Century 5 Star AC/DC Welder

[MN Charlie]

I found a good Craigslist buy and picked up my first welder, a Century 5 Star AC/DC 295/250 Amp. When I tried to research this model, information was a bit sparse so I thought I'd post some photos in case anyone else runs into one of these.

It's a bit rusty here and there but the previous owner assured me that it worked. So far I know that the fan runs and there was no magic blue smoke or unusual noises when it was fired up. :thumbsup: That, and some cleaning, is as far as I've gotten. I took the back off to clean and took some photos of the 'guts'.



The amperage adjustment is made by lifting the knob on the top and turning the knob. Pushing the knob back down locks the setting.

It came with a pair of 15 foot leads so once I've made an extension cord and found some scrap steel to practice on, I can give it a try. It came with a few 7018 rods and some rods that I can burn up to play with.

If anyone has any information on this model, I'd appreciate it. It's model 110-178 and has a date code of 082581 which I would read as August 25, 1981? If so, it's about the same age as my Yanmar 1510D I've had a look around for a user's manual but Lincoln doesn't seem to have one for this welder.

Thanks.

Charlie

 

[CNC Dan]

Looks like it's in good shape. Some one should recognize who makes the welder for century and give you some info.

 

[MN Charlie]

From what I understand, Century made a lot of welders for other resellers like Montgomery Ward and Sears as well as making welders with their own brand. Century was bought out by Lincoln some time around 2003 and Lincoln still has manuals and parts for some of the old Century welders.

Charlie

 

[Arc weld]

So what's a good buy? If you can burn 7018 without too much trouble, it's a decent machine. I wouldn't say it's heavy duty like it says but will do a lot of work. I know a guy who started a very successful trailer company with just an AC/DC Century welder.

 

[ThomasH]

Charlie -

Marquette and Century used to be the same company, and built ARC and gas welders, battery chargers, etc.

I think I used to own that model years ago (back in the 80s) and it was a good welder for the time. It doesn't have the features of a more modern welder such as hot start, but once you get going it is fine. If I remember right, it was rated at 180 amps at 100% utilization. I was building boat trailers at the time, and used it for 30 days x 10 hours a day at 120 or so amps with 7018 rods, non-stop. It was definitely a heavy duty welder.

It is DC, but not DC as modern welders are in that it's not a flat wave, it chops the bottom half of the AC waveform through a bridge rectifier (near the fan) and so it's a bit harder to start without the rod sticking. Other than that, if it is functioning and hasn't been stored outside or something, it will probably outlive many of us.

Tom

 

[MN Charlie]

Thank you for the information. I've sent an email to Lincoln to see if they've got any info on this welder. It's good to hear from someone who's actually used one of these.

Sorry, I forgot to put the price in the original post. It was just $100 and at that price I'm very happy. I also got a nice little 1/2 ton chain hoist from the guy for another $35. Heck, the welding leads alone are worth that.

At the time I was also considering a Lincoln IdealArc that was going for $200 but it had no leads. Pricing the leads out it looked like they would ad another $100 for just a pair of 10 footers plus the Lincoln was 70 miles away and the Century was only 5 miles. From what I've read, the Lincoln would be the better welder but for what I'm going to use it for, the Century at 1/3 the price (plus gas and time) was a better deal. Everything in that $100 range around here is typically AC only so finding one with DC for that price was a huge bonus.

This weekend I'll get the cable and parts for an extension cord so I can fire it up. I've read that 10/3 SOOW would be sufficient for the wire but I'm leaning toward using 8/3 instead so that I can use 100 feet of cord. Do you think that it will be necessary to go with the 8/3?

The 100 foot length will allow me to use the range plug instead of the dryer and still make it to the garage. Plus I'll have the full 50 amps of the range circuit and not have to worry about how high I can run the amperage without popping the dryer circuit breaker.

Charlie

 

[MH8675309]

Ive used a century AC & DC for 20 years and its been a good machine. 250 amps DC is fairly hot too.

 

[MN Charlie]

I sent an email to Lincoln to see if they had any information on this model and they sent me a PDF if their General Arc Welding Guide and the parts and service manual for the Century 5 Star. I would attach the parts and service manual but I don't see a way to add an attachment. If someone would like a copy, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Charlie

 

[Arc weld]

You passed up an Idealarc 250 AC/DC for $200 because it didn't have any cables? Idealarcs are probably the best single phase conventional machine ever made. The Century should work OK for you though. Good deal for $100 but for $200 and cables, I would have checked out the Idealarc. Lincoln still makes them and they're in the $1600 range for a new one.

 

[MN Charlie]

Yep, I did for a couple of reasons. The IdealArc was quite a bit older and don't forget the 140 mile round trip to get the Lincoln. With travel costs, the IdealArc was going to cost me close to $400 vs. $100 for the Century and in either case I need to make an extension cord so that I can use any welder and that's not going to be cheap. Cash is an issue (I just didn't have it available) and for the amount of welding I'm likely to do, I just couldn't justify four times the cost plus my time to go and get it. If I find that I'm doing a lot with the welder I have, I'll probably go on to a better machine but for now I still think that I got what I need at a good price.