Lincoln Power Mig 300 welder Age?

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Can anyone tell me how to find the age of this welder using the serial#? I am thinking about purchasing it. General cost for these. K1694-1 11097  U1011200527  Thanks
Reply:Originally Posted by earlyhemiCan anyone tell me how to find the age of this welder using the serial#? I am thinking about purchasing it. General cost for these. K1694-1 11097  U1011200527  Thanks
Reply:Date of manufacture dec, 2001. Right in the serial number. U1 is usa plant 1. 01 is 2001, 12 is dec. rest is sequence number.Good candidate to turn into a powermig 350.  Go the powerwavesoftware.com to find out how to down load new software, Just takes a serial RS232 cable, computer and internet connection.
Reply:Thanks very much for the help.
Reply:What is strange to me is that if ccawg's serial number date decoding is correct, then the machine code listed doesn't make sense to me.Below is the sequence of machine codes for the Power Mig 300/350.  The machine codes are listed in order of Lincoln's developement and release.  All products under developement, and every new version thereof, is issued a machine code.  The higher the number, the more recent the engineering/packaging update.  Some products never get released, but they retain their machine code that was issued.  Lincoln just assigns a new number for the next version that they work on to release.10562 - Earliest PM300, with older style wire drive, circa early 2001.  I think this was Scott V.'s PM300(Some machine codes issued after 10562 that were not released, and therefore not listed)10958 - Revised PM300, with newer style wire drive, circa 2002.  I have this model, made in Nov. 200211000 - Revised PM300, last one issued with the 12' Magnum 300 gun, circa 200311097 - Revised PM300, first one issued with the 15' Magnum 300 gun, circa 200411098 - Revised PM300, same time as 1109711147 - PM350MP  New label to compete with MP350, Dual Procedure circuit board, Dual gas solenoid, 115V utility outlet, but all weld power specifications exactly the same as PM300, circa 2005So, my question is, how could "earlyhemi's" machine code of 11097 have been made in December 2001, when my earlier model 10958 machine wasn't made until November 2002?  (My serial # is U1 0211 xxxxx)Respectfully,Charles Brown
Reply:There was one earlier version then mine, and my friend Jim machine at the coast. They did not even have a RS232 cable setup. I do know my friend has upgraded his to the latest PM-350 software, and hates the synergic settings now. He now owns my C-300 and it's software is really good.Esab/Lorch ET-220iEsab 160i caddyThermal LM-200 Lincoln feedersThermal Pee-Wee 85sThermal 60i- 3phase /RPC powered (Beast)Thermal Drag-gun 35CINE 1500 Klutch 140i
Reply:If what Charles Brown  Posted is correct, then one of two things has happened.1) the OP typed his serial number wrong Or Lincoln factory Typed something wrong on his serial number plate. I have at least once had a code number wrong on the serial number plate. When I do a Lincoln warranty I use the serial number first or the owner has to supply his sales receipt. Since most of these welders all use the same parts. We may not see a wrong code number as wrong, unless we end up with a wrong part.Serial Number Definition:U1100200000   U...............................1.................  ..10.............02...............00000      ................................................  ............................Country of..........Mfrg. Facility.............Mfr...........Mfr............  IncrementingManufacture.......in the designated.......Year.........Date............Digi  ts.........................CountryCopied from Lincoln service note 9301. How to decode the serial number.Last edited by ccawgc; 10-23-2011 at 09:13 PM.
