Tig welder

[fusername]

Curious if anyone is running a Lincoln Idealarc 300. One just came up for sale for a real nice price, I am very very tempted. Comes with a TON of consumables and spares, it is a shop closing and basicly one of two items left that I wanted. Which of course makes me nervous, but it is set up and ready to be tested, so I will bring a friend who has some kind of welding cert and class time. It is a TIG machine with a water pump for less than a grand, so I think it is worth it. no Idea on vintage, but got this picture of it


if its 220 and not 3 phase, I think I need this thing. It's not a dinosoar I think, it seems super complete. Only downside so far is I hear if i go past 160 amps I'll blow my 60 breaker I think I will be fine for a long time on that. Any personal expereince with this machine? If I buy it I will go take som real welding classes, would love to defeat aluminum.

[Piledriver]

It's an older machine and a boat anchor, you may be able to improve the "out of the wall" performance with some power factor caps and run on that 60A circuit. You want them switched OFF unless the contactor is in. (use another contactor) or it will suck power like mad at idle.

OTOH, if the cooler works and the HV works, you will be able to weld anything, forever.
If it comes with all those cables, this is GOOD, as big, fat copper cables are expensive.

It is the opposite of portable, it's about the same generation as my Synchro (perhaps one gen back, the synchro does ~square wave AC), but a significant upgrade from something like a Dialarc HF.(which can STILL get any job done, just needs more skill)

It's a REAL welder.

OTOH you can usually get a 160+A AC/DC Miller inverter (Miller Diversion or the Hobart flavored version) on Craigslist for <1K.
Your mom could carry one of those in one hand and you can do the same work.
(at a very reduced duty cycle--- The boat anchors are rated at 80-100% duty cycle, the new ones are @~10-20%)

I'd love to have some fancy pulsed DC modes and hifreq AC modes, but for MOST things it doesn't really matter, it just make doing a few things easier.

[Fiatdude]

99.99999999% of the stuff you will ever do will never need the amp -- so your breaker will be fine -- I had one of those inthe wayback and it is a great welder and if you're just learning it will take you LONG ways -- get it and enjoy it -- and always beat them a little on the price to make yourself feel better LOL

[Piledriver]

Try to score a big Argon bottle with it, and all the cables and spare consumables you can, it adds up quick.
Make CERTAIN the neck of the bottle is not stamped "property of Airco" or whatever on it, or it's a rental/lease.

Buy the best self-darkening welding helmet, with the biggest view area you can buy.

I just missed out on a used Miller digital Elite for $125.

[fusername]

that thing with all the consumables is going for 800 so I am feeling pretty sold on it. Looks like I will need to keep my 110 MIG tho to have something portable, you can't always bring the work to the machine ya know. The only thing that would have made this tricky is if the folks selling it hadn't sold the bridgport b efore I called, or I would have to pick which one I wanted more, and the bridgeport would almost deffinatly have won. A buddy who went to school for welding and fab is going to go with me to verify the machine is 100%, and I think I just blew a paycheck here. Fabulous. Buying a 3/8 top fab table with it.

oh and tip on helmet, HF auto-dark helmet for ~30 on sale plus a lincoln headstrap from my local shop for almost the same price and I have a fabulous auto-dark that I love to death.

[fusername]

welp, I bought it. No tank, but more consumables than you can shake a stick at. Seriously. and the leads are plenty long, I feel good. Time for bigger breakers tho, I read the wrong owners manual. At full tilt it doesnt draw 78 amps, no it draws 110!! Obviously I am not going to go that high, but currently my feed is only 50 due to a shortage of larger breakers.

[Piledriver]

Google for PFC caps, they were an option on my Syncro, you can get 310A out while sucking ~60 from the wall.

[fusername]

I am seeing that option in the manual, brings "peak" draw down from 114 amps @230 to 102 amps! I quote peak, since it says at full power on AC Tig welding, it can draw 30% over max rating. However the guy I bought it from had it on a 50 amp breaker, and he was using it for VW service strangly enough. turns out he once worked with my old boss, getting out of the buisneess now. Has a full set of trans tools he refuses to sell, but wants to make me buy his portalign, and I might jsut.

According to the face plate I should have the PFC as a factory option, so yay for that. unfortunately to test them I need to measure the current draw and I don't have the tools for that. I did check the arc gap and it is off, but I have yet to fiddle with it, focusing on cleaning it up now. It is surprisngly low on dust inside, just a thin well adhered layer. THe fan is always on, that will get very annoying but what are you gonna do with a machine this old. The water pump is a cute accessory, although I bet that is even louder.

