Repair Lincoln Idealarc

ESAB has some interesting stuff too. Maybe there Heliarc 281i would suit your fancy. Some discussion about where its made:

=== Thank you for your recent information request on the Heliarc 281i. The power supply for the Heliarc 281i is made in Italy. It is then assembled in the USA with additional parts i.e regular and tig torch that are manufactured in the USA as well. If you have any additional questions please let me know.

Thanks,

Bryan A. Braddock Inside Sales Representative Weldcall Technical Support ESAB Welding and Cutting Products Phone: 843-664-4281 Fax:803-753-9266 snipped-for-privacy@esab.com

from:

ESAB's own website:

I have a Miller 252 MIG welder. Wonderful machine. Have an AL spool gun for it. Works well for most AL work but not on irrigation pipe. You can't beat a TIG for weld control. If you are putting a weld-on female end onto a pipe section, you need MAX heat and a wife or son to hold the torch for preheat. Little welders just don't do it.

I'm driving an hour each way to get a couple of these done on my son's welder - Syncrowave 250. he's offered to sell me his for $1800. i may take hime up.

Karl

SAVED

There's an auction with a dozen great welders in three weeks. Big commercial stuff, all blue boxes. I'll be ging home with one.

Now, got to live three weeks without a welder. Hard for me.

Karl

Oh come now, you've already admitted to having a nice MIG machine ;-)

I guess it has a lot to do with what we are most comfortable with using. I feel/do best with the MIG but the stick welder is a lot easier to dig out and fire up...

Just remembered that Jody put up a couple TIG videos in the past few weeks than may interest you. They are on using helium gas and how they can make a weak TIG machine weld heavier aluminum pieces than using just argon. Maybe you already know this... but if you want to watch:

TIG Welding Thick Aluminum using DC and Helium

Tig Welding Aluminum with Argon Helium Mix part 1

Tig Welding Aluminum with Ar/He Mix part 2

Good luck with your bidding and let us know what you end up with.

A tiny violin is being played for you, Karl. Pobrecito!

If you can't speak, just nod yes to Jacob's synchrowave.

You're need is urgent and related to bidness.

Your t*ts-up Linc is probably repairable but you don't have time or inclination to mess around like a hobbyist might. That pot probably controls a saturable reactor. Since the pot seems to check good, the problem is probably either with the DC supply (rectifier diodes) for the saturable reactor, or a bad connection. It could be an open winding on the saturable reactor or a bad control transformer, but that'd be unlikely.

The synchrowave is a very capable TIG machine. I don't think I'd trade my dinosaur Miller DialArc 250 for one because, while the newer machines have more bells and whistles, they also have more electronics and that's what usually fails -- and is very expensive to get fixed. I've had a couple of weldors tell me that when the boss changed out their DialArcs for Synchrowaves, they suddenly could no longer weld aluminum tanks without leaks. Just sayin' what I heard. The ol' DialArc is a 400-lb dinosaur, but it's reliable as gravity and does everything I wanna do.

Well, don't scrap it yet. It ain't like you don't have room at your place for a busted machine. We can have a look at it some gunsmoke and good grub get-together day.

Think you or Jacob might have any ideas about my oil-slingin' lathe spindle?

But your Linc was made when Linc and Miller led the field by a mile.

Think of it as your contribution to younger, smarter, willing-to-try guys who recognize value in a quality old machine that needs a bit of TLC. Give 'em a bargain, what the hell! It's our time of life to be giving back, right? You won't even notice the nick in your bottom line and it might be good for your karma.

Think how good you'll feel when a deserving young guy or gal hauls it away, grinning, after paying you a pittance for it. It's the right thing to do, Karl. Bless you!

Ya wanna come get my DialArc 250 for 3 weeks? You'd owe me and Vicki, but offer's on the table. I can get by without TIG for 3 weeks. I still have MIG and gas.

Hell, I always have gas -- Vicki will vouch for that!

I'm not kidding, Karl; if you wanna borrow my DialArc 250 for three weeks or so, come 'n get it. You're about the only guy I'd trust with it -- like you trusted me to put hands on your beloved Monarch