Lincoln AC225 - keep or sell?

[GirlnAgarage]

I've got a Lincoln AC225 that was paid to me in trade for some leather work I did for a customer a couple years back. I figured it'd be good to have it in the garage for larger projects. It came with a 15' stinger and 9' ground. The original power cord had been chewed by a rat so I replace it with 35' of 10/3 and the proper plug for my dryer outlet. I've also put a dolly on the thing to make it easy to scoot around the garage floor. Since I've had it, I've only used it for one project. I'm ashamed to admit, but I'm just not interested in using it. I prefer to use my little FCAW Dad let me have a couple years ago.

The FC is just a small 110V unit so it's lacking for the larger projects. I'm keeping the 110V but I'd like to get a 220V FCAW/Mig unit.

I guess my hem-hawing is about the 35' cord on the welder. Should I let that go with the welder or pull it off and buy and install a new stock replacement? I would want to use the cord to build an adapter cord for a new FCAW/Mig I'd get.

Sorry for the long winded run around. Getting read for a garage sale and I'm crazy.

 

[rlitman]

I'd cut it at 5', and move the plug there, unless there's some reason that having a 30' cord extension on your new welder will be a couple of feet too short in your garage.

 

[Steevo]

I'd cut it at 5', and move the plug there, unless there's some reason that having a 30' cord extension on your new welder will be a couple of feet too short in your garage.

^^ What he said.

 

[lilredex]

I'd keep it, but fit it with a plug to match your stove outlet to get the full potential out of it. Dryers are usually fused at 30Amp (stoves at 60) and your L-225's output is very limited on that dryer outlet.

Some time down the road you WILL regret selling it.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'd cut it at 5', and move the plug there, unless there's some reason that having a 30' cord extension on your new welder will be a couple of feet too short in your garage.

Having a 30' cord should work, especially for an adapter where I can get a little more length from the stock power cord on the new machine. And cutting it will be quicker than opening up the machine again to unhook. I think this is the way I'll go. Anyone looking to buy the welder ought to be able to install their own plug on the cord that's left.


Thanks gentlemen.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'd keep it, but fit it with a plug to match your stove outlet to get the full potential out of it. Dryers are usually fused at 30Amp (stoves at 60) and your L-225's output is very limited on that dryer outlet.

Some time down the road you WILL regret selling it.

The stove is on the opposite side of the house. I'm not running cord through there

I knew when I put the cord together that I'd be working with the 30A breaker of the dryer. It was the concession I had to make. You're probably right that I'll find myself needing a little more than the 30A but the alternatives are 1)no 220V at all, and 2)run a new 220V line to the garage which has been discussed. The location of the main panel and sub panel are across the house, next to the stove


So you really think I'll regret selling the arc welder?

 

[spongerich]

When I have stuff like that where I'm on the fence about keeping it, I usually list it on eBay/Craigs etc at top dollar.. then if someone wants it bad enough I feel good about selling it. If you let it go cheap, a project will appear next week that you really need it for.

 

[pop pop]

As a buyer, if I see something I like with the plug cut off, I will severly discount it or walk on by.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

As a buyer, if I see something I like with the plug cut off, I will severly discount it or walk on by.

Severely huh? That sounds serious. How much exactly would you discount?

 

[rlitman]

When I have stuff like that where I'm on the fence about keeping it, I usually list it on eBay/Craigs etc at top dollar.. then if someone wants it bad enough I feel good about selling it. If you let it go cheap, a project will appear next week that you really need it for.

Yeah, it can't hurt to try.
That, or use it as a trade-in at a pawn shop for what you really want.

As a buyer, if I see something I like with the plug cut off, I will severly discount it or walk on by.

Right, but the factory cord on that machine was something like 6' long anyway. So long as as it has a plug on it that can reach your outlet, if you can roll it right up to the outlet to give a quick demo that it works, it shouldn't hurt your selling price.

Anyway, I ran a similar 230A buzz box machine on a 30A outlet, and since I was running smaller rods, I stayed in the 100% duty cycle range of the machine, and never tripped a breaker.
Nowadays I have an inverter, and that machine can run a full 200A on a 30A outlet.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

So long as as it has a plug on it that can reach your outlet, if you can roll it right up to the outlet to give a quick demo that it works, it shouldn't hurt your selling price.

I totally forgot about having to demonstrate it works. Can't do that without a plug on there.

I could just charge $70 more and sell it all together. I'll make another cord once I get a new machine.

