On Mon, 08 May 2006 16:31:05 -0700, Eric R Snow
wrote:

On Wed, 03 May 2006 11:46:39 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Wed, 03 May 2006 08:01:09 -0700, Eric R Snow
wrote:

Greetings all youse welder types,
I am looking at buying a Lincoln sp135 welder. I do not know if it is
the Plus version. From what I can tell the Plus version has infinitely
adjustable voltage. If the model I'm looking at doesn't have this can
it modified without buying a kit from Lincoln? The welder comes with a
gas bottle, gauge, heavy extension 25' cord, and a broken regulator.
The guy wants $250.00 for it. Assuming that the welder works like it
is supposed to is $250.00 a good price?
Thanks,
Eric

If it's the plus, that's a good deal. Infinitely variable voltage
is a very nice feature on a small box like that when welding thin
sheetmetal. It is not easy to retrofit; could be done but not
easily or cheaply.

If most of your welding would be 1/16" and thicker, a 4-position
voltage control would probably be OK. I've had no problem with the
7-position switch on my Millermatic 210, but I sure like that
variable-voltage on my little red Linc SP125+ when doing steel .035
and thinner, as in autobody rust work.

When I visited a professional auto-restoration place some years ago, I
noted an SP125+ at every workstation. These guys were artists with
metal -- no bondo in that shop! They had stretchers, shrinkers, an
English wheel, the whole shootin' match and they were good with them.
Greetings Don,
Thanks for the welder info. And thanks to the others who posted. I
bought the thing a few hours ago. The guy dropped it off at my
neighbor's house who happens to be the father-in-law of the seller.
Anyway, the guy said it worked, but he couldn't get it to to what he
wanted. All I was concerned about was whether it was the plus model or
not. It was the plus so I handed over 250 to my neighbor and brought
it back to the weld bench. It came with a new 10 lb spool of 70S
something .035 wire. The wire is a little rusty and I had some
problems getting it to feed properly. The broken regulator had two
problems. The first was a leak where it screwew into the gas bottle.
The cause was obvious damage in the form of an annular sctatch. I
filed and polished out the damage and the leak is gone. The second
problem was damage to the low pressure gauge. It had been dropped or
something. I took it apart and re-positioned the needle. Checking it
against a gauge of known quality it now reads 2 lbs high at all
pressures. That's OK. I got the wire to feed, turned on the gas, and
tried some welds. It works great. Imagine my surprise when I realized
that the machine that I had been told was an SP 135 was actually an
SP125 Plus. I went back and checked my notes and he had indeed told me
it was a 135. But I don't think he was trying to fool me or anything.
I mean it has 125 Plus right on the front and all. Sheesh! I should be
more obversant. I mean observant. I don't think he ever got the thing
to weld. From what he said about the damaged regulator I think he
tried to repair the leak with no luck. It had teflon tape where the
low pressure gauge and the bottle fitting screw into the regulator. I
think he was trying to fix the leak but didn't know where it was
coming from. The gas bottle is full and the spool of wire is full. It
had never even been used once. Thanks Again for the advice. Now I need
to get a manual.
Eric

If you look at the manuals, I think you'll find that there is no
notable difference between the SP125+ and the SP135+ other than age.
They both have the same rating at 20% dutycycle, and they both
recommend the same settings for given thicknesses of steel. I think
they just renamed it as a marketing move.

Note: these machines do not like dirty or rusty wire. If there is
even a hint of rust, it may feed erratically. Strip a few layers
off of your spool until you get to bright wire.

After I learned this the hard way, for idle periods of more than a
day or two I now remove the wire and bag it in a ziplock backfilled
with dry gas, or with a desiccant bag within.

You did well, Eric. The SP125+ is a very sweet little machine for
light work -- up to .125" or so. I still use mine in preference to
my larger 220-volt MIG for work on 1/16" (16 gage) and under. It
is also capable of doing up to 3/16" with fluxcore, handy when it's
easier to bring the welder to a job where there's no 220 handy.