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What to Look For in a Used SA-200 Pipeliner,
And What to Pass Up.
The number one reason to buy and maintain a Lincoln SA-200 or SA250 is that you can repair and/or upgrade the machine to keep it in use. In this author's humble opinion, both Lincoln and Miller Electric manufacture machines meant to be used and thrown away. From their business standpoint, it is a smart move; they make a profit by selling new machines. Storing, cataloging, and tracking spare parts is an unprofitable business.
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Your local-yokel welding supply makes its highest profit on selling consumables. Anything you buy, consume, and have to return to buy more is a consumable. A thirty-five thousand dollar welding machine should not be considered consumable. It's a tool that will wear, be damaged, but must be economically maintainable.
You need to take my words to heart; Do not believe anything the seller tells you! What technical expertise does the seller have? You're about to part with money you have worked hard for. Even though the engine starts and sounds. It welds like a dream. What you cannot see must be evaluated.
Take the machine to an expert to have the engine checked out:
1. Pressure test the cooling system.
2. A compression test.
3. Oil pressure test.
4. Vacuum test.
5. Oil leaks?
6. Anything that looks questionable.
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Welder evaluations:
1. Visual and resistance evaluation of the main armature.
2. Visual and resistance of the series and shunt coils.
3. Wiring and connections condition.
4. Main armature bearing for excessive wear and noise.
5. Visual and resistance tests of the exciter (L870-7) coils.
6. Visual evaluation and "growler test".
7. Visual and physical condition of the main current switch (gear-shift?)
8. Load test 200+ amps at 40 volts for 6 minutes.
What you should expect to pay for Major Work on an SA200?
In my opinion, major repairs on your welder are the same as medical or dental work. Spend the Pesos and get the best repairs you can. I am talking about repairs you are unable to do yourself. This normally means major repairs to the engine, stator, and armature. Water pumps, alternators, hoses, carburetor replacement, brushes, and exciter coils and armatures are normally simply removed and replaced.
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1. A good shop should charge about $100.00 for labor. There is a long and steep learning curve to repairing these machines properly; you can't go to school, you have to learn it the hard way.
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2 Engine overhaul; to do the engine correctly, it must be removed from the machine and remanufactured by an experienced engine machine shop. Expect to pay $3,000 for engine work and $1,500 to $2,000 in labor to R&R the engine. You may need a new radiator, starter, manifold, carburetor, and magneto service (this would be a good time to ditch the mag and upgrade to a distributor ignition.
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3. Stator and rewound armatures. Lincoln has discontinued most parts for the SA 200, but the aftermarket has filled the demand, with many parts far superior to Lincoln OEM parts. They can normally be repaired; in some cases, they have to be replaced, but many cories are still available.
For more information, click on the part image.
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Maybe it’s me, but does it seem like nobody knows anything about anything anymore? Imagine filling up your car at -10F with a 30-mile-an-hour wind blowing in your face, and then the card reader can’t read your card, followed by the printer not working. It seems to be worse by the day.
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I understand we have a critical lack of young people with practical skills. There is nothing you or I can do. This means we are all going to have to become technologically self-sufficient. I am 78 years old, and I built this website; as you probably can tell. You have to be willing to fail, and fail again, knowing that success is on the other side of failure.
When you are looking for a used SA-200, SA250, or a SA250 diesel, you have to balance two opposing factors.
1) How much do you want to spend on the machine?
2) How much do you want to spend on repairs and upgrades?
3) Can you do the grunge work of turning bolts and nuts, or are you going to have to pay someone to?
Why You Should Aquire an SA200/SA250.
In two words, it works! A machine that has such a long, good history, and you can maintain it. When you have an engine (F Series Continental) with a history (97 years as of 2026), it became the standard 4-cylinder diesel engine of World War 2; millions were produced. When you have this popular engine design, any engine mechanic should be comfortable with its technology. We know its strengths and weaknesses, the design can be upgraded.
Our opinion on the machine to look for.
What no one will tell you about the Octagon barrel SA200. Basically, the SA200, SA250, 3.152, Classic series, and 300 series diesels have almost identical designs. There are different armature lengths and bearings: different shunt coils, and other differences. With one design, a whole new line of machines was created, featuring more powerful engines, more torque, and higher current output.
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These units came with the "PC board" idler system, almost all Continental F-163 engines, and a different starter mounting (high mount).
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Starting with code number: XXXX, Lincoln Electric started producing the Octobarrel stator welders. The armature, series, shunt, adn interpole coils ar every similar. The armatures will have different size ribbon (ther is no wire on the main armature). the shunt coils will vary. With different more powerful engines you can make a 200, 250, or 300 amp welders. Great engineering, production was another matter.
What to look for and what to walk away from!
The key to buying a used SA200 or SA250 is to look for the code number.
The original K-6090 "Long Hood" started with code number: 3417, they are commonly known as a "Round Barrel machine.. They mainly had Continental F162 engines, magnetio ignitions, and the R-57 vacuum idler system.
Ther many myths concerning these machiens, including "Copper Wound" . Yes they had copper windings, for the most part, in the real world it means nothing, because they had inferior insulation.
The F162 was more complex engine with a 6.5 to 1 compression, but they were designed to run on unleaded ethnol gasoline or detergent oil. Parts are getting very rare.
If you want to rebuild one, you have to find a shop with experience with these machines, good luck!
The above diagram is of an Octagon (6-sided) stator design
What to what to walk away from!
Here is something that no one in the industry seems to know. There are two SA-200 code numbers you should walk from, which are 4744 & 4745. In Lincoln's never-ending quest to cheapen its flagship products. As shown in the image, they made two code numbers with an armature bolted directly to the flywheel. Guess what happened, the armature shaft broke. Walk away, much more trouble than it's worth.
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The only reason you have windings, armature, and coil failures is due to cheap external manufacturing. They obviously never improved their insulation procedure till the end of the production run, approximately 1992.
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We can update the original design.
1. Rewound armatures installed in our shop, with a lifetime warranty
2. Serial and shunt coils in our shop, with a lifetime warranty.
3. Exciter windings and rewound exciter armatures, with a lifetime warranty when installed in our shop
If you have any questions, ideas, or problems, we can help you with them. Please call or email us
at the address below