finger amperage controls

[jeromevw312]

Has anyone been able to adapt a torch with finger amperage controls to an everlast tig? I am about to purchase a powerItig 200, and I would really like to avoid using the foot pedal. I do automotive rust repair and im always inside wheel wells or on my back under the car while welding, making operating the foot control impossible, as well as the factory everlast torch being a little big to fit in these places. right now i do everything with a mig. I really want to switch to tig just to cut down on all the grinding i have to do, the ability to work my welds without cracking the brittle mig welds and just to expand my skill set, I could get a lot of practice quickly since i weld 20plus hours a week.
I have tried to research adapting a finger control to the everlast units, but no luck. I understand that they use 47 ohm resistance in their controls while most other brands seem to be 1, 5 or 10 ohms. I can find controls from weldcraft or ck worldwide in these ohms, but nothing in 47. my only idea is to just get a torch with 1 ohm resistance and wire in a 47ohm resistor to make it compatible? I really like the weldcraft legacy with the built in control and the ck worldwide with the built in control (really, really want to avoid the velcro add ons, used to use one on a lincoln at another shop I worked at and hated it).
Any ideas or experiences would be most appreciated, i really like all the options on this machine and dont want to spend double or triple on a machine just for the torch control and not have all the options the everlast offers. (downslope, upslope, pulse, etc)

Thank you for all the help, everlast seems like a good up and coming company and i look foward to doing business with them.

Jerome
Coastal Classics, LLC

[jakeru]

Hey Jerome - all everlast TIG torches have a torch-mounted on/off switch. What I have to say about this is... don't knock if it you've never tried it! I've used it to regulate amps variably (doing auto panel welds, similar to you are planning, where using the footpedal would have been a pain) by setting the machine settings up so it uses a gradual downslope (tapers the current down over say 2-3 seconds), and then I periodically click the torch switch on and off. By varying the percentage of time I spend holding the switch down compared to holding switch off, I found I could control the heat input pretty much however I wanted. For example, if I really wanted a lot of heat for some reason, I could just hold the switch down. By just tapping it on briefly in between periods of letting it sit off, I found I could reduce the heat input to taper it off at the end, etc. Of course the machine settings can be adjusted to make this work better for whatever thickness of metal you are welding. It is sort of a manual controlled duty cycle. This was just in 2T mode. There is also 4T mode which I didn't even really spend the time to figure out yet. Anyhow I really like the torch switch. Its attached by zip ties, which IMO works fine. I liked how it can be rotated around the handle for allowing easy switch access when you need to hold the torch differently.

You might want to give that a try before committing to a continuously variable torch mounted amp control. I can't think of why any torch mounted amp control couldn't be made to work on an everlast machine, if its resistance were in an acceptable range for the machine you are using, and you get it wired to the appropriate connector the right way.

Also, 47 ohms seems super low to me for a typical TIG machine amperage control, including an everlast machine. Are you sure its not 47k ohm (=47,000 ohms)? Or perhaps 4.7 k ohm (4,700 ohms)? Hope this helps... best of luck.

[sschefer]

The foot pedal for my 250EX is a 47k ohm pot with a simple momentary on/off switch if that's what you're using for a reference.

[Titan winch]

I have been looking into this lately. I will be working at the Factory after the New Year and hopefully i can take a couple of days to try and Sort something out.
I have a couple of contacts that are interested in supplying this type of set-up for us . One is a existing torch ( i am leaning towards this as it makes my job simpler)the other is having one developed from scratch ,this obviously makes my part in this more complex.
Hopefully when i get back we will have something in place for a Amp Control Torch. But i do have a busy schedule ahead of me and there is no guaranty it will be accomplished on this visit.
Cheers

[aaxiss]

I also am interested in a torch mounter amperage control. This is a full time necessity for me as a foot pedal is not an option as I a paralyzed from the chest down and I don't want to have to buy a low profile pedal a strap it under my left arm as that really interferes with filler feeding.

The units I have seen don't seem to have the right resistance and I don't want to spend $200 and mess it up trying to adapt it to work.I can get by with using the trigger on the torch for most work but would like to be able to vary the amperage when I need to for some jobs.

Will keep an eye on this thread and check back if I find anything new

Don

[everlastsupport]

Don,

Does the unit you have support the 4T feature?

Mark has a great article on it here

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...read.php?t=316

[aaxiss]

I'm in the process of ordering a 250ex, Oleg informed me that they are out of stock right now so I am going to pre order it but want to take care of any issues I can ahead of time. I guess I won't worry about that for now. its been 20 years I've done any tig and I was able to use a pedal back then.

Thanks for the speedy reply
Don

[everlastsupport]

I'm in the process of ordering a 250ex, Oleg informed me that they are out of stock right now so I am going to pre order it but want to take care of any issues I can ahead of time. I guess I won't worry about that for now. its been 20 years I've done any tig and I was able to use a pedal back then.

Thanks for the speedy reply
Don

250EX, then you have 4T and other features too. Gary on the forum here I think may use the 4T, you might want to PM here. I know he was going to make a box with a knob to adjust the amps as well to put on his welding table so he did not have to stop and roll over to the unit all the time. Not sure if he got around to it. Have not seen him on the forum for a bit.

But people that use 4T can skip the foot like Mark mentioned. But it has a little learning curve.

[SeanMurphy265]

I would like to have finger controlled torch. I have been using the 2T feature, I have always had a hard time using the foot control on any tig welder. I know you can't always do this, but I set the machine and use the 2T feature. Welding Tips and Tricks did a segment explaining and demonstrating 2T & 4T settings. I have only used my 200DX for an hour, so I am still learning the machine.

[jtybt]

Welding Tips and Tricks has a number of videos on the Everlast. I've been using the torch button with the pulse setting according to Jody's video.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...ent-pulse.html

I have also used the on/off technique. You can get the pulse to pretty much mimick the ON/OFF technique, it's just what you get used to or like.