Linde tig/stick

[scottstewart03]

I have a chance to buy one of these.



Can anyone tell me anything about it? Any help would be appreciated as I can't seem to find any info on this one. None of the pics I've seen have the big red pointer on the front. The only thing I know is that there's the HF on top and its a 250. No water cooler of foot pedal. It looks pretty basic with no knobs or anything like the Heliarcs that I've seen manuals for.

Are all of these old Ltec and Linde welders basically the same? Am I going to regret buying it for my first tig machine? They're power hogs right? Any idea on hourly cost?

Help convince me to buy it!

[scottstewart03]

Turns out some info was right under my nose. Rick V posts from the other day had a nice big photo of the same welder. So thanks to Rick!

[DSW]

Originally Posted by scottstewart03

Am I going to regret buying it for my first tig machine? They're power hogs right? Any idea on hourly cost?

Help convince me to buy it!

Whether you regret it or not will depend on a lot of things.

Lets start with what you want to weld. If this is for steel/stainless you stand a chance. If you want to do alum, skip it and get a dedicated tig rather than a CC stick machine with a HF unit. You will want the "extras" learning most likely. It will greatly simplify things.

Second thing I'd look at is your budget. If you have the extra cash and are serious about learning tig, then I'd suggest getting a dedicated DC tig at a minimum and an AC/DC tig if you want to do alum and not have to get a 2nd machine in the future. Expect a large older tig like Zaps 330A/BP to set you back $500-800, and a newer used Syncrowave 180-200 for example to set you back $1000-1500. You can also pick up some nice small DC only tigs like the Maxstar 150's both new and used in the middle of this range as well. Many can't justify those numbers to learn the basics.

A machine like this will get you started for less usually. I'd guess this is available for less than $500. If it's much more I'd look at a better unit myself. It's certainly not a bad setup, though the dedicated tigs are certainly easier to learn on. You will not have a pedal to control your amps. You'll have to learn to do it the old fashioned way by setting your amps and then controlling your heat with arc length, travel speed and adding filler. It's a bit more difficult, especially if you are trying to do this on your own with out direct instruction, but it is doable. One other downside to this machine is that amp control will be a bit crude. Not as bad as a tapped machine, but not as easy as a machine with finer controls. Biggest plus with this will be the low price to get you started.

As far as power, I wouldn't worry about that too much. This will eat less power than say a huge 330 would, and I doubt you will be doing enough unless you plan to do production work with this that it will matter much.

I'm not trying to scare you off of this, just trying to understand what you are looking to get out of the purchase so we can help you make an informed decision.

[scottstewart03]

Thanks for the advice.

The price is the big thing that has me looking at it. I wasn't planning on buying one just yet but I might not be able to pass. The other thing is that I was actually looking for is an ac/dc stick, which this would be. So to spend around the same and have a tig to mess around with would be nice.

Could a foot pedal be added? I know I would like to have that

[DSW]

There's no electronic contactor or amp control on that machine, so unless you are really good at electronics I'd say "no" to adding a pedal.

If you are looking for a basic scratch start DC tig rig to play with and an AC/DC stick machine, I'd go for it if the price is right, say maybe $300 or so. If they want say around $200, you are probably stupid not to get it even if you simply want a nice old AC/DC stick machine. At $300ish, I don't think you would loose any thing. You could separate everything and sell the HF box, torch and reg and the AC/DC stick machine and probably get all your money back with no issues. Even at $500ish you'd get most of your money back sold separate when you wanted to upgrade. Basically you'd "rent" the machine for however long you decide to keep it for what ever the difference in prices is. The only issue with this is that it might take a bit to sell the pieces and you'd have to wait or have the extra cash to get the newer machine. Over $700 and I'd keep looking myself unless you are in an area that has absolutely nothing. You are just getting too close to what a nicer used tig would set you back.

[Rick V]

Hi scottstewart03,
I have two of these Linde 250 AC/DC arc welder but no HF box - I didn't know that existed!
My wheeler/Dealer deals buying mine were $100 - no leads and $300 - 50 ft #2 leads and 25 ft SOW #8 power cable. So, I would say the welding machine is worth an average of $250 anyway. Add on the HF for ??? and there you are.

The machine welds nice, a mite agreesive as it has a 30 volt arc compared to a 25 volt arc of a Lincoln AC/DC 225/125. Makes it super for stick welding aluminum! The welder weighs about 15 lbs more than a Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 but can put out a whopping 250 amps DC compared to the Lincolns 125 - big difference. Nothing is free however, it will draw 76 amps at 230 volts if you really want to weld at 250 amps! Stay under 160 DC amps welding and a normal welding circuit will be just fine. I like this welder - big punch (250 DC) in small light weight (132 lbs) package and old school - not a circuit board anywhere! That's Reliability.

Yes a Lincoln Idealarc will also put out a similar 250 DC amps at a better 30% duty cycle but it's 350 - 400 lbs weight penalty is enough to bench it.

There it is... you figure the deal.

[scottstewart03]

well I think I'm going to pass on it. The guy wouldn't go down on the price......

I wasn't in any hurry to get one so I guess I'll just wait until the time is right. I'd rather just buy the one I really want and be done with it. Thanks for all the info though. It's always a pleasure to learn about this stuff.

[Rick V]

What was the seller's price?

[scottstewart03]

Well I'd have to drive a bit to get it so when all said and done about $350. I've been on a bit of a spending spree lately so I'm not sure if a few hundred more is in the cards. Especially considering another bottle, consumables, and all the other little $10 things I'll feel like buying at the welding store.

I do have another question about it though. With the HF how does the arc start work? Is it scratch or is there some sort of on/off control at the torch?