Noob fixing a Ranger 10000

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Howdy Gang!First post here.  Backstory - my son recently started taking Welding classes at HS, and my Father-in-Law gave my son his old welding machine.  It is a Lincoln Ranger 10000.  SN seems to say it is an Oct '06 build.   I've been googling the issues, and tried a few things, but now looking for advice.What the machine is doing - First, the motor runs good, starts fine, idles down on Auto.  When trying to weld, it just makes small sparkles.  Googling says this is common with a dead battery - which it was very weak, so I swapped it.  Same issue (but it starts better

)  Next google seems to point to brushes or cleaning the slip rings.  I pulled the brush block, and the brushes move free, and are almost an inch long, plus the ends look good / smooth / not glazed.  I'll try to attach a pic of my rings.  They have an odd wear pattern, like if the current brushes are new, and the old brushes had grooves.So, do I need to polish the rings?  is this likely the issue?  or is it a voltage regulator issue?  Or something else?Two pics, one with flash, one without.



Reply:Got a unit Code# off the face plate?  Gonna need that.The slip rings don't look that bad but some 320grit sandpaper on them wouldn't hurt.  You can clean them while running being very careful to keep stray fingers away from the spinning rotor that would love to grab hold of one.  You can tape the sandpaper to the end of a stick or flat tip screw driver if it makes you feel more comfortable.  If that still doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy just clean them with the engine off and turn it over as needed to get to the entire surfaces of the rings.Also check for 12VDC battery voltage between the brushes while cranking.  Pull the plug wires off so it doesn't start if you want to but not necessary as long as you can get a reading while it's cranking.  This voltage is required for initial flashing of the rotor field to kick things off electrically for the generator.  (+) is the ring closest to the engine.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110

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Reply:Thanks!Code is 11151.Voltage between brushes while cranking; I'll check that in the morning.  No need to pull the plugs, I think I could crank it for hours without the choke.  Choke it, it fires right up, though.Sandpaper on a stick sounds do-able.  I have some 600g I use for chisels, that should work.Thanks again,JerryEdit - oh one other thing - I see some small caps inside, is there anything that stays 'hot' when the motor is off?Last edited by Jerry-rigged; 04-03-2017 at 05:44 PM.
Reply:Ok, so I checked the voltage between the brushes while cranking.  EDIT - retested, now it is showing 10.5v.  This time I unplugged the brush leads to get a better connection to the meter.Well, I found an on-line manual, guess it is time to start reading schematics.  Any tips ya'll have are welcome too.JerryEdit - also, More googling, seems a common issue is the AC side works, but not the DC?  So I plugged in a leaf blower to the 120v recpt, switched it to AC.  No go.  I can feel the motor humming, but not enough current to spin the motor.Edit, another data  point.  I thought that 10.5 was a bit low, so I checked the battery.  12.5 sitting, 14.1 low idle, 14.4 high idle.  So the alternator is good.  I think the new battery is a bit low from the extra cranking and not running.  Got it idling now to charge the battery a bit.Last edited by Jerry-rigged; 04-04-2017 at 11:33 AM.
Reply:PM me an email address and I'll send you the Service Manual for the unit.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110

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Reply:I am looking for help my ranger 10000 is having same issue not sure what’s going on. Been reading the tread and have attempted to try all fixes with no successful results