Of course it does no good for me to replace with the stock cord because it uses a NEMA 6-50P which does not fit my 10-30R dryer outlet anyway for testing.

 

[Zeke]

You won't get 70 more for it with the long cord, trust me. If the cord is useful to you, keep it and install the correct plug on the welder which is not a 30A. If you have to demonstrate, just temporarily pig tail it to the long cord and plug it in to the dryer.

I can't tell you have many times I have welded hooked up with alligator clamps. I had a friend who alligatored up to the service drop each time he welded.

 

[Steevo]

I wouldn't buy it with the plug cut off. If I cant power it on and test it, I consider it scrap metal, and price it accordingly.

 

[rocklobster]

I would put a smaller cord on the welder and make an extension cord with the longer cable for the 240v welder that you plan on purchasing.

I personally have a 240v lincolin GMAW welder but the old buzz box gets used quite a bit. With stick you can change rod types and sizes very easy and pretty much weld anything but Aluminum. The buzz box is by far more versatile than the little FCAW, you just need to give it a chance and learn how to weld with it. My stick welder will weld much thicker materials than my 180amp GMAW.

Really all that you can expect to get for an AC225 is about $100 tops, in my opinion having one tucked away in the garage with the skill to use it at a moments notice is worth FAR MORE than $100. But YMMV...

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I would put a smaller cord on the welder and make an extension cord with the longer cable for the 240v welder that you plan on purchasing.

I personally have a 240v lincolin GMAW welder but the old buzz box gets used quite a bit. With stick you can change rod types and sizes very easy and pretty much weld anything but Aluminum. The buzz box is by far more versatile than the little FCAW, you just need to give it a chance and learn how to weld with it. My stick welder will weld much thicker materials than my 180amp GMAW.

Really all that you can expect to get for an AC225 is about $100 tops, in my opinion having one tucked away in the garage with the skill to use it at a moments notice is worth FAR MORE than $100. But YMMV...

That's the catch right there I've had it and I just don't want to. Welding is hard with one hand. Stick is harder for me to do, both welding and dealing with individual rods. The FC/Mig process takes care of those elements so I don't have to be challenged with them. I realize that seems like a little thing but when everything I work on is harder because of having only one hand, I'll take what I can get when it comes to making things easier.

I think you're right about how to do the cord. I'll be throwing money out though. I don't have the original plug, rats ate it.

 

[KEH]

I have a 225 Lincoln that i bought new about 40 years ago. I've bulit trailers and other projects with it. It's never let me down.

The used one I see locally are listed for a lot more than $100, more like $250, but that's the asking price. I would probably get one just to have another one for $100.

KEH

 

[Shadowdog500]

Keep it! You won't get much for it, and it will weld much thicker metal than your little MIG.

It will also work for the rest of your life.

Take some time and learn to stick weld, It isn't that difficult and other amputees have even welded for a living.

Chris

 

[Big-Foot]

Put two prices on it - one with the plug/cord and the other with the cord docked short.. That way you can demostrate that it works..

I've owned a couple of old buzz boxes over the years. One I lent out and it was destroyed and then its replacement.. I built a number of trailers and even a couple of race car roll cages with them. Great for heavy stuff, but I finally relented and bought a MIG setup about 20 years ago and have not looked back.

Frankly I think the copper coils in an old buzz box might bring more for scrap weight than the welder would..

 

[dwp99]

I bought a truck 36 years ago and traded a guy the 4 tires and wheels that I took off of it for a Lincoln 225 buzz box. I had no welding experience prior to the trade. Since then I have taught myself how to weld and have used that little buzz box to weld everything from 10 gauge to 2" thick metal. I've gone through probably 400 pounds of welding rods and it still works like the day I got it.

I was told it can also be used to thaw out frozen pipes, that's why the 75 has a circle around it. Just hook it up to your plumbing, (ground at one end of the house and the stinger at the other end) set it to 75 and turn it on.

If it were me I'd hold onto it. Oh, in 1990 I went to night school and became certified in vertical up 7018 up to 1" thick plate. So don't get discouraged it just takes practice.

 

[TwoInch]

I was told it can also be used to thaw out frozen pipes, that's why the 75 has a circle around it. Just hook it up to your plumbing, (ground at one end of the house and the stinger at the other end) set it to 75 and turn it on.

