lincoln welder dial wont turn

[jdw]

hello,

i found a lincoln stick welder 220v for $150. its an older buzz box with amperage settings from 50 to 200 amps. i turn the dial clockwise and it stops at 90 amps and no further, i turn it counter clockwise and it stops at 175 amps and no further. it wont turn to any of the other amperage settings (135, 150 etc..) what is wrong with it. i didnt buy it because i didnt know if it could be fixed. any suggestions?

thanks

jdw

[Sandy]

Well seems like it's has to be either click stop at various settings or wire wound. Not much gets in the way of those other than mud dobbers and crud. Pull the cover off and see what you see. ;)

[ss42768]

This is a common problem with these cheapie Lincoln buzz boxes, what usually happens is the range switch is burned in that position and needs to be replaced. We see about 3-4 of these units a year come into our shop. I've seen some of these units that were less than 2 years old with this problem, which is good for the owner as it's still under warranty. If this unit is out of warranty you are looking at approximately $60.00-$70.00 for the range switch and about 1-1/2 to 2 hours labor to change. The reason it takes so long to change is due to the way Lincoln assembles the leads to this switch, their is (if memory serves me correctly) about 12 different leads that are soldered to this switch, when Lincoln builds this they dip it into a solder bath to solder all the leads, great for building these fast, but it s---ks for the guy that has to undo all of those leads and then resolder every one to the new switch. I've had a few guys come in and just buy the switch and tackle this themselves, just to save the labor charge. If it were me I'd definitely pull the cover off of this unit before buying, and look at the copper strips that the range switch stop on, if you see one or more burned, therein is the problem.
Good Luck!

[Doolittle]

erg, how bout 4 heavy duty toggles? or is it a switch resistor assembly?

[gnm109]

This is a common problem with these cheapie Lincoln buzz boxes, what usually happens is the range switch is burned in that position and needs to be replaced. We see about 3-4 of these units a year come into our shop. I've seen some of these units that were less than 2 years old with this problem, which is good for the owner as it's still under warranty. If this unit is out of warranty you are looking at approximately $60.00-$70.00 for the range switch and about 1-1/2 to 2 hours labor to change. The reason it takes so long to change is due to the way Lincoln assembles the leads to this switch, their is (if memory serves me correctly) about 12 different leads that are soldered to this switch, when Lincoln builds this they dip it into a solder bath to solder all the leads, great for building these fast, but it s---ks for the guy that has to undo all of those leads and then resolder every one to the new switch. I've had a few guys come in and just buy the switch and tackle this themselves, just to save the labor charge. If it were me I'd definitely pull the cover off of this unit before buying, and look at the copper strips that the range switch stop on, if you see one or more burned, therein is the problem.
Good Luck!

Yes, that happens to some of them. I think the reason may be that the previous owner changed setting while the machine was operating. Just a guess.........

[smithboy]

Try pulling the knob out as you try to turn it. Pull pretty hard. This works sometimes. Those have some really strong interier dohickies that try to maintain positive contact between two other dohickies in each position. Rust and crud makes it harder to move between settings.