Mud
Diamond
- Joined
- May 20, 2002
- Location
- South Central PA
I've had this Lincoln TIG 250/250 forever. The small red one. Bought it used from a welding supply house after it was in for an unknown repair from the previous owner who didn't pay the bill.
Currently It has an erratic problem with starting the arc. We use it 99% for steel, max of an hour a day. With the spark set to start only on DC it often requires 2 or 3 hits of the pedal to fire the arc, sometimes I hear it arc for a second and then stop. On continuous AC, same thing, sometimes works correctly, sometimes not at all, sometimes just for a second. When the arc is not firing, I can't even scratch start the arc at the electrode. With the spark set to off, I can sometimes scratch start it, sometimes not, so it seems to not be in the spark system, but in a contactor somewhere.
So what could cause this problem, is there something I can attend to myself without hauling it in to a repair facility?
Also - We cleaned the arc gap and set it, no change. With the cover plate off, I sometimes see the arc jumping from around the body of one contact to the body of the other contact instead of just across the closest part of the gap - Is that normal?
Currently It has an erratic problem with starting the arc. We use it 99% for steel, max of an hour a day. With the spark set to start only on DC it often requires 2 or 3 hits of the pedal to fire the arc, sometimes I hear it arc for a second and then stop. On continuous AC, same thing, sometimes works correctly, sometimes not at all, sometimes just for a second. When the arc is not firing, I can't even scratch start the arc at the electrode. With the spark set to off, I can sometimes scratch start it, sometimes not, so it seems to not be in the spark system, but in a contactor somewhere.
So what could cause this problem, is there something I can attend to myself without hauling it in to a repair facility?
Also - We cleaned the arc gap and set it, no change. With the cover plate off, I sometimes see the arc jumping from around the body of one contact to the body of the other contact instead of just across the closest part of the gap - Is that normal?