180C Loud?

admin

I just received a Lincoln 180C for Christmas from my mother.  The first one that came in was awful loud, sounded inconsistent like the motor had slack or that the gear drive system wasn't lined up right.  So I sent it to one of thier warentee places in town, guy said "yeeh bo' i te-you-wut dats a loud som-bitch dere."  So he sent it back, almost three weeks later I got another replacement.  The replacement sounds similar, but not quite as loud.  My question for anyone that owns one of these is are they supposed to be sort of "whiny/geary sounding," for lack of better words, in use?  Its especially loud when wire speeds are higher (makes sense.)  Other than this, the machine welds great, holds wire very well, very powerful and very consistent welds.  The only thing I can chalk it up to be is the fact that it uses straight cut gears that have fairly large teeth, probably for strength rather than audible quality.  Now I've used probably close to a dozen different wire feed machines of all brands in the past, and I know theres supposed to be slight motor noise, but this is about twice as loud and more gear clash sounding than a regular Mig/wire feed.  Thanks for the help in advance,Chuck
Reply:All the little Lincolns are somewhat loud, The 140c /180C too.I actually like the sound for one reason, it sounds like a mini version ofa Lincoln LN9-GMA feeder. GOOD STUFF!!!
Reply:I've had a 180C for a couple of months, and I don't think it is "loud"...I can barely hear any motor noise, and the fan is not annoying.I did have a problem with the .025/.030 drive wheel being defective (it basically separtated such that the wire was so low into the groove that it slipped. Besides not feeding properly, the slipping drive wheels did make a noticeable noise. Dealer replaced wheels, problem resolved...you might want to check.
Reply:Thanks for the move.My first one was slipping as well on the .23wire supplied, but the second one is good, so far.  Its deffinatly a geary sound, I'll just let it "break in" and keep any metal peices blown out for now, if any arise, to see how it goes.  I mean hell its got a three year warentee, maybe I'll just wait and swap it out once more down the road to and maybe they've worked the "kink" out.Thanks,Chuck