Help with lincoln 225ac welder

[kossetx]

I got home yesterday evening and the top hinge of my wrought iron gate had given loose. It had obviously been wire welded because there was very little penetration in the weld. I'm talking less that 1/16 and more like 1/32". I'm surprised it lasted the past 15 years.

Anyway, no biggy, I'll get the tombstone out and reweld it better than it was new. I get the Lincoln out and I have some 3/32 6011's and it is set on 135A. It won't turn lower than that. Hmmm. will it turn up? Sure does, only now it's at 150A and won't turn down. I managed to get a decent weld on the gate while frying some 3/32" rods. I could only use about the 1st 3" before they fried. The amp control will only move one way, up.

Anyone had this happen or heard of it happening? Something must be broken and stuck in the amp control preventing it from moving down. I guess I'll try pulling it apart this weekend to see. TIA for any info. MP

 

[RedNeckRacin]

unplug it BEFORE working on it

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Rust and crud in the rotating control more than likely. If you have a air compressor you might try blasting it out. Just watch out for flying particles. And like mentioned unplug that tombstone first or you will be laying under a Tombstone.
I had a similar welder and used some good ole WD40 to free up the control knob.
Jim

 

[Highbeam]

I opened up my tombstone a while back to replace the cord with a real long one and the inside of the box is very simple except for the crazy fins. The way that the amp control kind of clunks into each position tells me that there must be a spring and detent system in there with maybe a little ball.

You may have some junk in there or the little detent mechanism may have collapsed.

The good news is that these welders are cheap and pay for themselves very quickly.

 

[KYErik]

I have a 30+ year old lincoln 225 amp welder and I have the same issue. The amp selector/pointer on my unit is made of tough plastic. I have trouble with it sticking in the 75 to 90 amp range. I give it a quick twist with moderate force and that works OK for me (it moves quickly sometimes I overshoot my desired setting). If I just give it a slow steady pressure, it won't budge.

I took it apart a few years ago and it does have a spring loaded lever that fits into a groove- it looked difficult to "adjust" or patch so I just live with it.

It seemed like the selector mechanism had some twisting play to it so it didn't want to disengage when you gave it slow steady pressure. Let us know if you find an easy way to fix it.

 

[kossetx]

Is wd-40 non conductive? I've never looked at the can to see, in part because I'd be mighty leary about spraying and oil into an electrical part.

Lincoln says replace the switch. I'll see after I get into it. I tried to move it a hard as I could without fear of breaking it, and it won't budge. Too bad it couldn't just keep spinning clockwise.

 

[JB4310]

I have an old Lincoln Thunderbolt that I found on the side of the road 30 years ago and it still works, had the same issue but not sure if yours is made the same way, mine has the turning crank on top to dial in the amp setting, had mine apart only 2 times in the 30 years, there is a threaded rod and parts that need to move up and down on it, I'm sure you would figure it out once you open it up.

The first time I opened it was when I found it, the fan was loose and there was no indicator, I just tied the fan down with baling wire, cleaned and lubed the rod and fashioned an indicator out of some flexible material. After all that time and use I had to open it again recently to replace that sliding indicator, the fan is still tied down, rattles a little but works fine, never thought it would last that long.

Sorry, after reading your post again sounds like yours is an electric switch as opposed to my mechanical crank. if you can't just loosen it up you would probably have no choice but to replace it.

 

[Danno1]

.

It is perfectly fine to spray WD-40 into a switch. In fact, it is how you get the water out of a flooded distributor cap (10K + volts).

.

 

[TrippleT]

You might go to a radio shack, or some electrical store and get some contact spray, and spray it on there. There are several types some with a lubricant as well. And, they are designed to clean contacts and lubricate at the same time

 

[RobJ]

It had obviously been wire welded because there was very little penetration in the weld. I'm talking less that 1/16 and more like 1/32".

hehe, good one!!

hose it down with wd-40. Crank it up some more and see if it'll come back. If not then the left turn detent is broken.

Stay away from wd-41.