pedal control

**les holt** · 03-21-2010, 02:02 PM

After having my 160P for almost 8 mos. I finally hooked it up. A couple things jump out as being wrong or just different. The foot pedal doesn't seem to allow you to control amperage during use. Understanding that I'm accustomed to using a miller syncrowave 351 daily and the control is pretty broad. Is this normal or is something wacky? It actually welds better than my personal syncrowave 160 did, just don't have the pedal control. Also worked on welding some aluminum but all I have is 1/16 thoriated tungsten. Didn't try to lay a bead, just worked on melting puddles and am yet to judge it till tomorrow. Haven't used plasma yet. The regulator is absolutely the worst excuse for one I have ever seen and I'll put a good one on and try later. If I'm missing something on the pedal thing, please let me know.
Thanks
Les Holt

**Gadget** · 03-21-2010, 04:09 PM

Les,
On the 160P the current controls on the welder should be set at 0, perhaps you were overriding the pedal with current knob adjustments.

**Freddytk421** · 03-21-2010, 04:11 PM

OK I noticed the same thing, I went out to the garage and I think I figured it out. On my tig machine there is a pedal and machine toggle. I was using the machine toggle because I thought the pedal was not working correctly because the 0 setting was blowing through every thing full blast. But it's backwards 0 is the most current and 10 is the least. the machine will display the max no matter what. with the pedal toggle on set the amps on the pedal with what I said in mind. The harder you press the pedal the weaker the arc and the lighter you press it the stronger the arc. This is the opposite of what we are used to but I got the hang of it really quickly just now. I was worried about that until I figured this out. Hope that helps.

**les holt** · 03-21-2010, 05:04 PM

Well, the pedal works. I welded with it while I kept moving the dial on the front of it with my other foot when it started working. I also noticed that I'm not getting a amperage reading change when I move the basic current knob. It stays at 002-003 no matter where I adjust the knob. Oh yeah, it works like a miller just not as much variation on amperage, pedal down is up on current. And it seems to weld aluminum pretty good, changing the cup size made a big difference. Any way, any ideas on the basic current not making reading changes?
Thanks for the answers thus far!
Les Holt

**Freddytk421** · 03-21-2010, 05:14 PM

Mine seems to be backwards. I push down to get less current and barley touching it gives me the most also 0 is the most and 10 is the least. There is however a wide range of current on mine from really hot to barley on with the pedal pressure. I think the machines reading doesn't matter only the pedal knobs setting when it's set for pedal. but I have a different machine than yours and I'm just learning it myself. Do you have a pedal and machine toggle on yours?

**les holt** · 03-21-2010, 05:26 PM

No it doesn't, on mine you just unplug the switch from the tig torch to machine and plug the pedal in. Which also leads me to believe I could adapt a tig torch that has the potiental switch in the head which would be real handy with what I do.

**Freddytk421** · 03-21-2010, 07:09 PM

I think my pedal might have a switch reversed in it. It's ass backwards

**Gadget** · 03-21-2010, 07:13 PM

Look at the wires that connect to the pedal driven pot and map them out or post a photo of the connections. I can compare your wiring with mine. Of course I have a different welder than yours so it may be different anyway. Sounds like the wires may be reversed on the pot. If I can see the photo I may be able to offer a suggestion.