.

this is true. its even stated in some of the older welding manuals and literature.

there have been issues with people doing this, but usually because they are doing something dumb, or dont understand what they are supposed to be doing. hooking up at one end of the house and grounding at the other end is bad news. pipes generally freeze at the outer most section, where it goes out to the source. its only advised to hook up at the short section of exposed plumbing and ground where where it attaches to the supply. warm the machine up before hooking up to the plumbing, then shut it down and hook up. keep it runnin cool, its a dead short. works like a charm tho

 

[davedriveschevys]

I just sold my ac225 after having it for 15 years, taught myself to weld with that machine, upgraded to a pro mig 180 which works for 90% of the stuff i do. The other 10% I use my buddys engine driven miller legend 200 ( after using this machine I never touched the ac225 again) I got a 100 bucks for mine and I cut the 30 foot 6 gauge sj cord off because I needed it for my mig. And it was worth as much as the welder with the twist lock ends.

 

[Buckgnarly]

For the 75- 100 that you would prob get for it, i would just keep it. Those are bombproof machines that will last multiple lifespans, nothing like the old tombstone buzzbox!

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you're never going to use it, sell it and don't look back with regret. Myself, I'd like to have one just in case for welding **** steel or heavier projects.

 

[signcrafter]

What are you going to ask for it? I see them go for 50-100 all the time on craigslist depending on condition. Personally for that price I would keep it. I have a miller xmt304 power source that can stick weld and also have a wire feeder hooked up to it to mig. They are on a cart I built and it's what I use all the time. But I also have an older miller thunderbolt that I used to use for stick. I still keep it around, if I ever need to take a welder someplace I can take it pretty easily, even though it weighs a ton! To me it's worth more then the few bucks I might get from it, even if it just sits around. Also if someone ever needs to borrow a welder it's there. I have a hard time letting things go! Plus every single time I do let something go I end up needing it, or at least being able to use it within a short time.

As for the cord cut it off 5 ft from the welder and put the dryer plug on it so it is in working condition when you sell it. Then you just have to buy a new end which is around 10 bucks if I remember right. I would not buy a welder without being able to test it out. Also have a few small pieces of scrap so they can test it out. If you list it on craigslist mention in the ad they can bring their own scrap to test. But if it's a rummage sale then probably have a few scraps laying around since it will probably be an unplanned buy from someone who was out just looking at rummage sales that day.

 

[5lima30]

Keep it! If you don't you will probably regret selling it!

 

[Murphy4570]

You are in the opposite boat I am. I just bought one for $50 a couple weeks ago. I'm gonna use it for everything my little SP-100 can't do, which is anything thick, really.

You are better off just keeping it, they aren't worth enough to get rid of, versus the utility and usefulness of having it around. Those things are great little machines, I love mine. I learned to weld with MIG and FCAW, I am now learning stick welding.

 

[Mr.Magoo]

I own six welders, they all have a place like a set of screwdrivers, I am on my second Lincoln 225, started on one in high school shop and could not weld worth a ****. But my mama and the piano teacher always said "practice makes perfect". Aside from that, certainly there will be a day you need it and you will kick yourself in the ***, whatever, you may have to go to craigslist and buy another one. I would keep it.

 

[brownbagg]

you be stupid to sell the ac225, i sold my ac225 but i bought an ac/dc225 the lincoln cracker boxes are hard to beat, they never break down, they been the same design for 40 years, if you did sell. $75 about the most you can get because there are so many of them, the cracker box will out work the mig every day of the week. beside you can pick up loose rods on jobsites, I have never seen a spool of wire laying around.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I took it in trade for around $165 worth. I heard that about them being sub$100, but doesn't seem to be the case here except for the ones needing leads. Most are listed $125-$250. Whether or not the seller's get that I don't know. But they come and go.

 

[LawnDart79]

I personally would keep it, but it sounds like you really want to get rid of it. If you truly don't want it, just sell it and don't look back.

 

[claymont]

Put it up for sale for $200 and $50 or so for the longer cord leave the cord on till you sell it so you can demo it. Just make sure it's known that the cord is extra. These welders run just fine on 30Amps. Had one for six or so years and gave it to my brother to use in his shop, where it was used for another fifteen years or so. That one had a fifty foot cord on it and the wheel kit. When I needed to weld something I'd go there or borrow it.

I've got a Lincoln AC225 that was paid to me in trade for some leather work I did for a customer a couple years back. I figured it'd be good to have it in the garage for larger projects. It came with a 15' stinger and 9' ground. The original power cord had been chewed by a rat so I replace it with 35' of 10/3 and the proper plug for my dryer outlet. I've also put a dolly on the thing to make it easy to scoot around the garage floor. Since I've had it, I've only used it for one project. I'm ashamed to admit, but I'm just not interested in using it. I prefer to use my little FCAW Dad let me have a couple years ago.

