Using tig foot pedal for stick welding

[muddstopper]

I finally got around to hooking up the idealarc 250/250 stick tig machine a few wks ago. I Had the tig torch hooked up and had been practicing tigging some thin stainless. Anyways, I needed to stick weld a tator plow i was building for a friend, so I remove the tig torch and connected the stick lead. I didnot unplug the foot pedal control. Anyways, grabbed a few 1/8 7018 rods, stuck one in the stinger and tried to run a bead. Arc struck, and would maintain, but very faint and certainly not hot enought for any kind of penetration. I set there trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, this was the first time I had actually tried to stick weld with this machine. Looked at the dials and switches, decided to turn up the amps, still, just a faint arc. set there scratching my head and starring at the machine, then realized the foot control was still turned on. Turned it off and presto, machine started working like it should. Been thinking about this, for a few wks and got to thinking, could one use the foot control while stick welding. Tried to think of situation where this might be a handy option, but couldnt really come up with anything I would need to do this with, but it has been knawing at me every since. I guess my question is, is there a time when stick welding where using a foot control might come in handy, and the second question is, would using the foot control while stick welding damage my machine. Only time where i coud see a foot control with stick might be when trying to weld some very thin sheet metal with stick rods, but I have a mig as well as the tig for this so dont know I would even try it on thin sheet. Like to hear some opinions frrom those in the know about such things.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Very often I want hi heat for a second or two while starting a stick weld; then a slow back off at the end of a run approaching an edge. If the pedal could control heat in stick mode Id sure like it.
larry

 

[CNC Dan]

It should work fine. Miller sells a hand control box for remote stick welding use. Just a knob and a switch, simmilar to a foot pedal, but the switch is sepratly operated.

I wonder if you could use high freq. start to re-strike a 7018.

 

[yomax4]

If your machine has a remote socket, You can put a foot control on it. Not sure if that model will tie the remote to stick but most do. I've done it with an Inverter and didn't see a lot of benefit because the Inverter had Hot Start with amp option and timer for how long it hot starts.. Crater fill like mig and tig would be cool with stick though.

 

[Arc weld]

Years ago the old Lincoln vertical "Bullet" generators had an aircrafter option for stick welding. It was a foot pedal.

 

[muddstopper]

My biggest concern is will it hurt the machine. I think it should work the same as if I had the tig torch hooked up since it does hook to the same Lug. I would like to try it on some thin stainless just for kicks and grins. 22guage stainless, 1/8 7018 rods, could get interesting. Typical low amp setting on this machine is 40amps, I would have to go look, but it has a 3 position range selector, with the fine tune reostat knob. I assume the ft control would allow anything from the low to high of the range selectors switch similar to just turning the reostat. I also assume since the machine does have ac and high frequency, I could use the ft control with the stick pretty much the same as if i was tigging aluminum in ac. Hmm, do they make aluminum stick rods??? I dont know, still seems like something to just play with and maybe find a use for, as long as it wont damage the machine while just playing.

 

[Shield Arc]

Yes they do.

 

[muddstopper]

Yes they do.

I knew that, just acting silly. Does make a case for ft control with stick tho, flux coated rods, no need for gas, control the heat with the pedal. I will have to look for a small pack of rods and give it a try.

I did a little quick search and it seems that more than a few folks use some sort of adjustable remote control while stick welding. Seems to be pretty common overseas in factories and production work. Found one guy that discovered it by accident pretty much the same way I did. Found a few folks using collets in their tig torch and using stick. I guess for a light rod holder its a maybe, but probably not, as to whether I would do it

 

[mikehaugen]

let us know what you find, I have the same machine and have pretty much wondered the same thing. I assumed it would be okay, but haven't had a need for it. If it does break your machine for some reason I would like to know! :laughing:

 

[SST23]

This is kind of a old thread, but still I would like to tell you folks that here in Europe we use thumbwheel remotes while
we stick weld, other hand is in your electrode holder and your free hand holds the remote. You can see how it is used in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr9G-XzRsS4 you can see it at 2.36 time.
It makes your life easier when welding stainless steel, thinner materials, or when you have bad fit ups.
It is a tool for professional pipe welders here, farmers usually dont use it.