Weight of Copper in a Lincoln Idealarc 500 AC/DC?

[steel_chrome_diamond]

Hey guys,

I have an old (1960's) Lincoln Idealarc 500 AC/DC I got from my grandfather. It is about 4-1/2' tall by 3' square and weighs between 500-800lbs. It will squat a half ton truck pretty good. This baby takes 3 phase, a minimum 225 amp service. I have tried to sell this but with the size, weight, power consumption, and asking price....I have found no one interested. There is no way I could use the power of this thing or justify keeping it due to it's size and power requirements. I have been thinking there must be alot of copper in it but I'm not real sure if it worth taking apart. Would any of you have any idea about how many pounds of copper it may have? I have attached a link to the manual which has the specs and pictures of exterior and interior. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!

http://content.lincolnelectric.com//...r/im/IM192.pdf

[Cruizer]

Maybe enough for a couple cases of beer. it's the steel shunts that are so heavy.

Alot of ginding and cutting envolved to get the copper out of there, and I really mean ALOT of cutting.

[Donald Branscom]

That would be a real shame.
This is your first and only post on this forum. Thefts of copper and brass have been occuring.
This is on the up and up RIGHT? Hope so. i am not accusing you, but the timing is you know....1960?

Some shop that takes care of heavy equipment like dozers etc.,. could really use that machine.

I Hope the thieves do not think about stealing welding machines just to get the copper.
We need to stop the wars so all the copper does not all end up in foriegn countries.

I just saw a program that explained that when the earth was formed and meteors hit the earth, each meteor had contained certain metals that ended up in the ground. The meteor that hit in South Africa left the largest gold deposit.

[steel_chrome_diamond]

Yes, I own the welder. I would have to be pretty stupid to haul away almost a half ton welder just for the copper. My grandfather passed away when I was in college for engineering and our family gave me the welder since i was the only one who could use it. But the problem is I can't use something this big.

If anyone can tell me how much copper weight is in it, that would help me determine whether to just sell it or scrap it. I had someone offer $100 before but I thought there had to be at least twice that much in copper inside...of course if it will take 8 hours of cutting to get it out...I'll reconsider.

i would appreciate any input on the weight of copper or if anyone knows of someone who would be interested in it for heavy machinery. I need to get rid of it, it takes up a lot of space and I could get by with something with 1/2 of it's power.

[clearchris]

You might consider the "for sale" forum here. I'd imagine that it's worth more to a welder than it is as scrap. Craigslist might also be a good place to sell it. If I had a place to store it and you were nearby, I'd buy it.

[Jolly Roger]

Old 3 phase machines like that aren't easy to get rid of. You might consider trading it in on one you can use if you were wanting one. Go by a few of the fab shops in your area and see if any might be interested.

[duaneb55]

s_c_d,

Consider going to the User CP and posting your location. It may 'spark' an interest in your machine by someone in your area.

Good luck - it would be a shame to scrap a perfectly good welder in fact I think it's illegal in some parts.

BTW, sorry to hear about your grandfather.

[denrep]

steel_chrome_diamond,

The welder is probably actually single phase, and probably works like new; shame to scrap it really.

Confirm the input voltage and give it another chance to sell as a useable welder.

Anyway you'd be lucky to recover the labor cost of stripping the windings out of the transformer. Maybe 50 bucks max. That's IF it's not wound with aluminum ribbon.

Good Luck



Duaneb55 - I like your new tag line!

[Oldiron2]

Have you tried posting it on Craigslist? If you do, it does help to have a picture or two to show the condition. It doesn't cost anything except a little time.
You might also call the Engineering Dept. of your school and see if anyone there, or even the department itself needs one for a good price.
Lastly, consider posting a shot or two of it in the 'Old Pictures' thread under 'Projects and Pictures'.

[sunline]

Scrapping old welders as someone posted here is a pain in the usual place but copper scrap is going for big bucks. I cut an old wwll non working unit and got 130 bucks for all of it steel included. Whole it was worth 25 or 30 cents a pound cut got 4 times the money. Paid 50 for lthe welder on off chance it would work so I figure I broke even....

[John paul]

It could be loaded with asbestos,be carefull

[Xtreme Fabrication]

We have one of those at the place I work in the winter time. Thats got to be the only lincoln welder I like. Its got the smoothes arc ever. Its got to be 30 years old. But still welds just like new. I would keep it. I know if it ever burnt up, Bill the owner would cry. I would try to sell it for some better money than scrap it.

[weldersales]

Assuming your welder is a TM 500/500 we would be a buyer if the freight is not too bad. We have bought them on ebay and had them brought in on freightline. Quite heavy, seems about 1400 lbs. We have scrapped many welders lately and if you want me to ask the guys what their estimate of copper is, PM me. I agree with the others about keeping the unit since it is so versatile, arc, gouging, stud, flux core, etc. Don't be intimidated by that nameplate draw, the actual load is about the same as smaller wuss units a quarter the size for equal loads. Fine machine. These are not built any longer. weldersales