how many of you look at the digital display when tig welding?

When looking at new welders, I thought it would be so important to have the digital display for amperage. It seemed like such an essential thing and truly it is much better for static settings than my old stick welders with their "exactly where am I?" dial setups.

So the digital display gets used to set an amperage on panel settings for plasma and stick, or occasionally for tig tacking using the torch switch.

For general tig welding, which is about 90% of what I do with the machine, I never even glance at the digital display , just watch the puddle and try to keep it right.

Glen

I have a lincoln that uses an infinite knob. Meaning that it will just keep spinning and spinning. The display will max out at 185 amps which is what it is rated for, but the knob will keep spinning. Basically, I HAVE to use the digital display.

Before that though, I had a Hobart and there was no display. So I would just set it at where I was used to for what I needed. For this reason, I cannot tell you how many amps it takes to weld what metal. I just know if I need more or less.

Since I've never had a tig welder, let alone a welder with a digital display, I always go by the display. I spin the knob until the amp readout shows a little higher than I think I need, the foot pedal does the rest. Using the torch switch takes more time to dial in, but I still go by the amp readout. Now, looking at the display WHILE I'm welding..I haven't managed to do that yet without screwing up my bead ;)