I fired up the stick welding side of that Lincoln I brought home,
today. Ive not got an argon bottle or a pump running yets, so havent
been able to fire up the Tig.

First thing I noticed about the stick welding arc on this machine..is
it feels really really harsh. The Dialarc 250 has a much smoother arc
in any mode, AC or DC and its easier to establish an arc and keep it
going smoothly.

This Lincoln seems like its running at much higher heat, from the
sound and ;ook of the arc puddle, and the force of the arc, but welds
no better or worse a bead than the Dialarc. The arc diameter seems to
be far smaller as well, which is wierd. I was burning some 1/8" rod
and it burned a bead like 3/32" would on a straight pass. I found this
most odd..... lots of sound and fury, but a pretty small bead.

Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

Its hard for me to explain what I mean by "harsh"..more violent and
stiff an arc..where other machines Ive used give a nice frying bacon
noise, a nice smooth arc with minumum amounts of flying crap, less
under cutting and so forth.

The machine is entirely usable, but this one will take more getting
used to, than about any other stick welder that Ive used over the
years.

Does anyone have a link to a manual to this machine? I cannot for the
life of me figure out which one it is on the Lincoln website

The data plate says Tig 250/250 with a code of 8809

Serial Number AC-U1921105578

I repainted it back to the original Candy Apple Red from the latex off
white someone had painted it and have built a table that bolts to cart
and covers the top of the machine all the way back to the bottle
holder and has lead holders on one side and tig holder on the other,
with filler rod tubes on it as well. Ill post some pictures later in
the weekend when I have all the bells and whistles finished up. Im
trying to design pull handle that either folds away, or is quickly
removable, just to get it out of the way.

A guy gave me some spun aluminum CO2 bottles that at one time or
another belonged to a soft drink supplier (no longer listed in the
phone book) and have manufacturing date codes of 1987 and 1989 stamped
into them, but no later testing dates. Are these doorstops?

A band around them indicate that they were Deposit bottles. Whats the
ramifications of this?

Next question..the Spark Switch. Is this only for use with TIG? It
pops my 60 amp breaker if its turned on and I strike an arc with the
stick.

I had 90' of lead, so cut it 35' for ground clamp and the rest is
connected to a "Short Sub" stinger that Ive had around. Is this too
much lead for this machine?

Thanks

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

In article , Gunner
wrote:

I fired up the stick welding side of that Lincoln I brought home,
today. Ive not got an argon bottle or a pump running yets, so havent
been able to fire up the Tig.

First thing I noticed about the stick welding arc on this machine..is
it feels really really harsh. The Dialarc 250 has a much smoother arc
in any mode, AC or DC and its easier to establish an arc and keep it
going smoothly.

This Lincoln seems like its running at much higher heat, from the
sound and ;ook of the arc puddle, and the force of the arc, but welds
no better or worse a bead than the Dialarc. The arc diameter seems to
be far smaller as well, which is wierd. I was burning some 1/8" rod
and it burned a bead like 3/32" would on a straight pass. I found this
most odd..... lots of sound and fury, but a pretty small bead.

Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

Its hard for me to explain what I mean by "harsh"..more violent and
stiff an arc..where other machines Ive used give a nice frying bacon
noise, a nice smooth arc with minumum amounts of flying crap, less
under cutting and so forth.


There should be a hot-start adjustment for stick welding.
That should adjust the open-circuit voltage.

The machine is entirely usable, but this one will take more getting
used to, than about any other stick welder that Ive used over the
years.

Does anyone have a link to a manual to this machine? I cannot for the
life of me figure out which one it is on the Lincoln website

The data plate says Tig 250/250 with a code of 8809

Serial Number AC-U1921105578


Unfortunately Lincoln kept using the same name for many different
machines.
Just download them all and find which one matches.


I repainted it back to the original Candy Apple Red from the latex off
white someone had painted it and have built a table that bolts to cart
and covers the top of the machine all the way back to the bottle
holder and has lead holders on one side and tig holder on the other,
with filler rod tubes on it as well. Ill post some pictures later in
the weekend when I have all the bells and whistles finished up. Im
trying to design pull handle that either folds away, or is quickly
removable, just to get it out of the way.


The original color was battleship gray, not red.




A guy gave me some spun aluminum CO2 bottles that at one time or
another belonged to a soft drink supplier (no longer listed in the
phone book) and have manufacturing date codes of 1987 and 1989 stamped
into them, but no later testing dates. Are these doorstops?


