Hunny Bunny
New member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2022
- Messages
- 1
- Tractor
- 1974 Long 450 2WD
I have an old Lincoln tombstone welder which overheated and the switch not only stuck, but it broke.
I fixed it by pulling it apart, drilling through the broken parts, driving a long steel screw and some epoxy through it, and then carefully sanding down the epoxy until it was the original part dimension, and then I lightly sanded down the 'clicker-clutch' on the front which reduced the total pressure required to turn the switch.
It is easier to turn now, but I realize that it would have been better to have used a high temp epoxy...
I just do not have any, and did not have time to wait for any.
Should it overheat in the future, I will use high temp glass filled epoxy and some high temp fiberglass builder's rod and make a copy of the original part, since you can not purchase said original part by its self, but instead have to purchase the entire switch assembly which is more than I paid for the welder AND a HELL of a lot of work because you have to carefully disconnect the old one, lead by lead and reconnect it, which needs special crimping and uncrimping tools. [pausing to breathe]
Once you know what you are doing, its not super difficult, just a little bit of a wait while the epoxy cures.
IF you get to the problem BEFORE the part melts enough to STICK internally, you could possibly put some pipe Teflon around the area as a heat shield and prevent part failure. That is what I would have done if I had known what the problem was sooner.
I made a sloppy 2 part video of the repair, if people want to see how it is done, just post a response here and I will upload them and post them so you can see it in action.
I fixed it by pulling it apart, drilling through the broken parts, driving a long steel screw and some epoxy through it, and then carefully sanding down the epoxy until it was the original part dimension, and then I lightly sanded down the 'clicker-clutch' on the front which reduced the total pressure required to turn the switch.
It is easier to turn now, but I realize that it would have been better to have used a high temp epoxy...
I just do not have any, and did not have time to wait for any.
Should it overheat in the future, I will use high temp glass filled epoxy and some high temp fiberglass builder's rod and make a copy of the original part, since you can not purchase said original part by its self, but instead have to purchase the entire switch assembly which is more than I paid for the welder AND a HELL of a lot of work because you have to carefully disconnect the old one, lead by lead and reconnect it, which needs special crimping and uncrimping tools. [pausing to breathe]
Once you know what you are doing, its not super difficult, just a little bit of a wait while the epoxy cures.
IF you get to the problem BEFORE the part melts enough to STICK internally, you could possibly put some pipe Teflon around the area as a heat shield and prevent part failure. That is what I would have done if I had known what the problem was sooner.
I made a sloppy 2 part video of the repair, if people want to see how it is done, just post a response here and I will upload them and post them so you can see it in action.
