What to Look For in a Used SA-200 Pipeliner, Know What to Choose and What to Walk Away From.

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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. 

I understand we have a critical lack of young people with practical skills. There is nothing you or I can do. This means we all have to become technologically self-sufficient. 

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?

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.

​          ---OPINION--- 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. 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.

For more information, click on the images.