Probably.
You could use them as air storage tanks for a punkin chukker.


A band around them indicate that they were Deposit bottles. Whats the
ramifications of this?


They are rental tanks.
Not ownership.

Next question..the Spark Switch. Is this only for use with TIG? It
pops my 60 amp breaker if its turned on and I strike an arc with the
stick.


"spark" is old Lincolnese for High Freq.

I had 90' of lead, so cut it 35' for ground clamp and the rest is
connected to a "Short Sub" stinger that Ive had around. Is this too
much lead for this machine?


Not it should have plenty of juice.

Thanks

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message
...
snip------

The original color was battleship gray, not red.

Not on that model. I own the 300/300 (which is gray) and was torn between it
and the 250/250, all of which were red that were on the showroom floor. I
remember it all too well. This was back in the mid 80's.

Harold

Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

Its hard for me to explain what I mean by "harsh"..more violent and
stiff an arc..where other machines Ive used give a nice frying bacon
noise, a nice smooth arc with minumum amounts of flying crap, less
under cutting and so forth.


There should be a hot-start adjustment for stick welding.
That should adjust the open-circuit voltage.


I've noticed the same thing on my unit. Always thought welders are just
different. I just went down and looked at my almost identical unit. I don't
see anything that sounds like a hot start adjustment. I'll ask for gunner, I
have these adjustments, have NO CLUE what to do with them:

Afterflow timer: Has electrode sizes listed or desired afterflow min to max.
Spark Intensity: adjusts by knob from low to high
Soft start: On/off
Spark start only: On/off

Any of these related to hot start by chance?

Karl

Karl Townsend wrote:

I
have these adjustments, have NO CLUE what to do with them:

Afterflow timer: Has electrode sizes listed or desired afterflow min to
max.

This controls the amount of time the gas flows through the torch after you
stop welding. Larger tungsten electrode means takes longer to cool off
with the post flow.

Spark Intensity: adjusts by knob from low to high

High frequency arc start. I adjust mine to be able to start the arc from
about 3/4" from the work.

Soft start: On/off

Gradually ramps up the current when the arc is established.

Spark start only: On/off

High frequency control for establishment of arc. I use the start only
setting on most everything except aluminum. Aluminum needs HF all the time
for arc stability and cleaning.

I don't use the TIG side on my machine a whole lot. Others will be able to
answer in more detail.

Good luck

--
John L. Weatherly
MacGyver Industrial Technologies
Nashville, Tennessee

I posted some pictures of the repair and restoration of this machine
on my website.

http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/before.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/fixing.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/m...ustomizing.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/running.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/running2.jpg



I used this machine to stick weld some aluminum today, as well as
making up some drum holder racks and so forth.

It will take some getting used to as it welds differently than any
other machine Ive used.
Now I only need to get an argon bottle and a water pump and then I can
try out the tig section.
Ill be adding a filler rod rack under the table, along with a
clamp/square/tools rack and a halogen work light on swing arm, at the
rear on top of the power cord hanger post.

Behind the orange MIG welder you can sorta see the (cluttered) 4x8
1/2" plate topped welding table I cobbled up, along with the Miller
Dialarc 250 AC/DC permanantly housed under it.

Thanks for all the help, each and everyone of you.

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

Gunner wrote:
I posted some pictures of the repair and restoration of this machine
on my website.

http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/before.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/fixing.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/m...ustomizing.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/running.jpg
http://home.lightspeed.net/~gunner/myshop/running2.jpg



I used this machine to stick weld some aluminum today, as well as
making up some drum holder racks and so forth.

It will take some getting used to as it welds differently than any
other machine Ive used.
Now I only need to get an argon bottle and a water pump and then I can
try out the tig section.
Ill be adding a filler rod rack under the table, along with a
clamp/square/tools rack and a halogen work light on swing arm, at the
rear on top of the power cord hanger post.

Behind the orange MIG welder you can sorta see the (cluttered) 4x8
1/2" plate topped welding table I cobbled up, along with the Miller
Dialarc 250 AC/DC permanantly housed under it.

Thanks for all the help, each and everyone of you.

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

I have a big Miller, but I've never hooked up the water. The boss had it
before me for 10 years and never used water. I guess it would depend on
your duty cycle?

In article . com, Karl
Townsend wrote:

Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

Its hard for me to explain what I mean by "harsh"..more violent and
stiff an arc..where other machines Ive used give a nice frying bacon
noise, a nice smooth arc with minumum amounts of flying crap, less
under cutting and so forth.


