Amperage Gremlins 225LX

[Dr_Jim]

Hello -
Having a weird amperage issue with my 225LX in TIG modes - seems most folks have low amperage problems, I'm getting a bit more fire in the wire than I ask for.

If I set up for DCEN, select 'HF high,' 'DC,' '2T,' and turn down (full CCW on knob) the amperage control, the LED display still reads 90-96 amps even with the slope and flow controls set to off (full CCW) - somehow this doesn't look right.

Using the push button on the torch, I'm getting a decent looking arc using a 3/32" lanthinated electrode and a #8 cup on some .060 mild steel plate - the bottom three tracks are just moving the keyhole around with no filler. It does look like the arc is a bit hot, and the heat zone is larger than I'd like, but they're not stupidly wrong:



OTOH, if I just unplug the push button control, and plug in the supplied foot switch, and make NO other changes - all Happy Harry breaks loose - the top two tracks are VERY wrong, the one to the right is feathering the pedal, the left is 1/3 travel.
Looks like the amperage is a wee bit high doesn't it?
Check out the nuked tungsten and trashed cup:



I pulled the footswitch apart and checked its pinout against this URL:
http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...-pedal-pinouts
Pins 6-7 are shorted, pins 1-2 are switched closed before the potentiometer changes, pins 4-5 show about 47.2K and go low as the pedal is pressed, pins 4-6 show 2 ohms and go high as the pedal is pressed. I think that this is what I saw, but I could have the resistence tapers reversed, my notes are hard to read.

Both the pinout and functioning seem correct, so I popped the welder's cover off and looked around for something obviously wrong - nothing jumped out at me, no dead IC's, no burned diodes, all the leads to the control socket and the operating pots seem well connected and show low resistence.

Now I'm stumped, and wonder if anyone's seen this before?

Yeah, I'll call Everlast Tech Support tomorrow, I just like to take things as far as I can before yelling for help.

Cheers and Thanks in Advance

Jim
KJ7QT

[MoparCar]

Something sure sounds wrong. Seems like you've covered your bases. Hopefully support has seen this before.

[Paul Moir]

My one did that too when I had the 4053 problem. Basically it switches around inputs from the welder to the pedal (when attached) and hooks up the front panel display differently. The only thing special about my 4053 failure is that a couple protection diodes next to the multiplexer also failed, putting the V+ rail into the foot pedal input. So whenever the foot pedal was depressed, the welder was told to go FULL BORE NOW. But I could see it happening with just the regular old 4053 problem. Wasn't a big deal since I could do 2T.

Contact tech support: they will take care of you.

[performance]

Assuming you have the torch polarity correct, and is in the negative port, it is probably the 4053.

[MoparCar]

Assuming you have the torch polarity correct, and is in the negative port, it is probably the 4053.

Are the present chips correct and fixed on all models of Everlast TIGS?

[performance]

Are the present chips correct and fixed on all models of Everlast TIGS?

The circuits have been redesigned and rearranged and things are stable, but that doesn't mean one WON'T go kerflewy for an unknown reason once in a while.