What is the most accurate procedure to evaluate a Lincoln Welder: SA-200, SA-250, or any 300?

We have a real problem in the engine-driven used welder market. Whether you are a corporate buyer, an independent businessman, or a rig welder, you need a dependable machine you can maintain.

In my humble opinion, I believe all the major machines I see coming out of Lincoln and Miller today are not designed to be lifelong machines. They have very expensive electronics that cannot be repaired and can only be replaced. They can and do obsolete parts at any time. Keeping a stock of spare parts for these machines is a money-losing business.

I browse these forums online, and I cannot believe the questions people are asking. You have several pictures of, say, an old SA200, and the guy is asking, "What's it worth?" Worth to whom? If some +jackass yahoo" says it's worth $4000.00, what does that mean, what can you tell for an image? Nothing. He's looking at an image with no information on the machine, and he throws out a number. Don't believe anything the "experts" says.

Note: I copied this off of a Facebook post for machines to sell. It is for information only.

2009 Lincoln Ranger MXP. Has 947 hrs on it. Used for a backup machine. Had new brushes put in 925 hrs. 940 hrs had a new chopper board put in and all Lincoln updates all done.

Asking $6750 OBO. NO TradesOR

LOW BALL!! Remote is not for sale just wanted to show that I've used one with it and it works well!!!

Before I would consider this machine, I would need to ask some questions. It's a 2009 machine, which means it's seven years old with very few hours. He says it's a backup machine, but it looks a little too clean. It could be that it's never been used, or somebody's hiding something we can't see yet. It's out of warranty, and the customer says he's already replaced the chopper board once; it doesn't make me feel real comfortable. We know nothing about the engine's education. These normally came with an air-cooled cooler. He is asking $6,750 for the machine, and a new one will cost you around $9,000.

This is an image of a machine posted on Facebook. He claims it's been rebuilt he is asking $6,000.

This is an image of a machine on Facebook. 300D is asking $10,000 for it.

If I were considering purchasing any of the three machines above, here's what I suggest you do.

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1. Do a visual check. Walk around the machine, look at it, smell it, feel it. Is anything loose? Does anything look out of place? How does it make you feel?

2. Start the engine. Does it start hard? Does it start easily? Does it sound like the starter is stressing? Does it smoke? White smoke means unburned fuel; black smoke in a diesel can mean poor combustion; black smoke in a gasoline machine is a rich mixture; blue smoke means you're burning oil, and you have a weak engine.

3. Well, with it. Does it idle up quickly? Does the engine seem to have enough power to burn a 3/16 rod? Do you hear any engine "bog down" when you first strike the arc? If yes to any of these questions, you probably have a weak engine.

4. Now it's gut check time. At this point in the deal, you're buying an expensive "pig in a poke" If anything goes south, you're on the hook. As a friend of mine who just went through a second divorce told me: "No matter how pretty she is, no matter how good she smells, I don't care how good she cooks." If they've got a rod knocking, they're not going to get any better.

5. What's your feeling about the dude that's selling this machine? Is he too nice, or a real asshole? What's his story about this machine? Why is he selling it? Does he seem too eager?

6. You still think you want it? It's time to take it to someone who can really look into it. Teller won't let you do this. Walk away.

THE PURE GOLD/PLATIUM EVALUATION TEST FOR AN ENGINE DRIVE WELDER

Take your machine to a real welder repair technician. Have him run a duty cycle test on the machine. It should run X amps at X volts in a load bank for X minutes. Spend the money and make sure you get a written report on what they find out. Always pay with a debit or credit card. That way you have proof that the machine was tested.

1. The Lincoln MPX 260, air-cooled gasoline engine. What you see below, I took from the Lincoln Owner's Manual.

2. As you can see, the rating is231 A at 29.2 V at 100% duty cycle = 6745.2 watts.

3. As far as the real world, let's just say 6,700 kW. If your machine will not produce 6,700 kW, it's not a new machine. It has some wear on it.

4. At this point, you need to look at the engine. Compression check, all pressure, blah, blah, blah. If that passes muster, then it's time to look at the electrical part of the unit.

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The too pretty Lincoln SA200 with the chrome top.

The blue-painted Lincoln SA 200- we don't know the code number- came out in the mid-70s; it could be as much as 51 years old. That's a lot of hard years for a machine that old.

The Lincoln SA200 is designed to deliver 200 Amps at 40 volts with a 60% duty cycle. 40 volts × 200 A = 8,000 W. It should be able to do that under load for 6 minutes straight, then cool down for 4 minutes, and repeat for 6 minutes. The reason you need a cool-down period is that the way the series coils are wound in the machine, they act like a giant resistor, only takes so much heat, and that gives you your rod burn-off characteristics.

I guarantee you put that machine on a load bank at 200 A at 40 V. You'll know something in five minutes or less.

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The Lincoln Classic 300D for $10,000.

The Lincoln Classic 300D is rated at 250 A at 30 V, 100% duty cycle r, and 32 Volts at 300 Amps, 60% duty cycle. Either way, it should output around 9,600 W for six minutes. Here's what I recommend: crank it up to 300 A at around 32 V. If the amperage is a little higher or the voltage is a little lower, as long as you multiply them together and get somewhere around 9,600 W, you're where you want to be. Let it run for two or three minutes, and it'll pretty much tell you what kind of shape the machine's in. The engine should labor but still have enough umpum to really put out that kind of power. After a minute or two, if the power starts dropping, it means you're losing torque, and the engine has wear. Now, how much wear? I don't know, but I would definitely have it checked out before I spend any money on it. Welders are notorious for doing little or no maintenance on these diesel engines.