Thread: Lincoln idealarc 250 electrical problem

I just bought a idealarc 250 tig/stick welder. I was checking the plug before I gave it a try and it has been been wired to l1 and neutral. According to the manual it should be l1 and L2. The previous owner said he put the plug on it because it came from a tafe and didn't have a plug on it. He also said he had never used it because it was too expensive to put 3 phase on to his house. Now if it has been used as the plug is currently wired, could it have damaged the welder? I took the covers off and every thing looked OK. I will talk to the electrician at work Monday, but was hoping someone on here might be able to enlighten me before then.

Check the input voltage listed on the data plate. It may list a range of voltages eg 220-500v.
You would have to configure some input jumpers to set the voltage correctly. (Some modern inverter welders can auto sense the supply voltage.)

If the previous owner set the input jumpers for 220 or 240v then the plug wiring L1 and N would be correct.
Alternatively if you can select 400-440v and have 3 phase then wire it to L1 and L2.

Current draw when setup on 240v would probably be 60-80 amps.

John

I checked the plate and it only listed 415V. the primary and auxiliary (110V) transformers only have one set of inputs. I swapped the wire from N to L2 in the plug, and the welder powered up and made all the noises it should. tomorrow i will try welding with it.