Welding Tips and Tricks

So I got to wire up my new 256S Everlast today and I got to using it... The foot pedal doesn't work?

I was able to weld with the torch switch, but I can't get the foot pedal to do anything. It seems like there is no switch inside or the switch is broken. I am going to take it apart, maybe I can find something.

Otherwise, does anyone have any suggestions? The machine was set to the 2T/pedal mode and I did have the foot pedal plugged in.

Thanks!

Yeah, I'd think it's in the pedal, or pedal cable, especially if your torch switch does on/off just fine. I had a look at a pic of the front panel for that, and there's nothing there that could trip you up, although I'd see what the "4t" position does with the pedal, just for the hell of, before opening the pedal.

Pedals are very simple, electrically. A typical arrangement is a normally open limit switch that closes when you press, for on/off, and a potentiometer driven by a rack-and-pinion like arrangement. I assume the pedal is an everlast, so the plug should be wired correctly? It's possible a different brand pedal is either arranged differently, or (for a 14 pin, for example) lacks a "jumper" at the plug to tell the machine the pedal is attached. I'm having the latter issue with an ESAB Miniarc 90i at work. I'd love to have the pedal working, as I have code work to do with it, and would prefer to avoid scratch-start if I can.

Please let us know what you find.

Steve S

I took mine apart for a reference.

Pin 1 & 2 are the switch.
Pin 3 & 5 are the 48K ohm pot.
Pin 4 is the wiper on the pot.

The switch is a standard micro switch and you should hear it click when you press the pedal.
The pot is attached to the pedal via a belt and a plastic wheel with two screws that fasten to the pot shaft.

Its a pretty basic setup. If you have access to a multimeter you can check out the unit without opening it.
Using pin 4 as the reference, you should see pins 3 or 5 fluctuate from 0 - 48k ohms as you move the pedal.

Now, that I know how simple the pedal is designed, I might build a finger control for the torch handle.
It could be done with a 48k slider pot and a switch. If I make it, I'll post photos for others to follow.

Glad you posted that, Werkspace!

In the Miller arrangement, the pot is 1K.

A miller might not mind an everlast pedal, as it's just a variable voltage divider, but an everlast might have a challenge with a miller pedal, because of the higher current through the pot.

Hi guys,

After creating this thread, I went back to the garage to mess with it.

What happened was the micro switch arm was getting jammed. Stupid design. Either way I fixed it and it works great.

Perhaps you can enlighten me on a few other things though.

I tried the machine on AC. It worked very well in the beginning. However, the frequency was not consistent. Sometimes it would make a popping sort of noise, almost like the arc was trying to start again. It also was acting pretty weird before I quit AC and went back to DC. I couldn't add filler to the puddle, and the filler would just turn to a trashy sloppy scrunch on the end. It was weird.

Do I need to gap the HF thing inside the machine? On DC, everything runs very smooth and pretty nice. The arc starts are good. The only problem I was having was the #4 cup is very hard to use with good color results (I assume this is to be expected).

Thanks a lot again.
Alex

If your HF Start works well, you shouldn't have to tinker with the arc gap.

Congrats on sorting it out, by the way.

Take it one step at a time. Figure out your DCEN welds. The HFAC can wait until you're confident in the other.

That machine has many options to offer. Don't jump off the deep end just because you can.

Steve S

Ok, glad to know I don't need to mess with the arc gap..

But I want to figure out what the issue is with welding on AC. Maybe it was the torch (water cooled, not hooked up to a water cooler) getting too hot... Overall, it was behaving weird after the first few beads I ran. I will try it again tomorrow.

I am confident in the DCEN area, although I have been trying to achieve better color. But I am used to welding with a gas lens and a #7 cup. This is my first personal welder, but I am not a beginner. I am waiting for the dinse connector to arrive so I can use my new CK130 torch with the nice big gas lens

Please! Don't use a water-cooled torch without water! There's way too much going on. It doesn't work, and you cant pretend it's air-cooled.

When I went to visit Everlast in Canada, that was one of the topics that was discussed. Many customers are trying to operate their water cooled torches without the water and they are frying them. (Then, they look at Everlast as if the company did something wrong.)

When I bought my welder from Everlast, I chose the PowerPro205 instead of the 256 because the 205 used an air cooled torch and it would operate on the existing 30amp service in my garage. This saved me a considerable amount of money, because I didn't have to buy a water cooler and I didn't have to rewire the garage with a higher amp service. The duty cycle on the PP205 is a respectable 60% at 200amps. (Plasma cutter is at 50amps.)
http://www.everlastgenerators.com/Power ... 79-pd.html
http://www.everlastwelders.ca/multi-pur ... ro-205.php
I pre-purchased my welder before it arrived in Canada at a discounted price of $1500 (taxes and shipping included.)

