Lincoln IDEALARC TIG 300/300

[Shield Arc]

Can I TIG weld? I have never, Can I?
Looks like somehing I will be able to do.

Geez even I can Tig weld, even tho I'm not really that good at it, but I get by. It does take a lot of practice!

 

[monckywrench]

My Miller 340 (not 330) is about 1300 lbs and moves fine on its angle-iron, castered cart which I made for the purpose. Anything "above manual lift" is above manual lift, so I don't lift it that way. Everything heavy should have wheels. I'm lazy which breeds efficiency!

In hobby use the energy consumption will be trivial. I don't know about anyone else but if I'm not using a machine I turn it off.

 

[k0ua]

I am getting cold feet. I see it weighs like 890#'s and it is huge.
That means once I plant it, it stays and I do not like that. I am
leaning on passing on it and saving my pennies for a Miller. Heck
I have 3 Millers now, no TIG. Can I TIG weld? I have never, Can I?
Looks like somehing I will be able to do.

If I can tig weld, I KNOW you can TIG weld,. Your fab skills are beyond mine. Have you ever gas welded? it is very similar. Not quite the same but the same idea.. Don't you have a DC stick welder now?.. you can start with scratch start TIG on it without a lot of expense. If you don't like it you can quit, and if you do you will already have the cylinder and regulator for when you get a better TIG rig. Scratch start is just like HF start,, just not a good. and no foot pedal is just like using a foot pedal, just no where near as good The welds are the same though when you are just running a bead.. just starting sucks and ending sucks. and you have "limited"control of the heat.. But I have fixed several things with my little PA160 and my 100 buck tig torch. Give it a try.

James K0UA

 

[k0ua]

Scratch Start Tig Setup Explained - YouTube

Here is one explanation of scratch start TIG

James K0UA

 

[garagehound3]

I have had a Lincoln Idealarc Tig 300/300 since about '79 and to date it has not failed me. I have welded up to 1/2" aluminum plate (w/preheat) , stainless steel and of course regular steel. Yeh it is one large box and a heavy beast at 800+ pounds! Mine sits on a frame I made and has steel wheels. I have an 8' pwr cord connected to a wall mounted fuse/switch box (100 A-230V AC, 1 PH ). This setup allows the machine to be moved for cleaning or reorganizing my crammed garage. I use a CK 300 Amp water cooled torch w/ Bernard circulating pump/water tank. Although it has been great for welding aluminum, today's machines offer newer technologies that improve weld quality and ease of welding. I understand this machine is obsolete so finding components maybe virtually impossible. I found out this machine uses a spark gap ( 2 arcing electrodes ) to generate the RF frequency imposed on top of the welding current for the TIG welding process which means there is occasional maintenance of these electrodes. It also uses a huge transformer so it is not the best for energy efficiency and also has a loud internal fan for which I wear ear plugs, especially while grinding. If you don't mind a few of these negative items as I described and the price is reasonable it should work for you. Although this machine is a dinosaur by today's standards it still works great for me so when it dies then I will upgrade. If you bought a welder by the time I posted this info then congrats. Maybe this info will help someone else looking for this type of welder.

 

[580Dmountain]

I have had a Lincoln Idealarc Tig 300/300 since about '79 and to date it has not failed me. I have welded up to 1/2" aluminum plate (w/preheat) , stainless steel and of course regular steel. Yeh it is one large box and a heavy beast at 800+ pounds! Mine sits on a frame I made and has steel wheels. I have an 8' pwr cord connected to a wall mounted fuse/switch box (100 A-230V AC, 1 PH ). This setup allows the machine to be moved for cleaning or reorganizing my crammed garage. I use a CK 300 Amp water cooled torch w/ Bernard circulating pump/water tank. Although it has been great for welding aluminum, today's machines offer newer technologies that improve weld quality and ease of welding. I understand this machine is obsolete so finding components maybe virtually impossible. I found out this machine uses a spark gap ( 2 arcing electrodes ) to generate the RF frequency imposed on top of the welding current for the TIG welding process which means there is occasional maintenance of these electrodes. It also uses a huge transformer so it is not the best for energy efficiency and also has a loud internal fan for which I wear ear plugs, especially while grinding. If you don't mind a few of these negative items as I described and the price is reasonable it should work for you. Although this machine is a dinosaur by today's standards it still works great for me so when it dies then I will upgrade. If you bought a welder by the time I posted this info then congrats. Maybe this info will help someone else looking for this type of welder.

Thank you for the information everyone. I just inherited my dad's. My dad got it brand new. He always bragged about how he could weld down to aluminum foil with it. He gave me a couple lessons when I was growing up but I never had the time to get into it.
Anyone know what these were going for back when they sold them brand new?
I also am curious what would be a new welder that is comparable to this one?

I am in the process of moving it right now and sure wish it had castors on it.
I also just bought a Case 580D so I figured I may as well sign up and post.

 

[garagehound3]

Thank you for the information everyone. I just inherited my dad's. My dad got it brand new. He always bragged about how he could weld down to aluminum foil with it. He gave me a couple lessons when I was growing up but I never had the time to get into it.
Anyone know what these were going for back when they sold them brand new?
I also am curious what would be a new welder that is comparable to this one?

I am in the process of moving it right now and sure wish it had castors on it.
I also just bought a Case 580D so I figured I may as well sign up and post.

