Repair Lincoln Idealarc

Ebay, "Very old unit (complete with dinosaur teeth;), not working, $200 + actual shipping costs". It'll sell in a few days, but you might have to come down to $175.

Ebayers and Craigslisters will buy anything.

Several years ago I helped the owner of a TIG welder find why he had no cur rent control. The machine was not a Linco[n , but I expect most welders of that age used the same general idea. The current control in his case was done by a saturable reactor. There was a circuit similar to a light dimme r that varied the current thru the saturable reactor. The SCR was bad. I forget if it was open or shorted. After we had trouble shot the welder, he got a new scr and that fixed the welder. He was not as tight as I am. I think he got the SCR at Radio Shack for about $5.

It sounds as if you have about the same problem. We did have a schematic a nd just used a DMM for measurements. Any kind of a scope would have made f inding it much faster.

I would advertise in Craigslist for someone to fix it. I am thinking of hi gh school kid or someone in college. And if you have no luck with that, I would give it to some kid before letting the scrap man have it.

I would help you but am on the East Coast.

Dan

Spent four hours on it today, and got nowhere. thar's enough. I'm NOT an electrical repairman.

You're right, this was a wonderful welder. I've had it 25 years.

Thanks for trying to help the helpless.

karl

I just put it up on craigs list. waiting for the rash of idiot phone calls. Bet I'm sorry before its done.

Thanks for trying. I just got pissed off at it and gave up. HATE electrical repair - can't do it.

Karl

Mebbeso.

Have you used this machine since the lightning strike last summer and it worked okay?

You probably don't unplug it and some of the electronics in it could easily be damaged by a good lightning hit. I remember you telling about the lightning hit and several items it messed up. Don't remember if you turned any of it in on your insurance though, which is why I'm mentioning it.

actually, I have to unplug it. There's a serious humm when turned off and plugged in.

I'm going to have to take the unit in for repair I had no idea how expensive new welders that will do TIG and 300 amp are. My worry, and I've seen this happen, I get a call a few days later saying sorry can't fix your machine, the bill is $1000. BUT if you buy our new box for too much $ we'll forget about the repair bill.

Karl

And you go to pick up the old box and find that none of the cover screws have been tampered with, so you throw the bill in their face and walk out with it. BTDT with friends' equipment before.

I'm trying. trouble is, a week is a long time without a welder.

I'm only looking at blue boxes.

Karl

I bet that your welder would still keep running, if it was blue.

Karl, I am surprised at you. You own a welder for 25 years and say it was a wonderful welder. And then you say you are only looking at Blue Machines.

Dan

Lincoln made one hell of a good welder 40 years ago.

their managment discovered China and cheap manufacturing and ran the name into the ground. DAMN shame but not an uncommon story.

Just be cautious about buying a Miller Econotig. The current ones may be b etter , but the older ones are not too good. When I was shopping for a Tig welder, the manager of the welding store I frequented told me to avoid the Econotig. His store was a Miller dealership.

Dan

You might want to consider the Everlast . Mine has performed extremely well for the nearly 2 years I've had it . And it was less than half the cost of blue or red .

I think if I was buying a new machine but wanted to save some money it would be one of the Lincoln MP units. They are a programmable unit that does MIG, Flux core, DC TIG and stick all in one box.

Been watching Jody playing with one and so far it seems to be a real nice machine.

A need AC TIG and soon. Got a stack of irrigation pipes in need of repair. A welder would be cheap and easy to find if I didn't need both high power stick and AC TIG

Karl