Lincoln AC/DC welder

Hello. I am looking to buy a new stickwelder. Considering the Lincoln, Hobart, Miller machines. I read Home Depot has the Lincoln AC/DC for under $400 and would do me fine. But I like the amperage controls of the Hobart/Miller better. Does anybody know the amperage for DC settings of the Lincoln machine? I mean how big of jump in amps between clicks. I think in AC it is 15 amp increments but I don't know DC. I also seem to read that just about everybody who has a welder shipped to them receives them with shipping damage?
Thank you.

I recently bought an Everlast Power Arc 200 inverter DC welder after reading several of "Puddles" comments. It only weighs about 38# making it very portable and output amperage adjusts digitally 1 amp at a time. For $350, it is a marvelous welder for me so far. It does not have AC capability.

I would HIGHLY recommend a Stickmate, the Hobart welder.

Its like a Miller Thunderbolt but it costs less and puts out 5 more amps.

I know a lot of people like AC/225s, and while Ive never used the AC/DC version, I can say that on paper the Hobart is still a MUCH better machine. Higher amperage, higher duty cycle, infinite adjustment (big deal), and I believe a better warranty.

I bought one in early 2011 and beat the crap out of it, still have it. Its an exceptionally good machine, welds like a dream on DC and welds worlds better than my AC/225 on the AC side.

Here are a couple videos of my experiences, first is my going to buy my stickmate, then is a review after I'd had it for a while.
video1 video2
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Ohio, I believe that the Lincoln stick welder that sells for under $400 at Home Depot is not an AC/DC unit. I think you will find it is the buzz box. Do not misunderstand me. The buzz box is a fine welder for around the farm, and I have done a lot of good stuff with one. It is not, however, AC/DC. It is merely AC, and it has no infinite control. Basically it is a tapped transformer, where various points on the transformer are used to provide greater and less amps for welding as opposed to where the transformer moves relative to the primary and secondary windings which gives very close adjustablility. I"ld say "Infinite Control". Most of the welders that sell for under $400 will not have the infinite control you are refering to. The tapped transformer type of adjustment cost much less to produce then the saturated type. The crank that allows you the unlimited precision in adjustment is one of them things you pay more for in the high end welders.

Yes the HD model is an AC-DC, looks like it jumps 20 amps at a time.

Personally I wouldn't have a machine that makes 20-amps jumps. Sounds like a good candidate for a boat anchor to me! :roll:

HD has the AC225 in store for $299 and the AC/DC model on their website for $387. I didn't realize the amperage jumped in increments of 20 which is way too much. Lanse video was very good and informative, nice job. TSC has the Stickmate for $499 and local Airgas has Thunderbolt for less than $100 more than Hobart. The Everlast welder looks like good power and most of all portable but think I will go with a Miller at Airgas. I've bought from them 12 years ago with good results and great service. I guess the price of the Lincoln is what caught my eye.

(quoted from post at 00:24:19 11/19/12) Yes the HD model is an AC-DC, looks like it jumps 20 amps at a time.

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The 225 AC-Dc has 11 steps from 30-125A The jumps are 5 to 15A depending on where you are on the scale.

Mine is a good basic welder, not nearly what my Dad's Lincoln 250 is, but it only cost 1/4 as much.

Just for the heck of it I will add a bit from an adult welding career. For a farm welder, an AC is good enough. A DC welder won't usually weld around a corner without pulling the bead in one direction or another...AC won't do that. You can also get a carbon arc torch to heat a nut or bolt red hot to help remove a stuck one, DC will do it but, I use the AC cause it is better. Search on ebay for one or a yard sale. If a tombstone Lincoln weighs only 35/40 pounds, it has aluminum windings in it, try to find an older one that has the copper windings. Weld some with the used welder at high amperage and then get your nose right down in it's exhaust air flow and smell and if it smells like transformer stink, pass on it. The older 180's didn't have an exhaust/cooling fan, I wouldn't recommend one of them. The 75 amp setting with the circle around it is 100% duty cycle for thawing pipes with.
I saw a video of a mig or tig welder ( don't remember which )welding a piece of aluminum foil together and two razor blades, real neat! DC will weld thinner metal than AC as you have better control. If you go for the AC machine, get some of the AC 7018 rod, it'll weld mild steel or alloy steel and generally do a better job. If you weld a lot of old rusty/greasy metal be sure and get some 6011 rod. If you have trouble starting AC, lay a piece of scrap steel next to your welding area and start the weld on it and move over to the piece that you're going to weld.
I had an Lincoln Idealarc 250/300 AC/DC welder that I bought a high frequency rig for and set beside it and a bottle of Argon and welded aluminum for years with it...on AC. Thats about all I can think of, hope it helps someone.
Today I have an AC/DC Airco Bumble Bee that is as tough as they come and a Miller that goes up to 460 amps with a tig setup on it. I only gave $400 for it, look around, they're out there. Best is to go to a Fab shop that is selling out. ohfred41

(quoted from post at 07:17:09 11/19/12)A DC welder won't usually weld around a corner without pulling the bead in one direction or another...AC won't do that.

