I own a Lincoln SP100 purchased new in 1991. It's been a great machine with no issues up til now.
A few months ago I noticed a odd odor when walking past it in the garage, not particularly nasty although It caught my attention. I've been using a C25 mix with this and checked the tank connections which were tight. I questioned the tank itself so I took this in and tank was shipped out for testing. It took awhile although checked out OK. While the tank was gone, I could still smell the odor although perhaps 50% of what it was originally. I looked over the rubber gas line and decided to replace it due to age, questioning if the rubber was degrading. I picked up a new line although after original line was removed, I could still detect a bit of an odor at back of welder where line and exhaust fan vents are. Due to the age and my heavy use of the welder, I'm wondering now if something electrical has dried up, giving off a smell. The last time I used it heavily was years ago and I was running Flux Core wire on a big project. The duty cycle was getting pushed hard although machine ran perfectly with no issues. I ran it some after this although with C25 and regular wire. It ran fine, producing very nice welds.
I've sold my tank so can't really fully test it for function although when welder is turned on with internal fan running, the smell is a bit stronger.
I plan on giving the welder to my son as I'm changing welding processes so I want to make sure it is safe to use.
Any suggestions or experiences?
Mac