I go to the depot and look for a 220v outlet, it is quite obvious that there are several kinds and if I picked one at random, it would more than likely be the wrong one. I would guess 220v welders are kind of standardized but you can never tell.

 

I just wanted to let you all know that I received my welder this week and I've been using it quite a bit. It's a great machine and lays down some kick *** welds so far. For the money I spent, I think this is the best new welder I could have purchased and I'm very happy with it so far.

It came without a plug. I wired mine up with a 220v dryer type plug so I could just dis-connect my dryer and use that outlet since it's obviously wired for 220 with a 50 amp breaker. I was a little dissapointed with the length of the factory lead for the power, so I went to Home Depot and bought some 10-3 wire in a rubber casing and extended the length by 15 ft then attached the dryer plug. The Clarke factory power lead is a 3 wire design, (2 hot, one ground).

Mike