Lincoln welder issue

patooyee · Oct 31, 2014

I have a Lincoln ProMig 180. I used to be able to weld almost half a chassis on heat setting D without stopping. Then one day it started hitting thermal protect mode really easily. It would only make it through about 4 tube joints before hitting thermal protection. My shop is dusty so I took it apart and blew it out really good. A bunch of metal dust came out from the cooling fins. I closed it up and its a little better now, I can get through about 8 joints, but nothing like it used to be. The fan is running like it always did. I'm out of ideas.

wont work · Oct 31, 2014

Shoulda bought a Miller but in a seriousness you should be able to weld an entire chassis since it is many short welds and not a constant weld for long periods of time. Has everything to do with duty cycle.

I bought a brand new 220 amp tig setup for the school and it will go into protection mode if you weld anything over 16g for what I consider a short amount of time since it was brand new. It even is water cooled. It totally sucks and I have told Airgas and the Lincoln rep that comes by about it many times. Both say its not made for production welding, but its not used in production or for much more than a 6" weld at a time. The new Lincoln rep finally came clean one day and said that Lincolns small machines just are not made like their bigger ones are.

On comparison we have a Miller 200 amp machine non water cooled and can weld with it as long as you want and never misses a lick or tick.

patooyee · Oct 31, 2014

In this case its not so much what I SHOULD be able to do, its what it USED TO BE ABLE TO DO vs what it is currently doing. Something is definitely wrong with it.

I've been welding with it since that last post and in that time I've had to stop 3 times to let it cool down.

For what its worth, I have tested equivalent Millers out and I far prefer them. But this is what I've got so I need to figure it out. At least I did right on my TIG machine, right?

Dynamite Design · Oct 31, 2014

we have the same mig welder, and it has been abused over the last 6 months. I haven't seen the issue your having with it. Although I run trigger/pulse beads on the highest heat,, and it's never shut off, and I run .030 wire.

I remember is shutting off one time when continuously welded like 30 inches of 1/4 inch plate.

wont work · Oct 31, 2014

Im going to assume your running .30 or.35 wire.
and you have done the following.
Checked ground clamp at machine and at working side.
make sure you are getting a bar metal spot
Made sure + side it tight also and fully pushed up in machine
+ side is connected well where your welding lead hook inside machine.
Voltage to machine is the same and is plugged in good.

I have seen some of those welders if you bump the adjustment knobs that they will weld on the lowest setting or not at all. Take your knob and twist it back and forth slowly and make sure it is where you want it.

patooyee · Oct 31, 2014

Haha, I called Lincoln and described my problem. They seem to think nothing is wrong with it and that I was just lucky that I used to be able to weld so long with it. Thanks Lincoln.

fl-krawler · Oct 31, 2014

Have you tried using a different outlet or do you have an option to plug the welder up to a different outlet in your shop.. I had a similar issue with my tig, and I had to start plugging it in closer to the breaker junction box.. About 3-4 months after that, it started throwing breakers when the cooling fan would come on. The mother board has since gone out 5 different times. This is on a Miller syncrowave 200. Luckily I bought an extended warranty so its been covered every time. I average about 9-10 months on a motherboard.. Warranty runs out next spring so it may be time to sell the welder

wont work · Oct 31, 2014

fl-krawler said:
Have you tried using a different outlet or do you have an option to plug the welder up to a different outlet in your shop.. I had a similar issue with my tig, and I had to start plugging it in closer to the breaker junction box.. About 3-4 months after that, it started throwing breakers when the cooling fan would come on. The mother board has since gone out 5 different times. This is on a Miller syncrowave 200. Luckily I bought an extended warranty so its been covered every time. I average about 9-10 months on a motherboard.. Warranty runs out next spring so it may be time to sell the welder

You are having some type of voltage surges in your power source. May want to check and read your voltage at breaker box at different times of the day.

ranger11 · Nov 1, 2014

Re:

Id say age has caught up with it. Welders are basically a big transformer. The insulation on the wire may be breaking down as it gets hot. Some electric motor shops rewind the transformers. However it may be cheaper to sale that one on cl then buy a new one. And being lincoln customer service sucks I'd look at miller.

patooyee · Nov 1, 2014

Re:

That's kind of what I'm thinking.

Duty cycle is 30%. I think I may have just reached its limits and it might be fine anyway. I'm a better welder now than I used to be. I think I might just be going from one joint to the next faster than I used to and it's not getting it's breaks like it needs.

kushKrawlin · Nov 2, 2014

Holy **** I did not know that these welders were like that!! I have the lil 140 and have welded all day long before.. Flux of course. Just got gas set up, and I have to tell ya, **** GAS! Apparently it has to be perfectly clean , no wind blowing, and I just realize there needs to be some kind of gap to fill in. The whole gas thing is kind of frustrating. Keep in mind I don't have a pro showing me how.. I had no I did those things could turn off and go into thermal mode. God I hope I not just jinx myself!! Out of curiosity do most use flux on these machines? because I can imagine using gas all the time. What a nightmare. Sorry to hijack patooyee.. Been wanting to figure this out for a long time. I'm amazed that so many use gas. Even though fluxes messy, my God it burns so much better!!

patooyee · Nov 2, 2014

I've never used flux, always gas. And I do have to turn off the shop fans or redirect them. Same goes for TIG or any inert gas welding I would imagine. I've never needed a gap to weld effectively with gas. Having clean metal is always needed. I don't know why flux would change that. Contaminants are contaminants. I've found the cleaner my surface is the better the weld is. Spend zero time prepping, get **** for welds. I am surprised at what I can get away with on MIG that wouldn't fly with TIG though.

Looking at the specs of this welder, it is 30% at 130 amps with a max output of 180amps. I rarely if ever use setting E which is probably the 180. That means D is probably somewhere around 130 - 150 amps, right around the duty cycle. Given that I welded an hour the other day and it stopped 3 times, that means I welded about 20 minutes out of 60 minutes, or about 33%, right at its listed duty cycle. I'm thinking in the past when I was able to weld for so long I may have been on setting C which should be around 100 - 110 amps. Hard to say for sure since I haven't had a chassis to weld completely in a long time. I can weld tube about as good on C as I can D, just have tended to err on the hot side recently. I know I didn't always err hot though.

Anyway, this is all to say that I'm starting to think that Lincoln was right. The machine is operating properly, I may have been worrying about nothing.

kushKrawlin · Nov 2, 2014

Still kinda horseshit for it to stop 3 times In a hour. On thick **** I set mine on E, with .35 flux, speed between 1-2 and can weld all day. Just curious, when it shuts down , how long before u can use it again? And what psi do u set ur gas? Thanks brother