Thread: Lincoln MIG Welder

Try here, Lionel.

it takes a standard hand piece and hose set, if you cant find the nozzles and tips for the one that you have goto somewhere like boc or cig and grab a replacement hose and hand piece assembly then get the consumables to suit that.

My usual routine (because Im bad with numbers) is to take a sample of the tip and nozzle with me and ask them to match, hasnt failed yet and there are some places now that dont even acknowledge the existance of my mig or plasma cutter.

Hello Tins & Dave,

I also sent a message to Lincoln Electric. See how long they take for a response.
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With my current state of being on the steep side of the 'how to weld' learning curve I know that the one contact tip that the welder came with will not last long. Since the next job on the rank only involves thin metal I will swap the bottle of gas back over to the Unimig. I have plenty of consumables on hand for that! The Lincoln welder was quite happy sitting in a box. It can wait a bit longer.

The Lincoln Speedtec 200C only came with the Operator's Manual on a CD/DVD and my external CD/DVD player does not recognise it. I downloaded a manual from online. However, 16 pages does not consume much space on a CD/DVD and I wonder if they featured a live demonstration on how to calibrate all the settings. Alternative formats for the CD/DVD is another question I asked Lincoln about.

I have looked on YouTube and unlike the Unimig welding company that have really good videos I have only found a couple of 'unboxing' the Speedtec 200C and some Non-English videos that seem to feature lots and lots of assumed knowledge. Something I currently lack.

I will see how Lincoln's customer service goes at responding to my questions.

I will keep you updated.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

I have mostly been successful in finding different brands of consumables for my Speedtech Lincoln welder. The parts are all Unimig - mostly because there are more stockist here in Bundaberg.

All the next three parts are Binzel Style
The Contact Tips are Unimig Part Number: PTC0009-08 ... I am running 0.8 mm diameter wire
The Tip Holder is: PCTH25 ... It is a gas Torch style 25
The Gas Nozzle is PGN25CON ... it is a gas nozzle for a Torch 25 that is conical

The only thing I got caught out on was the length of the liner. The Lincoln welder has a 4 Metre liner - while my Unimig Viper 182 only has a 3 Metre liner. I bought a 3 Metre liner. I now just have a spare for the Unimig Viper - so no harm done.

Unimig do make a 4 Metre Part Number: SLB4M 4m 0.6-0.8mm Blue Steel Mig Torch Liner. The 4 Metre one liner sells for less than $11:00 any way - so it is not an exorbitant price.

I have stocked up on goodies and once I get the correct length liner, I will start playing with the Lincoln. After some practice on off cuts the first proper job will be Snowy's seat base. The pressed metal base that is spot welded to the seat base frame has cracked off at each spot weld. I have some steel plate that I have cut to fit so it can form tabs that the bottom pressed seat base can be welded more firmly too. Plus, some extra tabs on the seat back's frame so I can fit the BMW seat back to the Land Rover 110 Defender seat frame. The BMW has a moulded plastic back with a storage pouch that bolts to the back of the seat frame. I just have to make some tabs with a welded nut to replicate the BMW system. The seat back also has a crisscross steel wire that is stronger than the Land Rover modified shade cloth. Just a couple of steel washers welded to the seat frame will solve that BMW fixing issue.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

I have revisited the local agents who are reported online to be stockists for the Unimig and other brands of 0.6 mm to 0.8 mm MIG welder liners that are 4 metres long - the length of the torch on my Lincoln welder. All the locals only have the more common 3 metre lengths of liners on their shelves. I just had to order the 4 Metre liner via one of the local stores from their warehouse with an estimate of 5-10 business days before it comes in. I figured that because the quoted cost of the liner is only $8.90 it would probably cost more for the postage than the item is worth.

I ordered two liners so I have one as a spare when it is needed. That way I will not have to wait 5-10 business days for a replacement liner.... sigh!

Kind regards
Lionel

I would be very surprised if you had issues running the existing liner. The main thing really is to run the correct rollers in the wire drive and contact tip. The rollers are matched to the wire diameter. To be honest, I doubt you would be doing anything on a vehicle which requires larger than 0.8 wire either, even heavy axle spring perches wouldn't be a problem with 0.8. Your consumables should really just be the contact tip and the gas nozzle. Liners last a long time, I doubt you would ever wear one out in your welder short of getting an arc in the liner.

I thought all of those parts were pretty standard items. Just about everyone stocks Binzel for a generic part maunfacturer and their parts are good. Stock up on contact tips, the M6 ones can be prone to melting a lot as they don't have a lot of mass to shed heat. Keep a couple of spare gas nozzles also, but you should be able to clear the spatter out of them most of the time.

The torch is just a generic euro fitting type of torch, it's pretty common. When/if you ever replace it, I'd recommend you replace it with torches with a far higher amp rating. They still plug in using the same common euro connector, but they are far more robust and you will go through a lot less consumables.

Also, being a longer torch lead, don't fall into the trap of looping it around the machine handle to get it tied up and out of the way. When welding you need to have it out on the ground and stretched out with no sharp curves otherwise it will affect the start up and the smoothness of the wire feed.

Hello Slunnie,

Thank you for your informative and detailed reply. I have a dedicated Tactix 535mm Tool Box With Aluminium Handle And Steel Latches for each welder (description from Bunnings webpage). Each tool box now has lots of welder specific consumables and the Operator's Manuals for each welder in one convenient place. Hopefully, the frequency of my visits to each box will reduce as my proficiency increases. At the moment I am all too familiar with them!

I have 0.6 mm in the Unimig Viper for spot welding panels and 0.8 mm will be the main wire for the Lincoln for more heavy duty welding tasks like steel frames for the kitchen and a engine trolley for towing between the shed and a shipping container. I am reinforcing an old industrial trolley so it can handle the 515 kilogram weight of a Perkins 6354 - well according to the specifications that is how much they are quoted as weighing. It is also going to be my dismantling and reassembly platform. Just adding more C-Channel to the top for more bracing and thicker hardwood boards. The industrial trolley came with rotted pine boards that needed replacing. I just need to add a couple of adjustable stabiliser legs and a couple of adapters for my flat towing A frame.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

I knew there was a catch lurking somewhere about all this ready interchangeability between different brands of welder consumables!

Some metres of wire latter I have found the catch. The Lincoln wire spools are wider than the Unimig ones. By the time the spool locking nut has ran out of thread there is still too much sideways slop on the spool. This results in nice things like the pin that the spool is meant to lock into has room to move sideways and it dislodges. Thus causing a bird's nest of wire.

Tomorrow I am taking the spool spindle to the local specialist nut and bolt place to find a couple of washers that can just slip over the spindle. I reckon that the washers will pack-out the width of the spool so that the lock nut can tighten the spool against the spindle. This tightness will then keep the pin locked into the spool of wire's locating hole.

If packing-out with washers does not work then I will admit defeat. I will then visit one of only two suppliers in town who might stock the Lincoln wire and I will fork out for the 5 kg spool of specialist Lincoln wire AUM0805S6.

Nothing like seeing some YouTube clips and people virtually throwing a spool of wire on. They then tighten the lock nut and just without any effort they feed the wire over the roller and thread it through a guide. Then out the wire goes into the MIG torch. Press the torch button and hold then out comes the wire ... Simples!

Then I try to do the same thing and things rapidly turn to crap. Then I start to second guess myself. Some more wasted wire later and the light bulb comes on! Doh!

Least I worked out what was not going quite right. Sigh

Kind regards
Lionel