Any maintence checks I should do? the selector switches look a bit oxidized from age, would emry cloth be a bad move, should I leave them as is or freshen up the surfaces? is the spark gap the only maintence thing I should touch? this manual is kind of sparse. I am glad to konw that the PFCs are already in there and that I have the high frequency start, I didn't realize it was an opiontal upgrade, but I was not gonna buy a machine without it either way.

[fusername]

oh and as for an Argon bottle, should I buy or rent? I own both my MIG bottles and oxyfuel, but am thinking maybe lease the Argon. is it more convenient or should I keep an eye to CL?

[Piledriver]

Gas/bottle prices vary wildly, mostly depending if someone managed a monopoly in your area/state, either by buying out all competitors or buying politicians to make it difficult.

For ME It costs ~$65 to refill a 330cf bottle of Ar.
It costs ~$45 to refill a 40cf bottle...
~30 for a 20cf...
You are mostly paying for the labor.
(That includes free delivery/exchange even if you own, assuming he has an owner bottle to swap)
My guy mostly makes a living delivering balloon helium for parties and florists etc, and CO2 for soft drinks/bars everywhere.

Unless you have a portable rig, or refill the pony bottles off momma with a xfer pigtail yourself, the refill cost effectively makes the smaller bottles a deeply bad deal, esp. if you buy/refill at a welding supply...

(my big 330cf bottle on the synchro has refilled my 20cf I use on the 181i several times and has barely moved, it started at >2600 PSI. When I first got it I spent many hours practising... I think it went UP.)

Around here I rent bottles, $10/mo each.
Even at $10/mo it adds up over time, I havent been able to weld jack recently due to a burn ban, but I still pay rental.

What type of amptrol does it have?
If it's a low current job like modern welders I made up an awesome-working finger-pressure based amptrol. have it on both of mine...
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=79951
The board didn't like the name "piledriver" for some reason...

[fusername]

It has a later pedal that the owner rigged onto it. I will chcek. He had a good story of calling around for a manual and accidently getting in touch w/ the son of the EE who designed that machine and promptly recieving an original manual from 1965 in the mail. That was cool, I have a thing for old manuals, color me strange. Also when I pulled the panel to clean it there is a nice factory schematic and upgrade list pasted on the side, I love old machines and how they "usually" have good documentation.

As for a tank I plan on buying the biggest I can find. The 80s are about as tall as me right, like 5-6 ft? I am looking and brand new tanks on ebay since no one has anything listed in a couple hundred miles from me. I am gonna give it 3 weeks for a deal to turn up then I just buy new. Is 80 too small? I am VERY aware of the price difference on fills with my stupid midget 20 bottle on my MIG setup, I finally got a bigger 60 one and pay like 5 bucks more to fill it. THe midget is sunday emergencys only now. The inspection will run out before I drain that again.

and your thread is great! I lke the guts to dig into stuff like that.I guess when its something you live and breath long enough you don't even think twice. I am still just out of school and wondering why my USB cable extension failed horribly. Electronics are fun though, I almost do them for a living now, but I have no schooling whatosever on the topic, so its all stabbing in the dark for me. Thank god for the internet.

[Piledriver]

NEETS--- Naval Electrical Engineering Training Series
http://electriciantraining.tpub.com/

These are public domain and EXCELLENT.
The USN uses these, and the USAF basic electronics courses at least used to cover essentially the same material.

A 250cuft is ~5 ft tall and IIRC 8" dia. A 330 is a tad taller 9+" dia.
A 250cu is the SMALLEST I'd consider buying.
http://www.airgas.com/content/details.a ... 0000000234

(a 20 or 40 is portable, useful if you have a portable rig. transfer pigtails can be had reasonably)

Craigslist is your friend, as long as you educate yourself as to what to look out for.

[fusername]

my local welding supply has a new 80 for $250 full of gas, 30 bucks a fill. Any larger and you have to rent he says. He also says a MIG cyiinder lasts the same or longer than TIG, do you agree? Because I have a 60 on my MIG and am happy w/ the lifespan of it. My TIG machine is NOT portable, so a big cylinder has no draw backs aside from price.

man I can't believe I forgot to add a cylinder to my budget, this is adding up.

[fusername]

hmmm, empty 80 CF for $190 on ebay, shipped...

[aircooledtechguy]

Boat anchor?!?!? What kinda boat do you own?? Yeah that's not a new machine with all the latest technology, but neither are the cars we drive and we get around just fine. . .

I have an 80 gallon tank on both my Mig and TIG. Most welding outfitters will just exchange your new tank for one of theirs, so don't be surprised if they take your shiny new tank and hand you one that looks beat-up but full. Be sure you're not getting a tank that is only a year away from needing hydrostatic testing or the next time you go exchange it, you may get charged for that.

Nice unit and a TOTAL screamin' deal!!