It has been quite awhile since I posted here but hopefully that will change since i recently moved to a rural area on a few flat acres in San Joaquin County CA. I am expecting delivery on a new Kubota L2501 tractor w multiple implements within the next two weeks so hopefully I can be considered truly legit for this forum now (haha). Getting to your Lincoln TIG 300/300 welder if it still works and you want to weld again, you might want to use it until it breaks then consider a new machine as one option. I am not sure if you can compare the TIG 300/300 welder to any of todays' machine as there are several major brands of new TIG welders and virtually all of them are the inverter type technology (no transformer used ) now which means smaller lighter weight units and the capability to "custom tweak" your weld settings for current, voltage, duty cycle and frequency. The TIG 300/300 does have a higher welding current output than a lot of the newer units. I now have a large ag building so I have the space and plenty of power for my old gray monster and have recently decided to keep it versus spending over a thousand dollars to replace it with the possibly of having to buy a new gas cooled torch or even a water cooled version which may also require a new water cooling system of some type. As I mentioned in my previous post the TIG 300/300 is an outdated machine by today's standards. If you decide to keep your dads' old machine then i would suggest fabricating a frame so the welder can securely nest in it and then weld a set of heavy duty steel vault style swivel casters onto the frame. I have my cooling water tank sitting on top of the welder but the argon bottle sits on the floor next to the machine, however I plan to weld a small captive platform for it so everything can move together. They sell TIG carts but the ones i have seen so far are for today's smaller systems. One negative issue with the TIG 300/300 machine is there is an internal smaller accessory power transformer (steps down 220V to 120 V for the front panel receptacle power) that continually draws some amount of power and emits an audible 60 cycle buzz whenever the machine is connected to 220V power. I resolved this problem by supplying power to the welder via a 100 amp rated fuse/switch box as a power disconnect function. If you have access to a 1 or 2 ton portable shop crane you maybe able to lift your welder just high enough to slide your rolling frame underneath it and lower it into the frame, at least this way you can move it around to some degree. There are definitely advantages with the newer TIG welders today but if your usage does not require their technology or smaller size you maybe better off saving some money by keeping what you have at this time remembering it is an obsolete welder and if it fails, repairs could be a nightmare. If you do plan to sell it I understand a TIG 300/300 in good shape can fetch anywhere $800 to $1200. Good Luck!

 

[580Dmountain]

My dad got it new and he took very good care of his stuff so it should still be in perfect working order.
I took a gas and stick welding class about 20 years ago but other than that, I don't have much experience.
I am currently working on my dream of getting a shop back that I once had when I was a child with my dad.
Once I get my shop built (which is the reason I bought my tractor), I will very much enjoy getting into metal working again. My dad used to build bikes and cars from scratch and I have a lot of nice equipment including a Miller wirefeed I bought my dad back when I thought I'd have more time to get into welding.

In the mean time I am challenged with finding a place to store all this equipment and therefore shopping around for a heavy duty trailer.

My dad has moved this Lincoln which he always said was about 1000 lbs (I read on here that it is 890?) with cherry pickers (engine pullers) and wall jacks, then rolling it on pipe and levering it into place. I moved it by myself today with a pipe and lifted/tilted it setting some cheap casters under it just as an experiment. It moved easier than I expected. I am going to build a temporary dolly to roll it and wench it into a trailer. The tractor is not where the welder is and wouldn't fit into the garage anyway.

I was curious what a comparable new welder is if I had to buy one. I really plan on keeping this welder but I would still like to compare the cost of storing it vs selling it and buying something new. It seems like storing it is well worth the cost of buying a new one (especially if I already have to store other equipment).

I'm looking forward to learning to use my tractor and future welding projects.

When disconnecting the hoses and lines today I noticed the water out is reverse thread for some strange reason. I'm glad I didn't force it too bad before trying clock-wise. In the future I will have to figure out how to setup water to this machine (psi). I found and downloaded the manual in case it's in there.

 

[garagehound3]

I almost moved to another state last year but due to family personal reasons we are now "stuck" here in a manner of speaking. We sold our house in 2016 and had to rent a much smaller place for a year before we finally found our current property. We had multiple storage units filled with our stuff and all of my equipment, big monthly financial drain so finding a property was top priority. One huge mistake i made was not covering the equipment properly and it suffered a lot of rust or corrosion. I am also into the live steam hobby, half way done with a live steam locomotive (1.6 scale 7.5" gauge) hoping to lay tracks down on the property someday once I set the land right which was another factor for buying a tractor with the necessary implements.

As far as the water connections go on your machine I don't use the liquid fittings and simply let the water pump run continuously while the machine is on and the welding torch appreciates it very much, this is a personal preference and saves the circulation pump from going into bypass every time the water valve closes. BTW I was told by Bernard ( Mfr of my cooling system ) do not use a water soluble lubricant in their equipment and since '79 it still runs as day one. I did add an ON/OFF switch to the pump for convenience and a bottle of RED vegetable dye to the tank water to see the flow easier through the top site glass. However I do use the gas fittings to cycle my bottle of shielding gas (Argon 100%). Long time ago I installed Q D Tweco lugs on the output studs. Recently I bought a generator/welder (Hobart Champion Elite) from TSC for use in rear portion of the property (long extension cords don't make it) so being able to easily disconnect the welding cables from the TIG 300/300 and bring them with me when using the generator/welder has been great. Hopefully my latest reply has been of some help to you and anybody else interested in this discussion.

 

[AJFickett]

I have Tig 300 and I can't get a arc at low voltage. Have to have Voltage on high to get arc on steel, and it just blows hole through 1/8 inch aluminum. And should the torch be on negative? I know with newer machines the torch goes on negative, but the manual for this one says to put it on electrode and that just melts the tungsten on DC+, works better set on DC-.