Good afternoon all,
I recently got suckered by a mate into paying a good wedge for a very aged Lincoln MIG (he wasn't the seller, just recommended it, sight unseen, from an ebay ad). I should know better.
On collecting it, already having been paid for, i gave it a quick test and it put down a good bead, despite its obvious years. But when I got it home, changed the wire from 0.8 to 0.6 and checked it over properly, I found all the little* bodges that were keeping the thing working**. The wire feed chassis was no longer in one piece, having been melted in several places, but had eventually split into two pieces, the alignment of which was relying on the angle that the torch lead immediately in front of the unit was held. Also it was supposed to have a Eurotorch. It doesn't. The torch lead is hard wired and secured to the front panel with random bolts, hence the leverage it exerts on the wire feed mech which probably resulted in it splitting in two.
* not so little
** but not the wire feed
Anyway, I'm assured that it can again be a good welder and represents a significant upgrade from my Aldi special PowerCraft MIG, which I don't doubt. But it needs some repairs and upgrades.
So my question is: can anyone recommend a new wire feed mechanism that will fit the space and connect to the motor controller board? The model is a Lincoln SP-170I. I think it will require a new motor as the gearbox for the driven feed roller has about a millimetre of vertical play at the roller, which I think is likely a problem. I'd also like the new mechanism to have a Eurotorch connector built in, so I can upgrade the torch at the same time.
I'd like to avoid buying genuine Lincoln spares from the US, waiting weeks and paying a bundle for delivery and/or import tax.
Thanks!
I recently got suckered by a mate into paying a good wedge for a very aged Lincoln MIG (he wasn't the seller, just recommended it, sight unseen, from an ebay ad). I should know better.
On collecting it, already having been paid for, i gave it a quick test and it put down a good bead, despite its obvious years. But when I got it home, changed the wire from 0.8 to 0.6 and checked it over properly, I found all the little* bodges that were keeping the thing working**. The wire feed chassis was no longer in one piece, having been melted in several places, but had eventually split into two pieces, the alignment of which was relying on the angle that the torch lead immediately in front of the unit was held. Also it was supposed to have a Eurotorch. It doesn't. The torch lead is hard wired and secured to the front panel with random bolts, hence the leverage it exerts on the wire feed mech which probably resulted in it splitting in two.
* not so little
** but not the wire feed
Anyway, I'm assured that it can again be a good welder and represents a significant upgrade from my Aldi special PowerCraft MIG, which I don't doubt. But it needs some repairs and upgrades.
So my question is: can anyone recommend a new wire feed mechanism that will fit the space and connect to the motor controller board? The model is a Lincoln SP-170I. I think it will require a new motor as the gearbox for the driven feed roller has about a millimetre of vertical play at the roller, which I think is likely a problem. I'd also like the new mechanism to have a Eurotorch connector built in, so I can upgrade the torch at the same time.
I'd like to avoid buying genuine Lincoln spares from the US, waiting weeks and paying a bundle for delivery and/or import tax.
Thanks!