Lincoln Idealarc 250-DC Troubleshoot...

[Danl]

Here is the pic of my machine:

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/attachment.php?attachmentid=19409&d=1253471243

I copied it from another Discussion. It is my machine, except, mine is not quite as pretty.

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The issue: I came in yesterday morning and went create a couple of flag holders the All Wars Museum parade float. One of those big paying projects, NOT! But important nonetheless. Anyway it seemed to start up and sound fan with the fan running and all.... But when I went to weld all I got was some little "sparkles" and the wire would turn red hot and melt a little, but no significant arc. I was on the mig side. No one had been around to mess with any settings. So I checked that both 110/120 phases were hot. Good. I pulled the cover off and shined up the contacts where the input wiring went in to the machine. I tested that with the machine on, that both sides of the switch was hot. That about covers my skill at tracking down anything wrong inside the machine. I watched this video on youtube.com... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT-V-ODZpCo Hmmm not my machine but, maybe I could learn something...

Any help would be appreciated. It has been a great running machine that I have used for about 4 years now.

[Danl]

Here is the photo. Saves going to the link....

[Aeronca41]

May be hard to find Lincoln info on a Miller forum, but there may be some people who can help. Sorry, but that's not me-no knowledge of that machine or Lincoln's support.

[cruizer]

Cause your mig gun is damaged, copper harness has pulled out of one end

[Danl]

Hmmm.... I will certainly check the mig gun harness... I tend to think that can't be it, however I did have it apart for some reason a few weeks ago. So maybe it does have some latent effect. I will try to check that tomorrow afternoon. Thanks so much for at least getting pointed in some direction. Could it be that simple? Please I hope so...

However I did find a deal on Craigslist for an XMT I bit on this... Paid with PayPal so hopefully will have a guarantee. Looks like a good deal to me and an upgrade. http://kokomo.craigslist.org/tls/5758369941.html

[Danl]

cruizer The gun is new, relatively speaking, 6 months (Tweco). However it seemed very worthwhile to take the gun apart and check this basic possibility. I did just that, but it was quite good. The copper is new and shiny with good contact on either end.

Aeronca41 Yeah quite right, however I read a lot of posts on this forum and many of you guru types seem to know a lot about all kinds of welders. The old Lincoln has been a good work horse for me and my first "real" welder that could really perform. My son is getting taking a welding course now and really starting to like it. So I am hoping that maybe I will have something really good for him to grab and run with. He is 20 and quite handy. Many young people are helpless without a phone in their hand. (He does like his phone, but he will put it away.)

So any thoughts on how to test this machine out would continue to be appreciated.

[Aeronca41]

Aeronca41 Yeah quite right, however I read a lot of posts on this forum and many of you guru types seem to know a lot about all kinds of welders. The old Lincoln has been a good work horse for me and my first "real" welder that could really perform. My son is getting taking a welding course now and really starting to like it. So I am hoping that maybe I will have something really good for him to grab and run with. He is 20 and quite handy. Many young people are helpless without a phone in their hand. (He does like his phone, but he will put it away.)

So any thoughts on how to test this machine out would continue to be appreciated. [/QUOTE]

Danl, we're glad you came and asked. There are a lot of people who know a lot of things here, and try hard to help each other out. I, for one, am not at all familiar with Lincoln's website and support, but there are those who are. Cruizer fixes 'em all, I think, and there are others. Do you have a schematic wiring diagram you could post, or know where to link to one? A quick look at their web site says we need a Code Number from your machine to be able to look anything up. If we can find a schematic maybe we can at least find a place to start searching.

Glad you can get your son to put down the phone-if he can get fascinated by molten metal as many of us here are, he will be driven to learn and do more.

Please post the Code Number.