beginnner Tig: panel controls or foot pedal

Wondering what the experts would recommend for a beginner at TIG, who has no ambition beyond hobbyist mostly non-structural art use. I would like to learn to do aluminum. My question has to do with whether to pay more for a machine with front panel controls (upslope, downslope, etc) or whether I should just concentrate on learning to use a foot pedal with a more basic unit. Seems like setting things on the panel allows more consistency, but also more confusion in what to set where, especially if not doing it all the time.

I've only tigged twice on a friend's cheap multi purpose machine that only has a foot pedal. Thanks in advance.

Greg

I just starting using a TIG and have had no problems using the foot pedal. If you keep the max amps close to full pedal then you can control it easier without giving too much power and burning through.

In practical terms,once the foot pedal is connected you bypass other panel controls, so it doesn't matter if you have those freatures or not, however having those extra features gives you the advantage of learning how to use them. When your mom bought you new shoes she always made sure their was room to grow in them, buying a tig welder is the same thing, keep your options open. Don't limit your ability to learn new things because the knobs seem intimidating. Watch Jodies vid's a few times and things become more understandable.

The foot pedal doesn’t override all the settings - the up slope and down slope and end amps still work on my 205EX. Found out the hard way, I had the down slope set at 3oclock and end amps at 75. Then hooked up the foot petal and worked on some 22ga sheet steel at 20 amps and when I got off the petal the arc fired up and put a hole right through the 22ga steel. Also if you use the pulsar it doesn’t kick in until after the up slope time is over.

For me starting out with steel the panel controls made life easier I was able to set them and then just worry about feeding rod and holding a tight arc. Started with 2t, but then moved up to 4t to better control the heat. After I was comfortable with steel I tried aluminum and found that I needed more amps at the start, and 100 start amps was not enough for me on 3/16 aluminum. So I went with the foot petal and was able to get the puddle started and then back off the amps a bit. Now that I am have the foot petal working for aluminum I am going to switch back to the panel controls and 4t the see if I can get that working, as most of what I want to do will be aluminum work and not on a welding table but up on a boat deck where a foot petal just wont work.

I recommend starting on the ground with a foot pedal. I started with scratch start and no pedal, then when I used a real welder that had a foot pedal it threw me off. The pedal is going to give you a foundation using precise heat control which will come in handy for aluminum and everything else. You need to know how the metal reacts and realize what you're actually doing. It'll really help when you move to using just the hand torch.

Joey,
Many welding schools start off teaching without the pedal. The pedal allows students to slide by without developing skills to manipulate the weld pool. Most students using the pedal have NO idea what amps they are welding at. The fact is, the world is moving away from pedals with the inverter units making things more portable, the pedal is not a convenient piece of luggage to carry around.

Mark -

You don't agree that the pedal is handy for aluminum? I've never done it, but I thought as the metal heats up its beneficial to be able to adjust the amps.

Greg

My small amount of time working with my 200X is the only time I have spent with panel controls even available. From what I see, the panel controls seem to be useful for production or repetitive type work, however, they are very difficult to use in repair work or in a situation where you have multiple joint types, material thicknesses, accesssibility, etc.

If you have a part that consitst of a butt weld on a 1/8" plate, then has 5 .050" tabs welded on it, then a fillet with another 1/8" plate, the settings are all over the map. With the foot pedal, you can weld the whole thing with one setting. Panel control would require stopping and re-adjusting each time.

Also, repair work on something tha thas multiple cracks arounf a bracket (i.e. a 1977 Cub mower deck with the rear wheel bracket cracked), much more current is needed to weld the thich bracket to the reinforcing plate than is needed to weld up the spider cracks that resulted form the broken bracket.

I am not really sure why some of the panel controls get deactivated with the addition of the foot pedal, as the foot pedal is essentially the same as turning the main current adjusting knob while welding.

If you really want to learn how to weld with tig, start out with oxy-fuel welding. You will learn head control, puddle control, pretty much everything that is needed in tig. Then, once you switch over to tig and have a great deal more control variables, all you do is smile. :-)

Sportbike,
I think you have made my case for learning without the pedal. You need repetition to learn puddle control and welding basics. Jumping around from one thing to another is not a great thing to do while learning, until you can master laying beads consistently, on one surface or type weld. You don't go from 1G to 6G welds overnight. It takes practice, practice, practice on the same thing over and over before you are ready to add another skill set. A GOOD tig welder can set an amp level, and KNOWS it will be correct for the metal you are setting. Going from one to another type joint, yes, that is a cause for changing the panel setting. BUT you will need to do that anyway, if you are using the foot pedal correctly, by setting it just above the maximum amps needed for the weld to give the finest control over the weld. Guys welding pipe, boiler makers, etc, all have to keep their weld temps dead on and most using inverter power sources don't have the luxury of a foot pedal. Its all about technique, and knowledge with them. Overheating the metal to get a good puddle going isn't always acceptable. You have to stop and wait for the puddle to build. That is one reason I advocate the use of 4T. It allows precision control over this process of getting the arc started and the metal flowing. Yes, the foot pedal is a valid tool, but most newbs use it as a crutch, not a tool.

as a fellow beginner,( i had never even held a tig torch before my unit arrived) i started out with the panel only controls, in the 2t mode, but switched over to the footpedal rather quickly.
i felt like i had to get a feel for controlling the heat input on the fly and for me the easiest/smoothest way seemed to be to learn to do it with the pedal.
i think the torch switch is a great tool that can be a great help in situations where the footpedal isnt convinent to use, or cant be used due to location, but isnt a replacment for the pedal, just another resource to be used when the situation calls for it.
i'd recommend learning to use both the pedal, and the torch switch, as both have theyre advantages in certain situations.

I learned using 2t on mild steel, and just learned to run a bead. When I started on aluminum I used the foot pedal.

The first tig welder I bought was a cheapie that didn't even have a foot pedal, just panel control. That didn't cut it for tig on thin wall.
Next was an Everlast mutifunction PU 205, a really good little machine but I now need AC as well for aluminum. As others have advised, if you can go a little beyond what you think you need for capacity and features, you won't need to change up later on.

Glen

they have pressure buttons that attach to torch that you push with your finger.takes time to learn not to move torch with pressure.have tiged a root opening on pipe in 6g with pedal and pressure button.Good practice is with air cooled gun with panel control.thats prob wat u will deal with field welding