Reply:Thank you ccawgc for adding more information about decoding the serial number.Please understand that my response was not intended to challenge your serial number decoding.  I just had, and still have, a hard time understanding how my machine, as an earlier model, could have been manufactured one year LATER than the OP's machine.  It would have never occurred to me that the label could be wrong. It would seem that Lincoln's manufacturing processes are advanced enough that an error like that wouldn't happen.Just to make sure, I decided to look back at my original receipt from almost a decade ago....December 20, 2002.   Ah it is all coming back to me now... a big red Christmas present to me.In looking through the files for that original purchase receipt, I ran across some research that I had done a long time ago, and probably posted on the Chaski forums, or maybe the Hobart forums before someone ordered a mass exodus of us red folks over to here way back when.  Anyway, here is more detailed histor on the model code evolvement of the Power Mig 300.The first welder using the PM300 chassis was actually a Power Mig 255, circa 1998/99.  The PM255 was a watershed wire welder for it's time, popularizing many features we have now come to expect... including the dual driven rolls, the split wire guide, the lower cylinder platform, and the encoder wheels with illuminated digital readouts that beat the pants out of the membrane push buttons and virtually unreadable LCD readouts of the WireMatic 255 and/or SP255 that the then new PM255 replaced.  I almost bought both of those discontinued welders in the late 90's, after my neighbor invited me over to show off his SP225 from a year or so before... but something told me to wait.A few years later, I saw what I was waiting for at the SEMA show in 2001.  The Power Mig 300.   The highest welding power available on single phase current, nevermind that it was now both a CC and CV machine capable of doing stick and scratch start Tig with one space saving power supply capable of 350 amps.  Here is an update to the history of machine codes that I posted earlier, including three models I omitted above, but now include below for comprehensiveness.PM300/350 Machine Codes:10562 - Still the earliest PM300, triple checked after Scott V.'s post above.  Scott must have had a later version, which will be newly listed below.  The 10562 machine had the original of everything PM300, including the original (not as good) wire drive, dual encoder PC board assembly that was replaced with mechanical encoders and different boards by the next released model, and Version A of the original IM736 manual.10948 - (not listed in my original post above... because this PM300 was never actually built!)10952 - (not listed in my original post above... due to my oversight)  This PM300 ditched the single dual encoder PC board in favor of 2 twin mechanical encoders (which have remained ever since) and different logic boards, and was released with Version C of the IM736 manual.  Scott, perhaps this one was your machine, if you say there was one model earlier than yours.10958 - This is the first year the MaxTrac wire drive, with a third gear drive wheel hidden behind a plastic cover on the bottom.  A few other improvements were made on this machine, including the case front welded assembly and some circuit wiring changes.  Other than circuit board wiring, the described changes (new wire drive, new encoders, new welded assembly) made on this machine held for every model of PM300/350 made since.  In otherwords, even though subsequent models would receive changes to other components, the components changed on this model have remained throughout the successions.  This is the earliest PM300 I would want, because of the updated wire drive and updated encoders.  And perhaps because this is the one that I have.11000  This machine is virtually identical to the 2002 era 10958 immediately above, but it was revised in 2003 to ship "ready to weld" aluminum with a push pull gun.  Beginning with release of this machine, the Power Mig 300 could be ordered in two different models.  The K1694-1 was the standard push steel model (10958) and the K2177-1 was the new push pull aluminum model (11000).  The drive rolls and wire guides on the drive assembly were for aluminum wire, and it came with the K2154 push pull connection kit pre installed.  The gun that shipped with this unit was a 25 foot air cooled Python. (Python Plus didn't exist then)11097 - All new harnesses to boards, a new transformer and choke assembly, and a longer Magnum 300 gun are among the changes made to this steel pushing machine.  Welding output power specifications remained unchanged, despite the new trasnofmer and choke assembly.11098 - Virtually identical to 11097 above, but equipped ready to weld alumimum with a Python air cooled pull gun.  This was the last PM300 before the 2005 update to the more competitive sounding Power Mig 350MP.  11147  PM350MP11827  PM350MP (ships with different Magnum Pro gun)Last edited by Charles Brown; 10-26-2011 at 05:13 AM.Respectfully,Charles Brown
Reply:Below are further refined Power Mig 300 and 350 MP machine code revisions, added in new post because previous posts cannot be edited. (adding three more machine codes that were never built)Approximate years 2000 - 200110562 - PM300 - First version released10582 - PM300 - (Never built)Approximate years 2001 - 200210948 - PM300 - (Never built)10952 - PM300 - Second revision releasedApproximate years 2002 - 200310958 - PM300 - Third revision released, K1694, shipped equipped w/ 12' Magnum push gun for steel11000 - PM300 - Third revision released, K2177, shipped equipped with Python push pull for aluminum11004 - PM300 - (Never built)Approximate years 2003 - 200411097 - PM300 - Fourth revision released, K1694, shipped equipped w/ 15' Magnum push gun for steel11098 - PM300 - Fourth revision released, K2177, shipped equipped with Python push pull for aluminumApproximate years 2004 - 200511147 - PM350mp - Fifth revision released, K2403, same power as PM300, but Miller had come out with their newest wire feeder called the MM350.  Lincoln's PM300 was rated up to 350 amps all along. In addition to the new model number and moniker, the PM350 added a 115V outlet on the back, a secondary gas solenoid for simultaneous connection to a spool gun or tig torch, and the dual procedure circuits (that actually first quietly appeared on the board revisions of 11097 and 11098) are now advertised as available.Approximate years 2006 - 200911309 - PM350mp - (Cancelled)Approximate years 2009 - 201111827 - PM350mp - Not shipping with push pull gun in 2011.  The short lived Lincoln branded "Panther" push pull gun that was released in 2009 was dropped by 2010 due to poor supplier quality (ie, not as good as the Cobra and Python push pulls made by MK Products for Lincoln)..Last edited by Charles Brown; 10-28-2011 at 03:22 PM.Reason: (To improve formatting for clarity)Respectfully,Charles Brown