Lincoln 225 AC/DC Welder Comments?

[ninefinger]

Glad to hear your deal went through. I have only tried at one so far and ran into a deadend. HD here locally just is not that interested in "extra mile" effort. Did find a nice looking 1297 on craigslist for $150 that I will get if the fellow will just email me back. If not will try another HD...or not.

 

[mwb]

I have been wanting to upgrade to DC. When I saw this thread i thought "Hotdog!" and checked HD Canada - and that welder is $680 here. I didn't think that there was that much difference in our dollar!

 

[Stampeder]

Glad to here you got your deal.
I've had my Lincoln AC tombstone for 35 years and put lots of rod through it. Leads are getting a little ratty now and will have to replace them. DC is definitely better than AC but as others have said for mild steel it works great. Here in East Texas all fencing is steel pipe hmm maybe because we're in the middle of oil country?
I use my AC tombstone for pipe but for finer stuff up to and including 1/4 to 1/2 inch I use my MIG. Makes much cleaner welds, no knoxious gases and no slag to clean off. My next purchase will be a DC machine with variable controls. Can control the arc length better. This is also a benefit of DC over AC is better arc control.
Being a newbie check out WeldingWeb™ - Welding forum for pros and enthusiasts - Powered by vBulletin. Lots of people that make their living welding as well as a lot of hobby welders. Great ideas and great feedback on your welding progress.
Oh, get yourself a copy of the Beginning welder's handbook. They have it a Lowe's. It is used by many welding schools and it gives a good going over the basics.
I come from a family of welders and my dad and my brother both told me there is only one way to learn to weld and that is to burn plenty of rod.
Get your self a whole bunch of 2X6 pieces of mild steel of varying thicknesses and practice your butt and angle welds. Vertical up, vertical down and horizontal. Also, get some 3 inch pipe and practice some overhead.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

[Soundguy]

MIG. Makes much cleaner welds, no knoxious gases .

Don't fool yourself into thinking that there are no noxious gasses on a mig just because there is no flux smoke. Vaporized metals (coatings and in the work piece )and products given of by welding can be bad.. especially zinc...

soundguy

 

[greenmule]

CC doesn't mean it can be used as a mig machine..CC is for stick...by the way.

 

[skippy957]

Hi,
I did bought the welder about ten years ago. Two year ago I did modify it to become AC/DC. I bought 4 diodes, 2 heat sinks, 2 glass fober rods, 2 cable contacts and a chock, total cost $250 CAD, not bad.
This welder is very easy to modify for DC.
After that, i have never use welding rods on AC output again.

 

[Scotty370]

Thanks for the continued input guys! I did finally get it out of the box on Saturday!!! Bought some 6011, and 6013 rod, but haven't fired it up yet. Weather issues! I did buy that book at Lowes, and am through it to Ch5! The guy that wrote it seems real down to earth, and I've picked up lots of great knowledge, but like anything, "Ya gotta DO it". Great web site also Stamper! Bookmarked for sure! I'm still torch cutting parts and pieces for my stump grinder project. Those I can 'rough cut' outside, and grind to fit in the basement. I'm sure the wife loves that sound! What does it mean when someone says "I use DC Negitive"! Other than setting the machine in that mode, I was wondering, does that mean the 'stick' is neg and the work piece is pos, or the reverse? Got to do more reading! Thanx again! ~Scotty

 

[greenmule]

Yeah,dc negative means stinger is hooked to negative,or straight polarity,dc positive means stinger is hooked to positive,or reverse polarity.

 

[SLOWMANDOWN]

Good deal, in Canada $389 is the price for a AC only buzz box.Try this sight for some interesting info on stick welding both AC and DC. http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/arc-welding.html
Here he says that 6011 (runs both) but sweet spot is AC and 6010 for DC. He seems to have real life opion on stick welding. I just not sure about his opion on 6013 rods.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for the continued input guys! I did finally get it out of the box on Saturday!!! Bought some 6011, and 6013 rod, but haven't fired it up yet. Weather issues! I did buy that book at Lowes, and am through it to Ch5! The guy that wrote it seems real down to earth, and I've picked up lots of great knowledge, but like anything, "Ya gotta DO it". Great web site also Stamper! Bookmarked for sure! I'm still torch cutting parts and pieces for my stump grinder project. Those I can 'rough cut' outside, and grind to fit in the basement. I'm sure the wife loves that sound! What does it mean when someone says "I use DC Negitive"! Other than setting the machine in that mode, I was wondering, does that mean the 'stick' is neg and the work piece is pos, or the reverse? Got to do more reading! Thanx again! ~Scotty

Think of it like this.. 'dc EN'.. ( electrode negative )

soundguy

 

[flusher]

I'm about to 'pull the trigger' on a stick welder purchase. I want to stay with one of the big players in the welding game ie, Lincoln, Miller, Hobart, etc. Guess with all the history that the old "Tombstone Lincoln" has, I'm sort of leaning that way. The DC is a plus (I guess) over the old boxes. I'm fairly proficient with Oxy/Ace cutting and welding on thinner materials, so I've got the basics down about what it takes to 'glue' two pieces of metal together, but other than toying with my son's wire Mig machine, I've never 'struck-an-arc'. I'm not wild about buying over the net, as I'd rather support local business, but surfing has shown the K-1297 between $490.'s to over $600 bucks! I stumbled across the same unit on the web advertised by Home Depot for $389.-!! OK, add to cart, viola! Add $200. Shipping!! Bummer! Speaking with a friend that works PT at HD, he called his boss who said "No problem" They'd just special order it in, and sell it to me for $389.- (plus my local sales tax). This was NOT because my friend works there, just something they'd do!! I'm ready go with it.

Now a couple questions! Are DC worth the extra money? Can a person get relitively proficient stick welding, in a reasonable amount of time? I envision 1/4-3/8" steel will be the bulk of my challanges. Does this sound like a unit that a 'newby' to the art of electric arc would be well served with? Any comment on price/value are appreciated. Thanks in advance. ~Scotty

I looked at the Lincoln, but bought the Hobart Stickmate LX AC/DC at TSC on sale for $400 or so. Use DC positive for all of my welding (6011, 6013, 7014, 7018, 308). So far all my welding has been on mild steel 1/4" thick or less. AC is nice for the thicker stuff since you can crank up the amps beyond what you can get on the DC settings.

Plan on burning several hundred rods before you can get good, repeatable welds.

Get yourself a good 4-1/2" angle grinder and a supply of grinding and cutting disc. My experience tells me that metal preparation is the key to successful welding. You'll spend more time grinding the weld areas than you will laying down bead.

Grind all the mill scale off the weld area while you're learning to weld. I do this even with 6011 which is supposed to let you weld through rust and paint layers.

 

[greenmule]

First time I ever heard ac was better than dc for thicker stuff,[are you sure?]

 

[SLOWMANDOWN]

Lincion AC/DC 225 amp welder has a range of 30-125 amp DC, if you like to weld hot say 7018 1/8 Rod you will need 90-160 amps and that would exceed your amperage capablities for that machine however you can run perfectly fine on AC.

 

[danielgeddes]

i weld with a lincoln 225 ac/dc every day even if i dont want to and love it its the most enjoyable bang for your buck