Help with an old Lincoln short hood

Hey, all. A buddy of mine has an old Lincoln short hood welder that was given to him and I'm trying to help him with a few items and I'm hoping you folks might be able to answer some questions about it for me, please.

What I'm trying to find out is 1) any general information about it (what kind of metal is used in the windings, good things, bad things, etc.), 2) what year was it made, 3) is there a way to get it to supply

110 volts for running DC grinders and such, and 4) what kind of regular maintenance is required on the unit (it mentions something about packing grease in a ball bearing on one of the tags but my buddy's not been able to find any ball bearings on it (even after removing a couple of covers on the snout of the generator/coil)).

First, it has a metal tag on the wire-lug end that has the following information on it:

Rebuilt by Big Three Welding Equipment Company, Houston, TX. Code# 1422 Serial# A226423 Rebuilt# 1367

Close to the Positive Voltage Control knob there is written "Type SA

200" and below that, "1400 RPM". Close to the Current Control knob there is written, "200 Amp 40 volts NEMA".

Second, there are 9 wires coming from the windings/generator housing; 3 are large-gauge, 3 are medium-gauge, and 3 are small-gauge. Of the three small-gauge (SG) wires, two run to an insulated plate that then runs to the Positive Voltage Control rheostat. The third SG wire doesn't run to anything. The face of the welder that has the controls has a hole in it that looks like the right size for a single outlet for

110 DC, but there is nothing in it. That hole along with the unconnected third SG wire make us believe that it probably did have a 110 DC outlet at one time. My buddy put a grinder across the welding terminals and it would run but it didn't draw enough amps to idle-up the engine so it ran slow, even under a load, FWIW.

So, the short form of the questions are: what metal is used in the windings of the generator, what year was this thing made, what ball bearings are to be greased periodically (and, in general, what maintenance is to be done periodically on this unit), is there some way to power DC grinders and other tools from this unit, and what, if unrelated to the 110 DC question, is that third SG wire that's unconnected?

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

--HC

Reply to
HC
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Check with the lincoln site for a manual.

Here..

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John

Reply to
JohnM

Hi HC,

The Lincoln SA-200 is a Pure DC generator with pure DC excitation. These machines are still well liked by many, especially pipe welders. Some folks even collect them. Lincoln still manufactures an updated version of this machine, The Pipeliner 200.

The windings were all copper when this machine was manufactured, but it is possible that aluminum coils could have been used as replacements if it's been repaired in the past.

The machine is old! I would guess that it was made in the early to mid

1950s. Lincoln customer service is usually pretty good at providing information. Call them at 800-833-9353 They can tell you what year it was made.

Machines of this vintage could be ordered with an "oversized" exciter. If yours has this option, a 115VDC receptacle could possibly be added. If you remove the round cover from the end of the exciter, you should see two connection studs. If there are three wires connected to each stud, (including the brush pigtail lead) you probably have the oversized exciter.

To maintain the unit you can use compressed air to gentely blow the carbon dust out of the armature and stator. Check brushes for wear and replace them if needed. The ball bearing is located between the main commutator and the exciter. The outside of the bearing housing is used to support the main generator brush rack.

It sure sounds like someone has been altering some of the wiring. I would call Lincoln at the number I provided earlier; they can email you the wiring diagrams. They will need the code number to provide you with technical information and the serial number, so they can find the year of manufacture.

Good luck, Bob

Reply to
Bob

It's a 1949 model.

JTMcC.

Reply to
JTMcC

Hey, everybody, thank you for your responses.

I have contacted Lincoln at the above phone number and they are supposedly going to e-mail or fax me the wiring diagrams for this welder. I have reviewed and printed out the manual linked to above and will give that to the guy who has this thing. I'll have him check for the number of wires on that exciter. If there are three, so it's supposed to have a 115 volt outlet, how does that wire in (in case Lincoln doesn't come through on the wiring diagrams)? Do you just wire it between the weld-output leads?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

--HC

Reply to
HC

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