How to wire a 115V outlet on a Lincoln SAE300 DC arc welder?

[RobertDoubrava]

I've been getting tired of stringing out 150ft of extension cords out to the spot in the field where I have the welding machine at and thought of something. I've seen other Lincoln SAE300 machines with outlets for 115V AC/DC power tools, but what wires on the exciter do you hook the outlet to? Anybody ever done this before? I know I can't run big stuff off of it, just small power tools.

Thanks,

Robert

[falconblack]

If you can post a wire diagram from your welder or some good pics of the wiring inside I am sure one of us can help you.I am just not familiar with you machine.Also get yourself a volt meter when testing for power off the exciter and this should tell you where the power is to hook up your plug.

[RobertDoubrava]

I'll try to find a wiring diagram on the Lincoln website. Thanks for the reply.

[WeldOnWater]

you wont find any wiring diagram on lincoln's website. copy down your welder's model, code and serial number and call lincoln direct and have them fax you a wiring schematic for the welder and a schematic for the exciter.

[RobertDoubrava]

Yeah I found that out, I did get them to mail me a copy of the original owner's manual awhile back though. I'll see what happens, thanks for the reply.

[RobertDoubrava]

Well LincolnElectric emailed me a couple schematics and some other manuals about general operation and use, and one on servicing the automatic idler(which hasn't worked in 20+ years). Anyway, one schematic showed to use the red and black wires going from the exciter to the welder, so the problem is solved. I'll try to post it here in case someone else needs it too.

[RobertDoubrava]

I tried to upload the schematics, but the file they are in is a .TIF file and it won't upload. If anybody needs these let me know and I can send them in an email. I'm going to wire up the outlet tomorrow and try a grinder out. I checked the wires with a multimeter and it's getting 115VDC going through so it oughtta work great.

[falconblack]

Sounds good was there any AC also?Let me know how it works for you.

[RobertDoubrava]

Nope, this rig is a DC only machine. I didn't get to wire the outlet up yet because of bad weather, but I have the wires and the outlet is ready to go on. I finished my BBQ pit with it yesterday, I just need to smooth the welds up that didn't turn out very good. I probably burnt 20rods while building it, they kept sticking 'cause the armature was really dirty and it wasn't putting out a very smooth arc. I cleaned 'em up and didn't have any problems after that.

[RobertDoubrava]

Well tomorrow I'm going to wire the outlet up and I'll take some pics of the rig and all the junk that I'm working on. :laugh:

[RobertDoubrava]

Well as usual the weather didn't work out! It's in the 30's right now and it's misting outside. I don't mind the cold weather, but raining at the same time won't work for me. The old welder sure didn't like this weather either. I wish I had shop to work in!!!!!!!!!! That might be the next project...................LOL Hey if y'all have time check out the weather here and you'll understand:

http://www.weather.com/weather/local/78102?lswe=78102&lwsa=WeatherLocalUndeclared&from=whatwhere

[RobertDoubrava]

WELL now its gettin real hot outside, BUT I finally got it done, here's what I did. I used about 6ft of HD extension cord with a HD extension cord plug on the other end. I just crimped a ring terminal on each wire, and ran the cord into the exciter housing, and connected 'em to the posts where the brush wires and wires going to the welder were connected to. Took me maybe 5 minutes to do and it worked great. I'll get a pic of it sooner or later.

[falconblack]

Great I hope you find that alot better now you have power where the welder is.Oh and hope you get your shop next.

[RobertDoubrava]

Great I hope you find that alot better now you have power where the welder is.Oh and hope you get your shop next.




That thing about the shop was mainly a joke. :D I probably won't build one till I get my certification and earn a lot of $$$. :drinkup: We're gonna start building the trailer for the machine sooner or later, just need to put the trailer hitch on the frame, figure out how to mount the machine, and make a space for some toolboxes and the oxy/gas cylinders.

[pl747]

On any of the Lincoln DC machines the right brush holder is positive and the left brush holder is negative, looking at the exciter from the the exciter end. There should be 120 volts dc between them at welding speed.

[mattc]

on my sam 400 they have a small belt driven generator that puts out 120 AC

[TxRedneck]

Matt makes a good point. Only pure dc with only dc aux Im aware of is the SA 200
Might want to double check this

[RobertDoubrava]

No, this machine does not have any belt driven parts on the welder. The power comes straight from the exciter, this is what I was told by many people from Lincoln electric and a bunch of old timers have told me the same thing. It does show around 120-125VDC off the exciter brush leads, I don't see why that won't work.

Matt, what year is your rig? Mine is a 1947, and the SAE300's back then didn't have AC power, they had one outlet for DC current though. Some of the later ones in the 50's and 60's had a belt driven generator for AC, I just saw one on ebay about a month ago that had a 4cyl Wisonsin engine powering a 250 DC unit.

[mattc]

my sam 400 is a mid 70s model, it has a 2cyl detroit diesel on it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/mattcatledge/welder1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/mattcatledge/welder4.jpg

[RobertDoubrava]

Cool rig! Can you run MIG off of that? Just wondering about the extra knobs and stuff. Mine only has the job selector(overhead/vertical, normal, large electrodes, and special applications), the electrode polarity switch(pos., off, and neg.), and the amp adjuster that goes from 90 to 400.

[boilermaker]

if you send me a pic of the exciter I might be able to help , I have 2 of these sae-300s and the one that I was robbed of parts has the plug you are looking for and I can get a better idea if I see what I am looking at .

[RobertDoubrava]

I don't have time to take pictures of it, if you can get a pic of the one you have I'll know if I need it. Is it mounted on the control panel under the amp/polarity controls? If it is, it won't fit on mine. The welder I have doesn't have a cutout for the outlet, I think the outlet was mounted next to the connections for the welding leads under the gas tank. I have a parts breakdown of the exciter though, if that will help I can email it to you.