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by Peter Brett - March 2006
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– Welding in a box
The Draper Arcweld 100A is a portable welder and therefore it has some limitations. It is not intended for continuous use in a professional workshop, but rather is aimed at the farmer, car restorer or homeworker who needs the facility to weld occasionally, and may need to carry it around to different places in order to do the work.
Painted in dark Draper blue, the welder weighs about 13 Kgs. It can use electrodes between 2mm and 2.5mm and runs off ordinary single phase domestic current.
On one side of the machine you have a simple on/off switch that also performs as a thermal overload safety. All three cables for the earth, the current and the electrode holder, emerge from the same side of the machine. The cables are thick and about 2 metres in length each so there should be enough reach for the sort of jobs within the scope of this little welder.
The earth cable has a particularly good strong spring on it and this helps get a good connection. The electrode holder is also well designed, the spring is strong and the user is protected by good heat insulation around it.
Probably the only disappointing aspect of the whole package is the face mask. It is made of flexible vinyl-type plastic that obviously offers enough protection to the user, but the handle is flimsy and the fold to make it fit your face is a bit awkward to make stay in place. The protective eyeglass, however, appears to be of much better quality, despite being held in place by a couple of self tapping screws. If I were welding more often I would definitely buy a better mask. Having been spoilt by using one of those masks that automatically darkens when the arc sparks up (Draper, stock no.76744), I found that flipping the mask back and forwards was inconvenient.
I had a few jobs around the house in mind for this little welder. One of these was to repair the hinges of the wrought iron side gate. Fortunately I was not too far from a power point and the side of the house provided some respite from the cold east wind that has been plaguing us for the last week or so. My welding skills, I have to say, are a bit rusty, and it took quite a bit of trial and error on my part to get a weld that looked correct. In the instruction manual, which is short and sweet and simply written, I was given some pictorial examples of a correct weld and after several tries I was able to get close. Since there is no adjustment on the welder itself, it is up to the user to choose the correct electrodes and correct distance of the electrode from the metal when welding. I found that it was important for a good weld to make sure that the metal was clean and well prepared and that the electrical contacts were good.
Perhaps on a more powerful machine with more adjustment, you could get away with being a bit more gung-ho.
I also tried to weld up a lifting hook in my wife's sculpture studio. The RSJ needed a lot of preparation because years of sea air had rusted it. I then had to bend the hook from a section of steel reinforcing rod using a vice and a hammer. A job not to be taken too lightly, I think. Then standing on my mini-work platform I welded away. This time, despite being above my head, it wasn't too bad a job, and it will be a useful addition to the studio. I did end up fiddling a bit with the mask and ways of holding the hook in place while I started the initial weld, and it only served to reinforce my view that a better mask would be a must for someone who welded more regularly.
Draper markets a wide range of welders. The keen amateur, the frugal and the professional user are all catered for and it is certainly worthwhile having a look at what suits your requirements that is available in the range.
Draper is proud of working with European suppliers to ensure that the quality and safety thresholds are met, and having seen some of the controls in place for myself I would be happy to use these Draper welders myself.
Now all I have to do is to see whether I can achieve the magic of taking the Arcweld 100A to bits again and seeing if I can fit it back into its box ready to be sent back to Southampton. Somehow that always seems a bit more difficult than unpacking it... On the other hand there are a few more welding jobs that need doing so perhaps I can postpone the packing up for a little while. Roll on the Easter holidays.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications