lincoln "idealarc" wire-matic 250 - questions

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I was recently given a lincoln wire-matic 250 mig welder.I have arc welded alot and mig welded a little in classes I had along time ago, but liked it and had a bit of a knack for it for a while.I havent had access to a welder since. now I've got what appears to be an industrual-sized lincoln.from what I can tell, it is not made anymore, and the nice manual andparts list I printed from the lincoln site call it the "idealarc" wirematic 250.I was wondering what i should look for in a replacement gun, as it seems the available gun types are specific to model and then categorized by amperage rating and intended use  (is this right?)  anyone else have one of these beasts? or know anything about "idealarc"I am excited to have  such a monster of a welder and am looking foreward to collecting all the rest of what I need to get this baby sizzlin'any info or tips would be greatly appriciated.thanks!C.Poff
Reply:I own a few lincolns . the word "ideal arc " don't mean much of anything . it seems to me that was just a trade name (trademark) i think your wirematic may be the regular version of my sp250 which is  computerized- yours is set with knobs , mine has a touch screen. a 250 amp mig  gets with "the program" . you won't have the problems that some guys have with a 175 or smaller .Any lincoln dealer who can read (a catalog) should be able to get you a new gun, if that's what you need . And, i think most welding supplies sell lincolns . good luck, & happy welding .
Reply:I have a Q: for Mac 702 - your knowlege of electricity is un challenged , so i got a Q; for you . we all know how smooth a lincoln D C welder like a S A 200 WELDS  -or a lincoln motor generator ; how MUCH smoother arc could one get from welding from a bank of batteries (theoretically ?)  and i mean batteries that could put out the amps , such as  a bunch of submarine batteries, wired series & or parralel   , what ever is needed ?
Reply:hanks for the input roy, it's reassuring to know I'll start with at leastsome advantage what should I expect to pay for a decent multi-purpose gun with a 10 foot cable (to match the ground length)?also, needing the gas regulators, I would like to use mostly co2 only, but keep argon as an option (as suggested by the guy who gave me the welder)would I need two different regulator styles for the two different methods,or could I use a dual for only one tank sometimes, and are the regulators specific to the type of gas used. or could a dual regulator for co2/argonbe used for an oxy/acetelyne setup too?thanks for spending your valuable time to help a super-noob.I know that the welding shop could answer all these questions and more, butwhen going into a buissiness, I would like to have at least some background knowledge to base a decision on besides the reccomendations of the sales person, plus a person whos job it is to use a welder has information that is more valuable to me than a person whos job it is to sell welders. it seems the classes I took so long ago had all the technical stuff worked out from the get-go and just wanted to see me make a nice bead.THANKS!!!!C.Poff
Reply:been a long time since i asked price of gun . I get by o k using argon FLOW meter  for c02 ( they have similar density , i believe ) & i love my Koike flow meter -no floating ball in it . you need dedicated regulators for oxy-acet, they read in P S I . the argon,co2, helium  read in cubic feet /hour .I hope this helps -
Reply:thanks again roy, and yes it does help!C.Poff
Reply:I forgot to say, because it's been so long, but i think the ends that fir into the bottles are different (  argon,  co2 ) you may have to change one , if you use a argon reg. for co2. haven't looked at mine seriously in a long time .
Reply:The valves have different seats for the different nipples of the regulators.  There are adaptors available to use argon regs on CO2 cylinders from most welding suppliers.I don't do that anymore after freezing two Smith argon regulators running them on 100% CO2.
Reply:I have a Victor ball-type flowmeter which has a rotating glass tube with various gases on it. It will do Argon, Argon/CO2 and CO2 depending on how you rotate the tube. I have both adaptors, one for CO2 and one for the argon bottles. I have yet to freeze it with straight C02 at 15-20 CFM but as MAC says, I'm sure you could freeze one if you had high enough gas rates or welded for a long time. It does "sweat" on the outside but hasn't quit yet..
Reply:I have a Victor,like the one gnm109 has, a "Generic" (!) brand,& 2 Koike flow meters, i been lucky , never had any freeze up, once in a while one sweats on outside , but no problems. My oxy-acet. regs are all victor .
Reply:Originally Posted by gnm109I have a Victor ball-type flowmeter which has a rotating glass tube with various gases on it. It will do Argon, Argon/CO2 and CO2 depending on how you rotate the tube. I have both adaptors, one for CO2 and one for the argon bottles. I have yet to freeze it with straight C02 at 15-20 CFM but as MAC says, I'm sure you could freeze one if you had high enough gas rates or welded for a long time. It does "sweat" on the outside but hasn't quit yet..