There should be a hot-start adjustment for stick welding.
That should adjust the open-circuit voltage.


I've noticed the same thing on my unit. Always thought welders are just
different. I just went down and looked at my almost identical unit. I don't
see anything that sounds like a hot start adjustment. I'll ask for gunner, I
have these adjustments, have NO CLUE what to do with them:

Afterflow timer: Has electrode sizes listed or desired afterflow min to max.

Lincoln always did this, instead of just listing the time in Seconds.
It is about 7 seconds to each increment.
I timed ours at school.
15-20 seconds is a good range.

Spark Intensity: adjusts by knob from low to high

High Frequency intensity,
Where you set this depends on how happy your high freq. unit is.
Every few years you should pull out the points, clean them and regap to
the factory spec, which should be between0.008" and 0.011", depending
on manufacturer.


Soft start: On/off

This is for stick welding and drops the open circuit volts to start the
arc with less chance of sticking.


Spark start only: On/off


High Frequency Start only for DC TIG.


Any of these related to hot start by chance?

Karl

Soft Start.

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 08:41:46 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

I repainted it back to the original Candy Apple Red from the latex off
white someone had painted it and have built a table that bolts to cart
and covers the top of the machine all the way back to the bottle
holder and has lead holders on one side and tig holder on the other,
with filler rod tubes on it as well. Ill post some pictures later in
the weekend when I have all the bells and whistles finished up. Im
trying to design pull handle that either folds away, or is quickly
removable, just to get it out of the way.


The original color was battleship gray, not red.

The original factory color of this machine is ideed Red. Inside and
out.

Thanks for the reply.

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

I find my 300 amp to be smooth and quite, I will send you an email with the
pdf attached, it is for the 300 amp but most should be the same.
"Gunner" wrote in message
...
I fired up the stick welding side of that Lincoln I brought home,
today. Ive not got an argon bottle or a pump running yets, so havent
been able to fire up the Tig.

First thing I noticed about the stick welding arc on this machine..is
it feels really really harsh. The Dialarc 250 has a much smoother arc
in any mode, AC or DC and its easier to establish an arc and keep it
going smoothly.

This Lincoln seems like its running at much higher heat, from the
sound and ;ook of the arc puddle, and the force of the arc, but welds
no better or worse a bead than the Dialarc. The arc diameter seems to
be far smaller as well, which is wierd. I was burning some 1/8" rod
and it burned a bead like 3/32" would on a straight pass. I found this
most odd..... lots of sound and fury, but a pretty small bead.

Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

Its hard for me to explain what I mean by "harsh"..more violent and
stiff an arc..where other machines Ive used give a nice frying bacon
noise, a nice smooth arc with minumum amounts of flying crap, less
under cutting and so forth.

The machine is entirely usable, but this one will take more getting
used to, than about any other stick welder that Ive used over the
years.

Does anyone have a link to a manual to this machine? I cannot for the
life of me figure out which one it is on the Lincoln website

The data plate says Tig 250/250 with a code of 8809

Serial Number AC-U1921105578

I repainted it back to the original Candy Apple Red from the latex off
white someone had painted it and have built a table that bolts to cart
and covers the top of the machine all the way back to the bottle
holder and has lead holders on one side and tig holder on the other,
with filler rod tubes on it as well. Ill post some pictures later in
the weekend when I have all the bells and whistles finished up. Im
trying to design pull handle that either folds away, or is quickly
removable, just to get it out of the way.

A guy gave me some spun aluminum CO2 bottles that at one time or
another belonged to a soft drink supplier (no longer listed in the
phone book) and have manufacturing date codes of 1987 and 1989 stamped
into them, but no later testing dates. Are these doorstops?

A band around them indicate that they were Deposit bottles. Whats the
ramifications of this?

Next question..the Spark Switch. Is this only for use with TIG? It
pops my 60 amp breaker if its turned on and I strike an arc with the
stick.

I had 90' of lead, so cut it 35' for ground clamp and the rest is
connected to a "Short Sub" stinger that Ive had around. Is this too
much lead for this machine?

Thanks

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 07:51:06 -0500, "Waynemak"
wrote:

I find my 300 amp to be smooth and quite, I will send you an email with the
pdf attached, it is for the 300 amp but most should be the same.

Thanks Wayne. I got it.

