Tig equipment questions

It depends on the welder , my inverter machine has 3 wires and uses a 4 pin socket/plug .

That shroud is called a cup , and it directs the flow of inert shield gas to cover the arc and melt puddle . My torch has a switch , but it's related to on/off functions , all the settings are on the machine . There is a separate cord for the switch that plugs in to the pedal socket . Look up "2T/4T" functions on Welding Tips and Tricks youtube channel , Jody is s VERY good teacher .

Re Foot pedal. First you need a foot pedal :-) But the rheostat in the pedal will have to match the rheostat in the current control on the welded. Then you need to wire a switch (I use a DPDT to connect either the hand current control or the foot current control to the welder. If I remember correctly the rheostat is of relatively low value and there is very little current flowing through it. Most foot controls contain a switch to trigger the welding current on and off and a rheostat to control the amount of current. The ones I have use two cables from the control to the welder. One is the on/off switch which connects to the normal on/off connection for the torch and a second cable for the current.

I've done this on at least three AC powered welders with no problems what so ever.

Re Shroud, Not sure exactly what you mean here. Not the ceramic "cup" that shrouds the tungsten electrode is it?

Mostly they are 10 kiloohms

Thanks

No, the cover for the TIG torch lead - what is it needed for?

Thx

-- Peter F

That depends on the machine that is using them. The new, electronically controlled machines the 10K potentiometer, but the old mag-amp machines used a much lower resistance and higher power, like 150 ohms and 25 watt or so rheostat.

The torch lead cover is to prevent damaging the hoses. A set of hoses costs close to what a new torch costs the last time I looked.

BobH

It would be for a new welder - I no longer have access to the one I used to use, so I will probably be buying a new one.

My question was really, would most/all new welders have proportional control from a foot pedal?

The ones I have looked at (the cheaper end of the range) tend to have a two-pin socket for the torch/foot control, with a sign on top which looks like a 69 tilted thro' 90 degrees.

What I was wondering was, would that be for proportional control, or just on/off control, or would it depend on the welder?

Thanks,

-- Peter Fairbrother

If you referring to the center connection shown in

it is for the on/off switch that connects to the torch

As for your other question, I doubt that if you surveyed the entire range of TIG welders available world wide that the majority of the TIG welders would have a foot control, but as far as I've seen they all have some sort of "power control" to vary welding current that can be adapted to an external control, i.e., foot control.

or the foot pedal - but a 2-pin 69 switch is on/off.

For reference, I found out that the similar proportional control is a

3-pin socket marked with a flat rectangle with a diagonal line from bottom left to top right.

There are also 7-pin and 9-pin versions, which combine both functions.

Might take a bit of adapting, and mess up the guarantee; though I agree it can usually be done.

-- Peter F