Lincoln tombstone question

I was given this unit; it works but I know nothing else about it. I am a novice and only beginning to learn. I noticed tingle voltage when changing the rod. Not every time and not extreme but definitely noticeable. Conditions were outside, dry, leather gloves, rubber-soled shoes, not touching the parts/metal being welded. Overall it appears to be in good physical condition, insulation on leads is good, etc.
Is there something wrong that I'm missing?

It does have only a 3-conductor cord. Should I change it to a 4-lead so it has the ground wire? I would not expect this to solve the problem. My limited understanding is that this would ground the case itself but I don't get any shock when touching the case, only sometimes when changing the rod, which indicates I'm completing the circuit/path to ground from the lead itself. My assumption is that possibly the glove was slightly damp; not noticeably wet/soaked but it was warm that day. However I don't want to "assume" that it is otherwise safe to use. Please correct/inform me if I'm wrong.

Open circuit "stinger" voltage is enough to "bite", sounds normal to me.

It's probably fine. You should be able to get an OP manual from Lincoln. Go to their website or call the customer service line. No need for a four wire setup. I believe they required a 30 amp receptacle.

I'm pretty sure the leads on your welder are floating from the welder's chassis, but this can be easily confirmed with an ohmmeter. Most welders have a three-conductor cord, as there is no neutral, only two hots and a ground because there's no need for 120 volts. (Dryers, on the other hand, use both 120 and 240, so they should have a 4-wire plug to separate neutral and ground.)

I suspect your rubber-soled shoes are actually conductive. Many work shoes have conductive soles to discharge static electricity; they can't conduct enough current to hurt you but you might get a tingle. Again, you can confirm that with an ohmmeter.

That's common for a stick welder.

The case is grounded through the ground terminal of the plug. There is no provision for a neutral, so a 4 conductor plug would gain nothing.

If in doubt, check for voltage from the case to something grounded, like an iron water pipe, rebar, etc.

Anthony to answer your question "It does have only a 3-conductor cord. Should I change it to a 4-lead so it has the ground wire?"

FYI if wired correct ?? IT ALREADY HAS A GROUND WIRE. If its a straight 240 VAC Buzz Box AC Welder (NO 120 VAC used) it would have three leads, Two Hots L1 & L2 240 VAC Line to Line PLUS the third (Bare/Green) safety Equipment Grounding Conductor.

Assuming (No warranty cant say no specs or wiring diagram) its basically an isolation transformer (with no shorts or mis wiring) there would be no physical direct electrical connection of any of the two incoming hot wires to the case/frame of the welder. The welders hot and ground welding leads (secondary winding of the transformer) have the welding voltage across them NOT direct physical electrical connected (only the transformers inductive coupling) to the incoming 240 VAC Primary. The Bare/Green safety equipment grounding conductor should be bonded to the case/frame, that's easy to check with an ohm meter, third ground wire on plug should have low resistance continuity to the case/frame ...

I have owned and used those welders over 40 years and YES felt shock tingles even with a perfect working welder having no shorts

Hopefully some professional welders can respond and I bet neither you nor I are the only ones who have felt a shock using those welders

Thats NOT to say yours may not have a problem or has a short or is mis wired. If in doubt have it professionally tested !!!!!

John T

The peak to peak (not RMS) voltage on a welder can be near 100 volts when on and not welding. Not much danger but if I had a old pace maker I would not arc weld. If the RMS voltage is 35 the P to P is 98.99 volts. RMS is what we use for common language discussions ov AC. 120VAC is 339v p to p. Jim
calculator.

One other thing you can do, open the case, give the inside a good cleaning.

Not knowing the history, it could be, and likely is filthy inside.

They are favorite nesting places for mud dobbers, and depending on the environment, it could have metal grindings or chips inside.

Anything conductive could cause potential stray currents.

Thats normal for those welders. You are dealing with high voltage and will get a little tingle. Used to work in a factory mig welding and one unit I worked with whenever you struck an arc the grind dust on the floor would move towards the leads. Finally after telling them about it for weeks I let the magic smoke out of it LOL

I get the tingle every once in a while also. Don't you suppose the cooling fan is 120V? If so, 4 wire would be required?

Mornin Bob, good question "Don't you suppose the cooling fan is 120V? If so, 4 wire would be required?" NOT having any specs or wiring diagram whatsoever, my first "guess" would be the fan is 240 VAC but I just cant say from here. YOU ARE RIGHT if an appliance like a welder or dryer etc used BOTH 120 as well as 240 UNDER LATEST CODES would need four wires, two Hots, Neutral, Ground

Nice chatting with you take care now

John T

All I can say is that I grew up welding on an old Forney AC 220V machine. It has a 3 wire plug, 2 hots and a ground. It’s well over 40 years old as I’m am nearing 50 and remember Dad getting it when I was about 5. I assume the fan is running in 110V but they just wired it through the ground... could be wrong but I’ve seen worse.

Also it doesn’t take much moisture under your feet or kneeling on the metal that you’re welding to get a little tingle. Keeps you on your toes dad would say.

I have a couple other welders that I use more frequently now, an AC/DC Century and a Millermatic 220, plus a Deca Inverter and some other off shore tiny inverter. Never got a buzz from any of them but they are completely different t machines. Every now and then I will fire up the old Forney and it still does just as good a job as ever... which is fine for cruddy old farm repairs even if I do get a little tingle.
Grant

Wait till you are standing in a wet spot. It really tingles then.

You are essential touching the hot wire and then grounded back to the ground wire threw the ground. Try not to touch the work piece you have the ground wire hooked to to minimize the tingling. Also are you wearing approved welding gloves. That will also help to isolate you from the hot wire.

This sounds kinda dumb, but when I kept getting that tingle I found the heels of my old work boots had been nailed on.The heels were worn down to the nail heads and I made a perfect ground until I tried a rubber sole shoe.

Laugh all you want, but this worked for me!

Beagle

I need to slow down and read better, you got this covered.

Beagle

Used to operate a Millermatic with high frequency start. That thing hurt to change rods. I got a glass jar and put rods in it. No more handling means no more tingling.

Used to repair steel silo floors in building under the silage, the unloader would damage the floor where it attached to the unloader trough. Learned to stick the electrodes in the hay and grab from there. You need a good stinger when you are welding laying on a steel floor covered with silage juice. You don't want to hear the "Buzy Bee" picking up RPMs when its you.

Our old Lincoln buzz box will nail you via the brass screw in the electrode holder. It had lost the electrical tape over that screw and it lined up with hole in glove and got me pretty good. I'm assuming someone in past wasn't careful and a strand is touching it inside.

Used to laugh at dad. He used the helmet to hold the rod than clamp it to the stinger. I got older started to do it myself. Lol. That tickle hurt more as I get older.

Replaced a cooling fan motor in my HF wire welder it was 220 volt, Grainger had it in stock. It was kind of funny the cooling fan was damaged during shipping and I never realized it until about four years later when it fried a component in the wire speed board. While I was replacing that component I noticed that the fan blade was bound up by its housing. I thought the fan was pretty quiet.

I have one of those welders and learned to “weld” on one in high school ag shop. The first thing I did (having experienced the tingle) when we unboxed the welder and used it was wrap electrical tape around the electrode holder to cover that hole.