Foot Pedal issue. PowerTig 200DX analog

[Challenger]

You might want to open up the pedal. There is a belt that does the amperage adjustment, and maybe yours broke or slipped off the pulley. There are a few threads around here about testing the pedals and the pinouts for them.

Well I can see through the port where the rubber track comes out of that it is still on the "gear". I dont really feel like opening it up until i get some kind of an approval that it wont void the warranty.

[Blaster]

Opening the pedal isn't ever going to void anything,,,, In Fact, it's such a poor device you'll be needing to "go in" often

They ended-up using a mis-match gear & belt (one is like 6T/in the other 5). It works, but only barely... Added to that the belt material belongs on a vacuum cleaner drive roller so it's WAY Too thick when it doesn't have to be for the load of a potentiometer. This means it' isn't as flexible as is should be.

I've drawn lines on the gear & belt to quickly determine when it's jumper again (I'm seriously considering putting a plastic window in the bottom of the pedal so I can check it each time I start welding).

There are posts about rounding the teeth on both the drive & belt, I done this and it's an improvement but no fix.

We should ALL be sent the proper belt and put an end to all this bother. It's Not our mistake!

[performance]

Foot pedals have a 6 month warranty. We have a new style out and also have the US built SSC controls pedal available. You might want to consider one of those.

[Blaster]

Nice attitude....

To save the cost of a supplying the proper $3.00 belt, Everlasts official position is "You've had your 6 months, you should consider buying a new one" - really????

Somewhere I know there exists the proper belt for the pedal. Maybe, with their vast resources, Everlast could point us in the right direction at least...

[performance]

The foot pedal was designed to be replaced as a whole unit, just like other brands. It doesn't have anything to do with attitude. We have no other alternative or individual parts available for that pedal. This pedal is made by the factory, and the parts are the parts they put together for it. Most users had no issues with this unit. If the unit was defective, it was replaced in its entirety. If it was out of warranty, then we'd offer an economical replacement.

You have your opinion of course, but the "package" that comes with the welder is a courtesy package, and is provided as a easy way to get started. It is expected that most customers will build and improve upon the package as they get more into it. These are basic, inexpensive items that are included for "free" to the unit.

[Blaster]

Mark, your forte is not Customer Service. You should really stick to what you're good at ~ the Technical aspects of welding/welders.

You're just making things worse, as you often do in these matters, by implying that Everlast is doing us a Favor by supplying a "courtesy package" of junk accessories and we have no real right to expect them to work properly

Let Oleg handle replies that require people skills....

[performance]

Blaster,
I've helped many, many people. You come and go here on this site, with infrequent comments so you have not stuck around to see how I/we have worked with customers behind the scenes and on the forum as well. Customer service is what I do everyday and have done since Oleg was in middle school. You don't get to see the mayday emails and pm's I get that get expediently handled when things are bungled. You have no idea what I do in the company and where I am at work. However, I've done it long enough to recognize that some customers, though we try to satisfy them, are never satisfied with the facts or the answers. I get passed customers all the time by Oleg. But You want me to sugar coat it for you? What does that do? I've laid out the truth and given the facts about it. That is the primary part of customer service....telling customers the truth, and then giving them the options. I am not going to promise to get the belt you think fits, because it is not available to our factory. You mention "vast resources"...but our resources are more limited compared to other companies. We operate on a different model and economy of scale. We are growing quickly, but the competition has a hundred years on us. China hasn't done an overall good job with foot pedals. Very few factories even offer them. Even Thermal ARC can't get a satisfactory one with MUCH More vast resources. The new one we have was a work that took two years.

This pedal in question is designed to be an economy pedal. It's design is cheaper, and not as reliable as our newer pedals. We've always offered a 6 month warranty on it. IF it is defective, we will replace it IF it is within that time frame...that is as good as you can get. You get a whole NEW pedal rather than suffering through sending in the unit for repair and then sending it back. It's more economical to you and to us. You'll find our accessory package warranty is not out of line with the industry, so a pedal after 6 months can be economically replaced...cheaper than a single part for a Miller pedal, if its available.

We do offer these as a courtesy to the customers, just as we offer a starter kit of consumables. We do not put top grade accessories with them...another fact. We have nicer and better stuff available. These days most of my customers choose upgraded or additional items at the time of purchase and its well known, and I inform them of the products available and the differences. I regularly supply/sell units with CK equipment and an SSC pedal, if not the deluxe Chinese version. Compare what you get from Miller with a more expensive welder like a Dynasty: NOTHING, ZILCH, NADA. You get the bare unit. We provide a start up package that we include in the box. Miller on their TIG packages do not. You pay for every item, or if you are lucky they offer several increasingly expensive packages at a price that is making them a healthy additional profit. From our perspective, we offer this package as a bonus and to get the customer started out of the box without extra expense. We also offer better and higher packages. We offer the economy pedal (the one you are talking about), the new deluxe Chinese pedal as an upgrade option, and the SSC pedal as an additional option. We've offered the newer deluxe pedal for about a year now, the SSC pedal for about 2+ years I believe.

[Challenger]

Foot pedals have a 6 month warranty. We have a new style out and also have the US built SSC controls pedal available. You might want to consider one of those.

So Im given no advice from Everlast besides buying another product from ya'll. This thread was completely derailed from my original point which was simply asking for advice on trouble shooting it(btw no I couldnt fix it with any of the suggestions.)

The only advice I received was from a member not everlast staff or moderators. And then in the back ground there is discussion of the quality of customer service...haha

[performance]

There's no parts sold for that pedal through Everlast and most are unique and specific to that pedal so in depth troubleshooting becomes sort of a moot point. From what you described it sounds as a completely bad pot. Now you may be able to source one elsewhere, but shaft length, and turns become critical. We have multiple threads on troubleshooting these pedals and did not originally see that you had mentioned that you had "looked" for one and I thought that you had probably done some research, which is why I did not go into detail. The only thing that could be wrong outside of that is that the cog has come completely loose with either a stripped thread in the set screw on the plastic cog or backed out someway allowing the cog to spin freely on the pedal. It would be unlikely that some change would not occur as friction should offer some rotation. You can check continuity between pins 1 and 2. Cycling the pedal up and down should activate the switch between these two pins giving continuity, then breaking it as it is switched off. Then pressing down on the pedal, check between pins 3 and 4 and then between 4 and 5 and watch the ohms as they go up and down from 0 to 47k on one side and 47 to 0k from the other (or 22k if the unit has the knob on it). (Needle meter is best) One side should go up and the other side should go down...both should do so smoothly without jerks or hesitation. If they do not, it is either a loose pot cog/frozen pot, broken belt, stripped belt, or a pot with dead spots on it.