There are a number of differences in the controls. I dont have a Spark
Intensity pot and there is a three position switch marked Spark,
(center off) on, and start only. I assume this is the Soft Start?

Can this be used for stick or is it a tig feature only?

The only adjustment pots are afterflow and current.

There are only three power ranges, unlike your 4, which I have seen on
all the other 300 amp machines. ( almost got a 300 amp, until we
found out the transformer was toast)

There is no 110vt receptical in the face plate, and there is only
outputs for gas solenoid, not water.

The manual answered a few questions and presented a few more, that Ill
ask when I get a handle on the machine a lot better.

Many thanks

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

the 3 way switch, spark , no spark, spark start only is used like this

Spark on is for AC tig work
Spark off is for stick welding
Spark start only is for tig welding with DC


"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 07:51:06 -0500, "Waynemak"
wrote:

I find my 300 amp to be smooth and quite, I will send you an email with
the
pdf attached, it is for the 300 amp but most should be the same.

Thanks Wayne. I got it.

There are a number of differences in the controls. I dont have a Spark
Intensity pot and there is a three position switch marked Spark,
(center off) on, and start only. I assume this is the Soft Start?

Can this be used for stick or is it a tig feature only?

The only adjustment pots are afterflow and current.

There are only three power ranges, unlike your 4, which I have seen on
all the other 300 amp machines. ( almost got a 300 amp, until we
found out the transformer was toast)

There is no 110vt receptical in the face plate, and there is only
outputs for gas solenoid, not water.

The manual answered a few questions and presented a few more, that Ill
ask when I get a handle on the machine a lot better.

Many thanks

Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

Does anyone have a link to a manual to this machine? I cannot for the
life of me figure out which one it is on the Lincoln website
The data plate says Tig 250/250 with a code of 8809

This should be the manual for it:

http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...IMS/IM315A.pdf

Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

It's tough to tell exactly what the current is set to on this machine
because of the different ranges and variable control. Is it maybe set
higher than you think? That might exlain the extra "flying crap" and
undercutting.

Next question..the Spark Switch. Is this only for use with TIG? It
pops my 60 amp breaker if its turned on and I strike an arc with the
stick.

I had the same problem when TIGing on a 50-amp breaker. As soon as my foot
pressed the pedal it would pop about 1/4 of the time if the current was
under 100 amps or so and every time if it was at about 125 amps or more.

IIRC it called for a 90-amp breaker.

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 15:53:37 GMT, "Keith Marshall"
wrote:

Does anyone have a link to a manual to this machine? I cannot for the
life of me figure out which one it is on the Lincoln website
The data plate says Tig 250/250 with a code of 8809

This should be the manual for it:

http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...IMS/IM315A.pdf

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!! Ive searched through damned near every welder
Lincoln made and couldnt find it. On dialup..its a bitch.


Is this something unique to this machine, a combination of reactor etc
etc that makes the arc really harsh?

It's tough to tell exactly what the current is set to on this machine
because of the different ranges and variable control. Is it maybe set
higher than you think? That might exlain the extra "flying crap" and
undercutting.

Next question..the Spark Switch. Is this only for use with TIG? It
pops my 60 amp breaker if its turned on and I strike an arc with the
stick.

I had the same problem when TIGing on a 50-amp breaker. As soon as my foot
pressed the pedal it would pop about 1/4 of the time if the current was
under 100 amps or so and every time if it was at about 125 amps or more.

IIRC it called for a 90-amp breaker.

I suspect Im going to have to install a larger one. Its been said
this particular welder is a thirsty bitch. The Dialarc 250 only popped
the breaker a couple times last weekend and I was welding with 1/8"
Fleetweld for hours at a time.

Thanks much Keith. Greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"


Gunner



Come shed a tear for Michael Moore-
Though he smirked and lied like a two-bit whore
George Bush has just won another four.
Poor, sad little Michael Moore

Diogenes

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!! Ive searched through damned near every welder
Lincoln made and couldnt find it. On dialup..its a bitch.

I'm sure it is! It was listed under their discontinued equipment manuals
section he

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/produ...opsmanuals.asp

I suspect Im going to have to install a larger one. Its been said
this particular welder is a thirsty bitch. The Dialarc 250 only popped
the breaker a couple times last weekend and I was welding with 1/8"
Fleetweld for hours at a time.

I don't think the Idealarc ever popped the 50-amp breaker when stick welding
but most of what we did was around 90-125 amps.

Thanks much Keith. Greatly appreciated.

Glad to help!

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"