My 75' Panel Restoration (my first bus!!!)

Looking forward to your updates once you sort a welder dude

 

Bit of confusion.was going to order the Clarke 151 from machine mart but they say it wont run off 3 pin plug and doesn't have a plug fitted. All specs I've seen elsewhere say it will. Need help as they say the biggest household supply will only take up to 130amps.

 

http://www.wilstar.co.uk/products/2/118/clarke_151en_mig_the_welding_centre_surbiton/


Says it comes with a 13amp plug but outher sites say it needs a 15amp supply.


You could try a normal plug top and if you find it blows the fuse you could hard wire it off a new circuit or off the socket ring main using a isolater.

 

Go for it - my 170A is happy on a normal plug. Even happy on a normal 50m extension on a 13A plug. Nothing gets even remotely warm. You won't be welding much it's all prep as you know.

 

The review on Amazon said it only blew on max so I may give it a go. I think the thickest I need to weld on the van is 3mm anyway. Anyone at Volksworld this weekend?

 

Hi

I run a MTA 180 MIG on a standard 3 pin plug but had to change the garage supply circuit breaker to a higher value as it kept tripping

You may not have any problems but our garage is detached from the house and the power is supplied to a small consumer unit by the main house one

The RCD I used was a motor type, as I thought I only wanted to do this once and they are recommended for welders, and I've had the welder up to max without any problems

Hope this helps

Mr B

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm off to Volksworld tomorrow so will keep an eye out for anyone selling tools and stuff to see if I can have a deal!

 

Well I got a load of parts from Volksworld, one of which was a battery tray. I intend on fitting a leisure battery on the left but the tray I was gien has no clamps on it. The guy said that the left is only a platform and it was the correct part. Can I add clamps to it later on? I also got some clear indicator lenses, some rear light lenses, a right hand chassis top repair panel and the battery tray. Just need my welder now and i can crack on!

 

I made some clamps for my N/S battery tray for a leisure battery, not difficult.

It might be easier to weld them onto the tray before you weld the tray to the bus

 

Right, shall I go for the Clarke? Really confused as I'm worried it will blow fuses/trip out. Don't want to order it and find it's no good.

 

I'd go for the highest ampage mig you can afford with a 3 pin plug, as has been said if the supply at your house trips out it, try it on another circuit thats not loaded as heavy like a garage supply, dedicated elctric cooker feed with adjacent socket.

I've got a 185 amp BOC welder and thats probably the uppler limit of single phase (3 pin plug) welders, I've had it trip out a few times but it depends where its being used, plugging it into a cooker socket if you have one will guarantee no problem as will be 30A, or failing that just turn the current down a bit on the welder, so its not working at maximum. The duty cycle is what you should be looking at on the welder's spec sheet though, you dont want one working at 10% to put out a mid range power output, if that makes sense.

 

I have read the manual and even that says it has a 13amp 3 pin plug (page 13 of the manual http://www.clarkeservice.co.uk/manuals/mig_welders/mig90en_151en.pdf). The duty cycle is as follows: 15% 130amp, 60% 62amp and 100% 48amps. So going by that then I guess it's fine on a 13amp 3 pin plug. The power will be coming from the garage which I believe has it's own breakers but will need to check.

 

Its unlikely you'll be welding at 130Amps, but if the welder does draw too much it'll only trip the breaker.

Check the Garage has its own feed and breakers, it should do but check, depending on the wiring installed its probably fitted with a 10A or 15A breaker, suitable for lighting/fridge etc and will likely be single 2.5mm twin and earth, unless it was beefed up for running a heavier load to be used as a workshop - (sometimes 2x 2.5mm) or likely to be 6.0mm cable same as used on showers/cookers.

Disclaimer, If in doubt though, consult an electrician or someone knowledgeable who can see what you've actually got, dont put push your fingers/screwdrivers or penis into sockets as electricity can hurt ;D

 

Well there are quite a lot of lights fitted as well as a load of sockets. I think there may have even been a fridge in there as well.

 

Right, couldn't spot an RCD but it may be hidden.

Sample of wiring:




What's this?

 

Wow what a mess


The plug in your hand is a plug in RCD


Your need to follow the spaghetti to find where it come from.
or have a look at you fuse box and see if any part is marked garage

 

I don't have access to the house so I'm hoping there is a box in the garage. It's detached from the house so I'm hoping there is!

Matty, have you used Wilstar? Want to order a welder this week.

 

Well given that I cannot access the house to reset a tripped breaker, I decided to opt for this, the 130en. Tried it out gasless but it's a bit breezy so there were some holes in the weld where the shield has blown away.



Annoyingly the rubber handle for the arm is missing!

Cut the rot out of my bumper





And ground down the welds on the dash repair. May need a skim of filler to bbring it level and smooth

 

Pulled my finger out and got on with some work at last. Daunting cutting up your van!

Remains of the corner cut off:



And side panel:





Roof rot







Yay, more rot!









This was found stuffed in the previous photo



Mouse nest?

Also, no matter how well you think they will get on, your wrist and angle grinder are not friends!



Ran out of 1mm discs so called it a day. Getting hungry as well.