The FC is just a small 110V unit so it's lacking for the larger projects. I'm keeping the 110V but I'd like to get a 220V FCAW/Mig unit.

I guess my hem-hawing is about the 35' cord on the welder. Should I let that go with the welder or pull it off and buy and install a new stock replacement? I would want to use the cord to build an adapter cord for a new FCAW/Mig I'd get.

Sorry for the long winded run around. Getting read for a garage sale and I'm crazy.

 

[lilredex]

So you really think I'll regret selling the arc welder?

Absolutely....reaching back, projects like: Mixer (concrete), bender, brake, BBQ, wall brackets, disc sander, saw mobile, U-Joint vise helpers, jack stands, grinder rest, O/A cart, wire feed cart, woodworking vise, etc, etc would still be on the drawing board. Not to mention the countless repairs made over those years.

When the project uses 1/8" material or more, the L-225 comes to life. Having that capability, opens up a whole new world of projects you can complete.

Keep it it as many others have also said.

 

[rodm1]

The stove is on the opposite side of the house. I'm not running cord through there

So you really think I'll regret selling the arc welder?

Some day yes! When you need to weld up some heavy plate that the Mig can't handle.

 

[1948]

ive used a tombstone welder like yours to build a few hotrod frames, and other things, they work good and wont ever break.

 

[BD1]

You could always buy another that is AC/ DC . Much better investment and they are always around. Both Miller and Lincoln.

 

[shovel]

Another vote to keep it. I have a '65 vintage Lincoln tombstone unit that look like hell but works very well. Put it on wheels and hide it in a corner. Use for projects where the steel is 1/4" or thicker. use your MIG for the light stuff. I only use mine once or twice a year, but it has paid for itself many times over. By the way, shorten your cord to 5 or 6 feet and use the rest for an extension for either welder.

 

[MoonRise]

Although wire-feed welding (FCAW and GMAW aka MIG) are usually 'easier' to do than SMAW aka stick, unless you move up to a machine in the 255-class (or better) you will still be a bit limited on the thickness of steel that you can weld compared to almost any 240V stick machine.

Even with AC-only on the old 225 Lincoln, it will still be useful for welding steel thicker than about 1/4 inch or so (as I mentioned, unless you go up to something like a 255-class wire-feed machine where you can do spray-transfer or run some bigger diameter and thus bigger amperage wire electrodes).

Although you may not need it often, there are still times that a basic stick machine comes in very handy.

It's on a dolly, so just cover it up with a towel or something to keep the dust/crud out and wheel it to a corner or under a bench or something. When you need it (even if just once or twice a year) wheel it out, use it, and then put it back. IMHO.

Used price for a working old AC-only basic stick machine is usually around ~$100-$150 or so. Unless you really-really luck into a 'deal', a wire-feed machine in the 255-class is easily going to run you north into the thousand(s).

So for the ~$100-$150 or so price you could get for the machine by selling it, I'd just keep it and use it those few times a year you need to weld something thicker than the wire-feed machine(s) can do.

Need to weld something -not- plain mild steel? You can usually find stick electrodes in the other-than-plain-mild-steel variety easier and cheaper than getting a big spool of wire electrode. Hard-facing something? Stick hardfacing rods can be found a lot easier than the $$$$ spools of hardfacing wire. Cast-iron? Nickle cast-iron rods can be found relatively easily (still kind of $$$, though, just the nature of the nickle rods).

 

[Cheap5.0]

+! vote for keeping it under these conditions:

You will be welding again in the future

&

You dont need the space

Ive got an old ward (lincoln clone) AC 225 that i barely use, but i have the space for it and for what little i could sell it for im never going to sell it. Its nice knowing no matter what project i can dream up, i have a welder than can fuse it together.

 

[metalmagpie]

Lincoln AC 225s have to be one of the hardest welders to sell on the planet. My local craigslist is flooded with them. Many many times I've seen them sell for $75 or less.

I'm a welder. There is a place for buzz boxes, but unless I believed it was nearly unused, I would not buy one used because it is so easy to exceed the 20% duty cycle by enough to do harm to the transformer and then they never weld right again.

And I would for *sure* never buy an AC only welder. I've been offered a couple free and passed, although I likely wouldn't pass nowadays with the price of copper what it is. By the way, your little Lincoln tombstone isn't worth much for copper either because its transformer is wound with aluminum.

I'd sell it as is at your garage sale for $75 obo and take any offer.

metalmagpie