Using the foot pedal for tack welding

[Garrik]

I want to try a trick that I saw in a youtube video (heaven help me, but it is true ) for tack welding.

In the video, the foot pedal is used simply as an on/off switch, with no variability of current. The goal is to set the machine (in my case a PP205S) to roughly double the amps that you would need to weld the material that you are trying to tack (so in the case of .080 steel, set the machine to 160 amps), and tap the foot switch to very quickly turn the arc on and off with the electrode held fairly close to the work. This is supposed to result in a very quick and effective tack.

My guess is that to set my machine up to do this, I want to set the panel amp control to 160, the starting amp control to 160, the ending amp control to 0, and the sequencer switch to 2T.

Then if I tap the foot switch, I should get instant 160 amps, and as soon as I let off the switch I should get zero.

Sound right?

[Rambozo]

Depends on how that unit works with the pedal and panel controls. Some have the pedal as priority while others the panel. Give it a try and report back on how it worked for you. For sure you will probably want up and down slope set to zero. Not sure about start and end amp settings, and how they work if the pedal is plugged in. For sure you can do this with a torch switch. If you want foot operation, you can always use a plain foot switch.
I tack like that all the time with a normal pedal, just set the max amps and floor it for an instant.