Clarke 130EN

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I purchased a Clarke 130EN and I have a question about modding it for use with a spool gun for Aluminum welding.I was thinking of buying a Weldmark MIG Spool gun 140Amp off eBay do do some occasional light work.The 130EN works and feeds like a champ after I replaced the rusty broken liner and i had to flip the feeder roller because they had 035 flux core running on the small groove, it was crushing and Brinelling the wire all to hell.The 130EN does not have a detachable torch nor does the Weldmark spool gun have a speed control and I was wondering about the best way to do this.I would need to wire in the heat control switch and the wire feed and gas supply to make this work.I thought about hard wiring the spool gun to the + and adding 2 dinse connectors so to be able switch the ground clamp easily between + for flux core on the MIG feed and - for spool gun. other wise I would have to get a real wire feeder for a miiler or lincoln and try to adapt it to work.I have been looking for a front panel mount power pin connector with gas line for the Weldmark spool gun but have not been able to find one the i could use an EGR Evaporator solenoid and a relay on the gas supply to turn the argon on and off to the spool gun.Any Insight or Ideas from the Genius minds in this forum on the best way to accomplish this.WarrenLast edited by Yezok; 02-08-2015 at 05:43 PM.
Reply:A theoretically 130 amp welder is very small for aluminum.
Reply:I am not welding heavy gauge aluminum, I have already welded 3/16 diamond plate Aluminum and 1/8 stainless perfectly with it, but sometimes have problems with 4043 and 5356 aluminum, it sometimes makes bird nests when the wire hangs up in the liner even though i have a new steel liner, I would switch to a Teflon liner but cant find one for the 130EN, and i want to eliminated that problem and wire wastage, I can also use the spool gun for other wire it accepts .023, .030, and .035.I had a Lincoln Easy MIG 140 and Magnum 100SG spool gun that some S.O.B stole from my garage, and the Easy MIG 140 also had the same problem of it making bids nests with Aluminum until i got the spool gun.I did not ask if the 130EN was a theoretically a very small welder for aluminum.What I asked was for Ideas on how to best adapt a spool gun to a welder that is not spool gun ready
Reply:This is a stupid idea. Just put aluminum wire in there and argon and start welding. The whip isn't long to begin with.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Originally Posted by GambleThis is a stupid idea. Just put aluminum wire in there and argon and start welding. The whip isn't long to begin with.
Reply:Oh the whip was changed to a 10' before i got it
Reply:Sounds like you might be breaking new ground here.If nobody has a solution for you, Don't forget to share your mod with us.Good luck!Hobart Beta-Mig 2511972 Miller AEAD-200LEMiller 250 TwinNorthern Ind. Hybrid 200Longevity Stick 140Longevity Migweld 200SThermal Arc Pak 3XR
Reply:Thank you I certainly will share and post pictures of the modification.Hopefully I can get this done within the next little while as the MS and Leukemia have bee taking their toll on my body lately.Right now I am having problems sourcing the female miller power pin connector, then all i have to do is install toggle switch to select between MIG and Spool gun.the spool gun will be used for all gas welding and the torch internally connected to the 130EN will always have a 10 pound roll of flux core always in place ready to go.
Reply:Sounds like you have made up your mind to do the wrong thing and are looking for others to agree with you.You are having feed troubles and they wont improve.Buy a welder that is spool ready.
Reply:its done, I picked up a used Lincoln 100sg spool gun FOR $100.00 and after installing a DPDT rocker switch $2.00 and a 4PIN panel connector $3.00 that mates with the Lincoln spool gun. I decided to not piss around and try to find a female tweco style connector and try to adapt it to the internal wire feeder so i just left the Clarke gun attached and I spliced the gas line and installed a EGR purge solenoid and LM7812 12v regulator to supply gas to the spool gun as the Clarke gas valve is a mechanical and in the gun body. I installed 2 Dinse female panel connectors (Red and Black) for the spool gun and separate ground. I have to find a better way of connecting the gas line other than a compression fitting such as some type of quick connect as it is a bit of a pain. but now have a working spool gun that welds 3/16 Aluminum like a champ. all in all total cost including spool gun is about $ 150.00 sure beats $900.00 cost of a new welder and it does what i needI will post pics once i get my camera back
Reply:Lol 3/16You are lucky to do 1/8"Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:well it does it just fine, it may have been 1/8 aluminum plate, I do not have Steve Austins calibrated eye that i can judge how thick something is by looking at it so i have gone and measured it just for you. my tape reads 5/32 or 4 mm. I will post a video as soon as I get my digital camera back and grab a #10 or tinted glass Lens welding lens I think exposing my Canon 12 mega pixel camera directly to an ark flash would destroy the camera. I did a butt joint on a 2" wide scrap piece of same Aluminum and then clamped it in the vice and after repeated bending back and forth parallel to the joint it did finally break.  But all in all it works just ducky for my purpose and hobbies. Like I said I do not require a $1000-1500 MIG welder or an AC TIG that I will use maybe 3 or four times a year and can not justify the cost of these items as I am a cripple living off a 1700 a month disability.