Between Lincoln,Miller, Hobart,etc versus Clarke

[Whiteyweld]

Ok guys Im trying hard to get some information. I bought a Clarke 95 fluxcore welder for light duty easy portability use. I noticed after looking over everything that the weight of the welder is 34lbs. I thought that sounded light, so I looked up some small amp Lincolns, Hobarts, and Millers. And they were listed between 42- 50 lbs. What would make the Clarke that much lighter than the others? I got it for 140.00. Thanks for your help fellas.
Whitey

[84ZMike]

Aluminum in the transformer windings (Lin.,Hobart and Miller use it also).....as well as a shorter gun and ground (I think)....and the Clarke probably uses more plastic than the others....not that they don't have there fair share of it.....just more so in the Clarke.....I'm also sure the Clarke is smaller in size than the others....
Mike

[hankj]

The little Clarke is not realy much of a welder. It's limited by the low amperage. You'll be able to do some yard art things and make light repairs on things that are not critical. Don't weld on anything where a weld failure could be dangerous to the user.

Hank

[mike6845]

It's all about iron and copper, the more the merrier in most welders. Newer technologies are headed for inverter designs where transformers (iron and copper) are being reduced or eliminated. In your case, the Clarke has minimized it's components ratings in order to meet a certain pricing target. Use it for general welding not requiring any significant depth or penetration nor safety requirements.

[FusionKing]

Yea...but who would use a 95 amp welder for ANYTHING critical??:rolleyes:

I believe those Clarkes come with a 10 YEAR:eek: warranty so at least they are darn serious about what they are doing.:D

[crawler]

I believe those Clarkes come with a 10 YEAR:eek: warranty so at least they are darn serious about what they are doing.:D

Kind of like Kia car offering a 10 year warranty which is only good for the original owner. How many people keep their cars for 10 years.

10 year warranty is not going to convince me to buy a Clark welder.

[whateg0]

Kind of like Kia car offering a 10 year warranty which is only good for the original owner. How many people keep their cars for 10 years.

10 year warranty is not going to convince me to buy a Clark welder.

I'm going on 8 years on my '89 F150. :) Costs too much to replace it.

Dave

[stevinator]

Whiteyweld I see you went for the clarke.That's a good price on that unit. Let us know in the future how you like it.Oh and have fun.:D

[Garfield]

34.5 lbs is the shipping weight on my HF "90amp" welder. After you knock of 2 lb for the roll of welding wire and another 1.5lb of box and manual you are looking at 31 lb.

[TommyA]

I bought the Clarke 130E to learn on before I bought the Stickmate. I still use the clarke for jobs when I need something mobile. I believe Clarke has a fairly good product in their stick machines. The 130E has a really nice ground clamp but the holder could have been better . Whityweld please let us know what you think of the 95.

[Willy Victor]

I'm going on 8 years on my '89 F150. :) Costs too much to replace it.

Dave

Dave, By my math your truck is 17yrs old or is it 18? I ain't to good at math.:confused::confused:


Willy

[usmcpop]

Dave, By my math your truck is 17yrs old or is it 18? I ain't to good at math.:confused::confused:


Willy

I'm willing to bet that 8 years is merely the time Dave has had to care for that F150. I have full confidence in his math abilities. Ask him how many kids he has, and he'll probably hold up two fingers, unless he wasn't paying attention lately, or got one caught somewhere in one of his projects.

Dave - We want to see weldorette pictures, and soon.

[whateg0]

Bingo! I bought it in 2000, so it's a little over 7 1/2 years since I bought it.

Neither of us has been doing much welding lately. Seems as she gets older, she gets involved in more things, and the 3 year old is getting old enough that he needs more looking after. But I promised her she could help with the '47 project, so there should be some more pics then.

And yeah, I still have about 2 kids. ;)

BTW, I made due with a Campbell Hausfeld welder before buying my MM180, and while there's much it wouldn't do, there's a lot it will. I'd bet the Clarke, despite its weight and rating disadvantage, will still do pretty good for what it was intended to do.

Dave

[usmcpop]

Dave, you must be proud. You have roughly 2 kids, maybe 8 fingers and two opposable thumbs. You must live in a good neighborhood :D

[acmemetalfab]

I had a Clarke, I thought it was a good welder. It isn't the welder that makes the weld, it's the weldor, know what I mean? The more expensive machines make it easier to get good results, but the Clarke will be fine for light to moderate use in my opinion.

Howdy folks, long time no see.

[Roger]

I know what you mean! I can make bad welds with any welding machine without really trying. Sometimes good welds also.