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OK Fred, I'm fairly new to welding, and this statement has me confused!

The DC settings are 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 90, 95, 105, 115, 125. Those appear to be 10 amp jumps to me, except in the highly useful 85 to 95 amp range where they are 5 amp jumps.

A 10 amp jump means you are never more than 5 amps away from the ideal setting. For instance, if 110 amps would be perfect for what you are welding, you have to do it at either 105 or 115. I don't not believe people here who say they can dial the arc in within an amp or two, but I can't. Since you're asking questions about a home shop quality welder, I'm assuming you're not a professional welder, or planning to take up welding as a profession. Maybe you don't need a welder with more fine tuning control than the Lincoln AC/DC. I've got an AC/DC Lincoln like you're asking about, and I've got a Hobart AC/DC Stickmate (and several better welders). If I had to choose one of those two to be my only welder, I'd probably flip a coin.

BTW, a few years back I e-mailed Lincoln Electric to ask when they had stopped using copper windings on the transformers of their 225-AC & 225-AC/DC welders. The person who responded was the Lincoln historian. He told me they had never used copper on those welders. But so many people swear that they have, or have seen, old welders of that model with copper windings that I'm forced to believe that Lincoln doesn't know what they're talking about. It's like my nephew claims to know a guy who picked up a hitchhiker who told him Jesus was coming soon, and then disappeared. You would have to be a total skeptic to not believe that.

Stan

Lanse,

What do you mean when you say you "beat the crap out of it"? From the videos of yours I've watched, you don't appear to abuse equipment. If you mean you've had the Stickmate for almost two years and you've used it hard and it still works, I'd consider that not too surprising. I bought one new about six years ago, and I haven't used it a lot. Even with only moderate usage it's developed some problems I'd expect after long, hard use: The linkage to the amperage setting (movable shunt) has gotten sloppy, and the mode selector switch sometimes doesn't click in when I change from AC+ to DC, for instance, and I get no arc until I fiddle with it awhile. Those aren't fatal problems, but they don't make me think more highly of the welder, either.

Stan

My Lincoln 225 weigh 100 pounds easy.Bot mine in 1965 for 93 bucks.Dufus types repeat what they read with no real knowledge of the 225c welder.All wire in welders has a varnish coating on wire that Dufus thinks is copper wire.

Stan, I have tried the Stickmate amperage control and think it needs work.Feels sloppy, I like my Lincolns tap switch current adjustment better.Most of my welding is done with an old 10 buck 150 amp welder.The Lincoln 225 comes out on the tough jobs.I bought the Lincoln when I had some tough farm welding jobs.

Puddles,I started welding in the early 50s, so you might listen when I talk on welding.

(quoted from post at 16:31:35 11/19/12) Puddles,I started welding in the early 50s, so you might listen when I talk on welding.

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What brought this on? :?

You know, Puddles, I"ve used a buzz box to weld many around the farm projects. Without a doubt it isn"t as nice as the Dialarc, but to consign it to boat anchor is a bit much. They are an alright machine. The spread at the adjustment would be better if it were an infinite control, but for what it can do it is alright.

What an interesting discussion. LoL With DC inverters available for the same and often less than a transformer AC/DC machine, one would have to have a mental lapse to not consider one. If you can't find an Everlast look at a Thermal Arc. Better in every way than a low end buzz box even if it is AC/DC. Especially for a beginner, DC current will make a world of difference! I'm confused by the same statement as Puddles? If you're talking about arc blow, that doesn't happen until you're over about 200 amps using 3/16" or larger rods. Most non professional welders never use 3/16" and a buzz box wouldn't burn too many before it burned up. Lots of new technology in welding so it doesn't really matter if you've been welding for 50 years or 5 month's. What worked in the past isn't necessarily the best option TODAY. Old SA 200's are exception to this rule.

I say there are welders and there are those of us who can weld. Me I am just someone who can weld. I did work for a bit in the weld shop of two of my Coast Guard units. Most of what I weld is either 6011 and 7018 and some small amount of nickle rod. I've used some nice stick machines. Some of the rigs that the Coast Guard has are divine to weld with, but, they are far more expensive than I would buy for doing what I do around my place. Yeah, I realize that some of the nice machines are very nice, and some of those sweet Miller welding machines also TIG a great stainless steel job. If I was a welder by trade, I'ld need one of those machines, yet, for what I do, a buzz box with a tapped transformer does fine. I bought my last buzz box for $60 used. If I could get a Dialarc for that money, I would. If you are a welder by trade, I respect your needing a better machine than I need, yet, I don't see why you need to disrespect a reliable old work horse like the buzz box. I've laid plenty of bead with 3/16" rod 6011 and some 7018.

