Foot Pedal Issue

[Injected65]

I bought a Powertig 200LX here a while back. Its been working fine but this past weekend I was doing some welding. During a series of small tacks the machine started making a buzzing noise and would not strike an arc. I tried different tunsten, checked my argon, switched the machine on an off and it didn't change. Then I cranked up the knob on the pedal to max and tried and it would strike an arc but it was very weak. I had a friend strike an arc and I looked at the machine and it would only show 86 amps. I did switch back to the torch trigger and adjusted the amperage via the panel and it worked perfectly. That lead me to believe that there was something going on in the pedal.

My assumption was that maybe the cog belt slipped on the pulley for the potentiometer inside the pedal? Does that seem like a possibility? I pulled the cover off the pedal and it looks ok, nothing loose or broken. The spring is still on the belt. Should I pull the belt off and rotate the pot one way or the other to see if its in the correct position (with the pedal fully off or fully on)? I'm just looking for suggestions on what to do to fix the problem or at least trouble shoot it.


Thanks,
Chris

[Ray]

That would be a very good place to start, if that doesn’twork, give us a call and we can have you check the pot itself.

[performance]

Make sure you have your unit switched firmly into 2T.

[Injected65]

I'll head out into the shop here in a bit and play around with it. Thanks for the quick response.

Chris

[Injected65]

Did some checking last night. The switch was definitely in the 2T position. I took the pedal apart and pulled off the belt and operated the pot by hand and it still would not strike an arc. I went back to the trigger on the torch and it worked fine. I reinstalled the belt (which had not slipped BTW) and put the pedal back together and went to test it again and all of the sudden it was back to working just fine. I welded some scraps of steel and aluminum for about 20 minutes and it worked fine. Not sure what the problem was but it seems gone for the time being.

Chris

[Ray]

Huh, weird.



Might want to check the solder connections on the pot?

[performance]

Might have been an issue with the foot switch too.

[Injected65]

This weekend I have a bunch of chrome moly welding and a bit of aluminum welding to do. I'll give it a good workout. If it acts up again I will pull the pedal back apart and look closer.

[tnc110]

This weekend I have a bunch of chrome moly welding and a bit of aluminum welding to do. I'll give it a good workout. If it acts up again I will pull the pedal back apart and look closer.

So what was the deal...is it ok now...any advise for me, as my pedal is doing the same thing as yours was...

[Injected65]

So what was the deal...is it ok now...any advise for me, as my pedal is doing the same thing as yours was...

It went back to working just fine. I welded for 4-5 hours this weekend without one problem. No idea what was up with the pedal but for the time being it is back to working fine.

Chris

[Oleg]

Chris
Please get a hold of ray
He will help you, and I do the rest


Oleg Gladshteyn
Oleg@everlastwelders.com
415 613 664 cell
650 588 8588 work

[Injected65]

Will do. I'll try and get a hold of him tomorrow (or Monday by phone if he doesn't see this first).

Just for and FYI, If you switch the machine to 4T the arc will start but is very low. If you swap to the stock torch switch leads the machine works as it should. I ended up robbing the switch and cable from the stock torch and electrical taped it to my CK torch and got a good bit of the job done tonight.


Chris