Telwin welder linear 200 issue

Hi, found some strange stuff on the inside of an old welder i’m planning to use. Image shows it all.
Thx
William

I dont know what you mean by ' Image says it all"
I use arc welders a lot, but that plate has inscriptions I am having trouble discerning.
Here is a manual for the unit.
https://www.libble.eu/telwin-linear-250-s/online-manual-754250/?page=0003

John C Daley wrote:I dont know what you mean by ' Image says it all"
I use arc welders a lot, but that plate has inscriptions I am having trouble discerning.

The copper plates have all kinda of bumps gunk on it. They are hard almost like metal. Doesn’t wipe off.  Thanks for the manual.
W

those are iron plates all stacked  together as the core for the transformer , they are first varnished to insulate each plate from the next ,then stacked and pressed and either bolted or tack welded to stay compressed, and then dunked into varnish again , giving an old brownish colour to it all ---then a few years of dust thrown in , those could just be old solidified  drips and runs of it . But if theres any blackening  to the varnish and the drips are black crumbly charred , could be that the machine was running far to hot and the core has overheated causing the varnish to melt and leak out between the laminations of iron plates.

tony uljee wrote:could be that the machine was running far to hot and the core has overheated causing the varnish to melt and leak out between the laminations of iron plates.

That’s kinda what i was worried about. The machine runs and welds. Should i be worried a out using it??
Thanks
W

That plate on the side had something to do with the duty cycle.
I suspect they overworked it.
If it welds then use it.
Just don't push it hard.  
Weld a bit then stop and grind or take a break and let that welder cool down before sparking it up again.
As long as you're not trying to production weld then it should do the job.

There will be no danger in using it.
The duty cycle explains how long you can weld in every 10 minute time period.
Looking at the details its confusing as to what the info is, but as Thomas says, let it cool.
I suggest run 4 minutes every 10, thats is a  40% duty cycle.

Unless you are a boilermaker, 40% duty cycle is adequate.

Does anyone think some sort of repair/restoration would be easy or worthwhile?
W

its an old machine and low to medium range quality, so repairs would be more expensive than its worth , thats if its faulty, if the transformer is gone ,definitely too costly to repair, i cant say for sure looking at the pics ,but it does nt look like it has been "cooked" ,its just old, as said-- just give it a gentle clean up ---un plugged of course and then a  low setting with a small 2.5mm rod  to try out. Theres a thermal cut out on these to prevent overload ,so if that has failed thats when or how they overheat from over extended use at high settings. Some have a fan for cooling the trans down that is too small or jammed up /damaged .   The pic of the front of the machine shows an approximate guideline of settings and the arc welding rod size diameter 2.5 to 4 mm to match them , the metal printed on plate  is showing its rated output and use time at settings, its 45 amps draw at its max of 200 amps .These old tech welders are at the limits of most older electric boards and the 13 amp fused plugs , they also lose efficiency as they age , so okay for small jobs and repairs, but bloody annoying for when you want to make something like a trailer as it will slow you down and keep tripping the rcb or worse ----the main fuse. When new it had a 30% use at  200 amps ---flat out --max setting   , so 3 mins of use and then 10 mins of cool down ---if the thermo cut out was working.

from whats on that from the bottom section plate it looks like that welder will operate using 3 phase 50hertz cycle import power source.  380 volts or 220 volts. at 100 percent duty cycle it will draw 22.5 amps at 220 volts
from top section of plate the welding output is adjustable from 45-200 amps and the lower chart shows output at different duty cycles
for example from plate you can weld at 100 duty cycle-which means constantly have 100 recent power available at 105 amps at 24 volts
the other two columns are at 60 percent and 30 percent duty cycle.
duty cycle is usually how long you can get continuous output from a machine at particular setting without. I think its in 10 minute amounts of time or something like that so for 30 percent duty cycle you can weld for 3 minutes and let the machine cool for 7 minutes. something like that.
I suggest you get an instructional book on welding if you think the information on a welder data plate is strange stuff. its best to have a good understanding of how to use such power tools.
I have no idea if you will be cutting metal with a torch but many have been killed by turning up the pressure of acetylene over 15psi. just an example of how you can be harmed if not using welding equipment properly and knowing about the equipment

it is a very simple ac welder. a buzz box is a common nickname for it it is AC output only so
you will want to use 6011  or 6013 rods 3/32  0r 1/8' are most common.
be sure to have face/sight protective welding helmet and thick leather gloves. looking at welding arc will blind you