welder purchase?

[stepsideclyde]

Hey guys!
I got a chance to buy a welder, It is a huge old lincoln tm 500 ac machine. Has any one had any experience with these? I really was lookin' for a dc machine, but this may be cheap, and is better than what I have now (which is no welder at all). Seems to work well and I was thinking maybe cleaning it up and giving it a coat of paint, then maybe selling it later on. Have searched the mighty internet and come up with nothing about the machine, so I have to think they were not very popular...

tc

 

[crazycarl]

After owning lots of welders and moving up to newer smaller ones.i have paid to give large old welders away.you coundnt pay
me to take one. Probably worth scrapping out is about all.
Not that it might not work fine, but is it worth the space,weight
electric service required ect.

 

[Zrexxer]

Very probably a three phase machine. I tend to agree with crazycarl, its value may be directly proportional to what it weighs.

 

[sberry]

Yup, you could be the proud owner of a "deal" just too good to pass up. If you are doing automotive, handyman stuff a small wire feed in the 180 class is hard to beat.

 

[malibu101]

In addition to the other negatives above about having one of these huge heavy boxes is you dont need 500A. Dare I say that any stick welding done on your level (no offense) it would be very unlikely you need more than 175-200A. A small buzzbox is usually comletely adequate.
Many things have been made with a basic AC box it is a cheap viable welder. However I consider DC a must. There is a big difference.

 

[sberry]

Its unlikely more than 115A would be needed, runs a 1/8 lo-hi.

 

[stepsideclyde]

Thanks for the input guys, I do have some welding experience (although limited, I would never hire out as a welder) Without question an dc machine would be a lot better in any application, but I have used the smaller name brand stick welders and have not been impressed with them in regards to the price they ask for them. Don't get me wrong here, but a weldor that I work with tells me that you can "feel the copper" in a premium machine, and I thought that a larger older machine might make up for its size by providing a quality weld.

tc

 

[Displaced Hokie]

It's funny, how most folks on this board normally always go for the "older, heavier, quality" stuff over anything new! As long as the unit is not overly huge and can be run off normal 220v, I don't see any issue with it. I know my stepdad had a large Miller stick unit that just seemed to work so nicely - sort of the "feel the copper" you are describing. When I used to teach 8th grade ag we had some old Lincolns that welded nice too. Those big 'ol red ones that you plugged the lead into a different plug to change the amperage (imagine an old phone switchboard).

Here is my setup. Got $75 in everything, and most of that was the 220v wiring and breaker. Got the 25 yr old 200A AC/DC "buzz box" welder free (supposed to be weak on the DC side, but I think it was a cable issue - but I've been running it on AC), got 40lbs of 6013 rods at an estate sale for $3, and an auto-darkening helment for $5 (a super steal). I still need some good gloves and an apron, but I'm in business. I built the little stand out of some scrap the other day just playing around with it (it's sturdier than it looks and is attached to the wall).

If you find a deal, and it works, run with it. You are right, an old "less than ideal" welder is better than NO welder.

 

[sberry]

Don't get me wrong here, but a weldor that I work with tells me that you can "feel the copper" in a premium machine, and I thought that a larger older machine might make up for its size by providing a quality weld.

You put this guy on the other side of the wall in a blind test and see if he can tell the difference. Dont be scared of the new AC/DC buzzers, you wont get a better weld with a better machine. There is extreme competition in the market and they work very very well. You would have to spend in the 1000's to get any noticeable difference and only then could the extremely diligent professional tell any difference.
As for the 6013 in the above post, I like to run it on DC+, almost all stick rods run better on it, especially for vert and overhead.