About my idea for making a finger tip amperage control instead of a foot pedal.
I ordered four 50K slider pots from eBay at a buck a piece, (free shipping.)
I only need the one for this project, but its nice to have spares.

I'm thinking about installing a roller at each end of the linear pot,
then installing a heavy duty rubber band that rolls back and forth
for the amperage control. I'll have to install the micro switch in there as well.

Anyone know where to buy the 7 pin connector for Everlast machines?
(I'll have to visit some of the local electronic suppliers to source it out.)

Werkspace, I'm accustomed to using a thumb remote.

However, mine is a knob, similar the the on/off/volume control on a transistor radio, so it has a "click" on at the low end, and works like a dial.

I'm not a fan of this method, though. I'd prefer a linear actuator, and some companies make them. CK comes to mind.

I'll be interested in what you come up with.

Steve S

Everlast may send you a 7-pin connector if you ask them.

I was told by Oleg from Everlast that I can run the supplied water cooled torch up to 150A without water cooling.

I am planning to go to the store today and rig up a ghetto water cooler with a 5 gallon bucket and a fish tank pump.

FYI wekspace I got the new model 256S for 1650 shipped to my door, so far I am happy with it other than the plastic face plate is cracked in half (they are going to send a replacement).

I noticed that they had the newer version posted on the American website.
What are the differences between the new one and the old one?

ritzblitz wrote:Everlast may send you a 7-pin connector if you ask them.
FYI wekspace I got the new model 256S for 1650 shipped to my door, so far I am happy with it other than the plastic face plate is cracked in half (they are going to send a replacement).

Apparently there are no differences internally.

The front panel is rearranged and the case is different, it looks a little nicer.

I am having major problems on AC though. Gonna post on welding web everlast section and call them tomorrow for some support..

WerkSpace wrote:About my idea for making a finger tip amperage control instead of a foot pedal.
I ordered four 50K slider pots from eBay at a buck a piece, (free shipping.)
I only need the one for this project, but its nice to have spares.

Pots for different applications have different tapers. I would guess that a slider is very likely to be an audio taper because they are so commonly used as level controls. If the foot pedal has a linear taper (which seems likely to me, but you can check the marking on the back of it) then the feel of a finger control using a log taper is going to be all wrong. Most of the travel will have very little effect, and then towards the end of the travel it will become very sensitive.

This page has marking information and graphs (and history and etc): http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm

You can also just hook up an ohmmeter and see how half travel relates to resistance.

Ben, the pots arrived a few days ago and I dismantled one of them to have a look inside.
There are two parallel strips and the wiper has two brushes that are connected together.
One of the strips has the VCC and GND connection, while the other strip has the wiper connection.
This would be equivalent to having a pot and rheostat working together.
I'm not sure how this would perform until I test it.

You are right about it not being perfectly linear 0-25K takes up about 2/3 of the travel.
While 25K-50K take up the last 1/3 of travel. This might be beneficial.
I wouldn't really know unless I connected it all up and tested it.
I still have to find a source for the connector for the finger control pedal.
This project is just for fun and to see if inexpensive finger tip amperage control is feasible.

BenJackson wrote:

WerkSpace wrote:About my idea for making a finger tip amperage control instead of a foot pedal.
I ordered four 50K slider pots from eBay at a buck a piece, (free shipping.)
I only need the one for this project, but its nice to have spares.

Pots for different applications have different tapers. I would guess that a slider is very likely to be an audio taper because they are so commonly used as level controls. If the foot pedal has a linear taper (which seems likely to me, but you can check the marking on the back of it) then the feel of a finger control using a log taper is going to be all wrong. Most of the travel will have very little effect, and then towards the end of the travel it will become very sensitive.

This page has marking information and graphs (and history and etc): http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm

You can also just hook up an ohmmeter and see how half travel relates to resistance.

I'd be strongly in favor of a logorithmic progression for a fingertip slide control. The crappy thumb remotes we use at work are proportional, and nearly useless for my purpose.

I'd set the progression in "reverse", for my purpose, meaning a movement of say 1/3 of range brings me to 66% of my set-point (hypothetical... too tired for the math), and the rest of the available adjustment amounts to "fine-tuning".

Steve S