Lincoln mig attachment?

Question

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to add mig or plasma arc capability to an existing stick system?

My dad just bought a 250amp (i'm fairly sure this is right) diesel powered Lincoln welder from one of his brothers. Originally this was used by B&R or JD Abrams or someone like that. huge machine on a trailer. Also came with a gas powered compressor. I figure all I need is the right kind of hook up or accessory to make a great plasma arc cutter. I tried looking through Lincoln's site but all I can find is complete rigs not the cutter by itself.

Thanks in advance, Tom in Texas

Grant Erwin · Accepted Answer

Well, a MIG machine is a CV machine and that thing is a CV machine, so unless you want to really mod it MIG is out. And I am aware of no way at all to turn a stick welder into a plasma cutter. Hope you didn't buy it planning on doing these things, it would have been good to ask *beforehand* if so .. :-(

GWE

MES · Answer

You can try a voltage sensing wire feeder, make sure you get one with acontactor. It has limitations compared to CV mig but does a very good jobwith cored wires and solid wire when using a high argon mix.

Qwelder · Answer

Nah, he is a retired boilermaker.  He has two existing welding machines(a stick and a mig).  He mostly bought this as a generator and theprice was right.  My brother and I are itching for a plasma arc andthought that maybe we could figure something out.

Bob · Answer

The machine you describe is probably a SA-250 with a Perkins Diesel. Lincoln makes a constant voltage adapter for this type of machine; below is a link to the manual. I hear that when they are equipped with the adapter, they make a very good MIG power source, but I'm sure the adapter is expensive.

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I don't think this machine could be adapted for plasma cutting. Plasma cutters use some very high voltage that is unavailable on a typical welding machine.

Some folks will just plug a plasma cutter into a welding machine's AC auxiliary receptacle, but this machine would probably not have the capacity to power most plasma cutters. If this is an older SA-250, it may only have DC auxiliary power; these are only good for powering lights or some power tools designed for use with DC.

Bob

Tom Lawrence · Answer

Lincoln mig attachment?

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