Bob I guess you did see where I wrote "Personally"? Chances are I have higher expectation from welding machines than most members here. :wink:

Don"t get me wrong, Puddles. I want certain features when I do get a TIG machine, though if I do get one, I will likely accept what is available for the money. I am also not blind to the fact that good stick welding machines are nicer. It is much easier to weld overhead with a nice DC machine, yet, considering what I do and how much I do it around here, I just can"t justify the cost. I"m guessing that you are a welder by trade. Am I wrong to figure that if you have a buzz box, you can lay a good bead with it? Seriously, if you don"t have your nice rig, you can still lay a quality bead, right? I"m just a guy that can weld, and ultimately as long as the welder has the minimum standards, I am still able to lay a good quality bead.

Bob I worked as a weldor for a few years. Three of those years was in a fab shop building nuclear waste tanks, the rest was building bridges and container ship docks. I worked mostly as a rigger.
I too have a buzz box, first welder I ever bought, nothing in the world wrong with a buzz box! At one time I did a lot of Tig welding with this little machine. I would have a problem with any machine that took 20-amp jumps was all I was saying.
Here is the buzz box I have, and some 7018 run on AC with the same machine. This 7018 had never been in a rod oven.

Hi Bob. I didn't check back on here for a few days and glad now I did as the info on the amp control for the DC Lincoln was incorrect. Stan posted the correct 10 and even 5 amp adjustments which I can live with for what I do. I too am just a guy who can weld, not a self proclaimed expert. Thanks also to 36 Coupe, Fred, Stan, RG for your input and exerience. The buzz box will fit my budget and welding needs. Have a good holiday fellas.

Puddles,

Has your property washed away yet? For awhile there on Sunday it was coming down about as hard as it ever does here---and you get about half again as much as we do in Oly, don't you?

I had one of those Monkey Ward AC/DC buzz boxes once. It was their Powr-Kraft brand, made by Century, I think. The handbrake type clamp on the amperage selector lever wouldn't lock securely, and the welder would change settings during use. It was an interesting effect---once. I could make it work with a bar clamp vertically beside the lever and a pinch clamp to hold the setting. It was a slight inconvenience, but mostly it was embarassing. It looked like every other jury-rigged tool I keep running long after I should just give up and buy a new one.

Those are some beautiful beads with that 7018, especially run on AC with that welder. I ran some with a Lincoln 225-AC welder that one of the instructors brought to the college welding shop last year. They weren't as nice as yours, but they weren't bad. I also ran some Lincoln 6010 5P++++ with it. That didn't look good at all, but it proved to me that it was possible. About like stick welding aluminum---you just wouldn't do it if you had almost any other option.

Stay dry,

Stan

Another thing to keep in mind, is the Longevity StickWeld 250.

First time ive said anything to the internet on it, Ive got one coming from California right now. Should be here in a few days.

Its a little DC inverter, thats kinda like the PowerArc 200, just has 50 more amps and arc force adjustment.

Stan we have a seasonal creek that runs into a pond on the back of our property. The pond has an 8-inch pipe for drain, Monday morning the pipe was full. I also heard down town Port Orchard had 2-feet of water in the street!
Oh I don't know, I spent one miserable winter there at the Port of Olympia building their first concrete dock. For a week or so we broke ice going out to the derrick every morning, (isn't that salt water?) and worked with over a foot of snow on deck. Soon as we got all the piling drove, it was off to Bellingham. One of those out of the pan, and into the fire kind of things. :lol:

Lanse a member over on Tractorbynet brought his StickWeld 250 over for me to help him with his welding. Really nice machine! Just love the adjustable arc force, and hot start. I wish I would have waited for that or even the PowerArc 300. But I'm happy with the V350-Pro!

Lets get it all out in the open, I don't want to sound bossy or anything like that but if someone has a Lincoln Tombstone welder with aluminum windings, please weigh it (and post it). The copper one that 36 coupe has weighs in at around 100 lbs. Then we'll all know. Thanks bunches, ohfred

No copper wire in my 225.Ive oiled the fan bushings in mine and cleaned the switches in a few Lincolns over the years.The bulk of weight is in the tranformer cores in welders.i have an old 150 amp welder that is wound with DCC copper covered wire.DCC is double cotton covered.