
Last Updated on March 2021
Introduction
Suppose you are a metal fabricator, or you intend to join the craft. In that case, you have every reason to appreciate what technology is doing to this industry. Wireless welding foot pedals are an excellent example of how technology affects metal fabricators; in this case, TIG welders.
For starters, when doing TIG welding, many people use foot pedals to control amperage while working. TIG welders find greater control, better accuracy and improved weld quality by using a foot pedal when doing TIG welding.
Below we will look at how foot controls can boost your productivity and quality when welding, what a wireless foot pedal is, and the benefits of this type of foot pedal. We will also explain how to use the pulse technique with the foot pedal, when to use it in welding, and how to do TIG welding without a foot pedal using the lift start process.
Importance of Foot Controls in TIG welding
Foot controls and foot pedals might look like a nuisance to someone who’s not well-versed with TIG welding. But on the contrary, what looks like a bother is an asset to the welder. Foot controls give you a lot of power and accuracy as you do your TIG welding.
As good as foot controls are in enhancing your productivity, they can be a bother. This is especially true if you have been using the corded or wired foot controls. The wires keep entangling your legs; they limit your mobility because the cords’ length determines the distance you can weld from.
Suppose you are new to TIG welding and do not know how important it is to find your comfort level. The comfort level of the welder is an essential part of success when it comes to TIG welding. The metal is easy to maneuver and weld, and you will act fast while producing the best quality welds.
Suppose you are looking for the best type of precision and control. In that case, you may want to consider purchasing a TIG welder with wireless foot controls or installing wireless foot controls on your TIG welder. Wireless foot controls are more convenient for TIG welding, which means you will increase your performance and demonstrate better accuracy and strength when you weld.
By setting many wires and extension cords apart from the ground, you have more space to operate your foot pedal with greater accuracy.
Before wireless welding machines, most TIG welders felt very limited by the cords in their devices. However, technology now gives us the option of wireless foot controls, which make it much easier to move when you ignite.
Foot pedals and amperage
As said earlier, the purpose of foot pedals in TIG welding machines is to allow you to control the amperage as you weld. Although amperage control is crucial for your productivity level, the way TIG welding machines were designed in the past prohibited the use of foot pedals. In the past, foot pedals required many cords, making it difficult for the welder to gain operational freedom.
Pedal Cords: Additional Problems
Another part of the problem with wired foot pedals is how much clutter they can create around the workplace when you are in TIG welding. Also, since cords are commonly used and damaged over time, you will need to repair them. Unfortunately, when a curved foot pedal stops working in TIG welding, it is challenging to find out precisely what is wrong with it.
As a reaction to the problem mentioned above, you’ll notice that Lately, foot control cords have been designed to be very thin. The purpose of this idea is to reduce the amount of clutter around the welder. However, even these small cords have become very easy to damage when you are welding. Since these thin cords are not very durable, they can damage the edges, welding tables or even your wires in your workplace.
If you damage a foot control, you will be subject to many problems. If the foot control cord is damaged, you will lose your connection, meaning you can no longer control your welding machine with your foot pedal.
When that problem occurs, you will get expensive repairs and expensive idle time from your job. Sometimes, this type of damage can be very costly, and you will need to replace the entire unit. Regardless, the cost of stem repair costs and replacements can cost you good money over time.
When doing TIG welding, it can be difficult to damage a shaft by pulling on an edge that is too sharp. Or your wires will be damaged when a heavy work table rolls over the post. Also, handling too much heat when exposed to weld, contact, and high heat will damage your food pedal cords.
The biggest challenge with foot pedal wires to a TIG welder is that the more the cables you use, the more clutter you’ll contend with at your workplace. What’s even worse is if you have a limited workspace, you will easily untangle your cords even further.
These are all challenges you can avoid. Therefore, it is worth buying a wireless TIG welder foot pedal. With this technology, you will have fewer problems plus, you’ll not have to worry about the cords getting stuck or wearing out. Since you don’t have to worry about unwinding the wires, you will have more time to carry out your core duty, which is to TIG weld, so your productivity will increase.
Let’s consider how wireless solutions can help you overcome some of the critical challenges you face when using corded foot pedals.
Wireless Solutions
The best solution you have for problems brought by the corded TIG welding highlighted above is to buy a wireless foot pedal. Yes, wireless foot pedals on TIG welding machines will cost you some extra bucks. But when you do your cost-benefit analysis, you’ll notice that you save money in the long run with a wireless TIG welding machine.
Although it’s a new technology, you don’t have to be apprehensive about it. Using a wireless foot welding foot pedal is easy and convenient. With the wireless pedal, there will be a transmitter at the pedal control base, which communicates with the receiver on the pedal. Like traditional food pedals, wireless foot pedals control the amount of amperage you have when you weld.
You will find that wireless foot pedals work just like traditional foot pedals. That means you do not need to learn anything new if you want to get a wireless foot pedal instead. The notable difference between these two types of pedals is that the wireless pedal has no cords.
Advantages of wireless foot pedals
Wireless foot pedals offer us several benefits, including:
- You will save time as you do not have to worry about complicating the cords every time you weld. Instead, you can re-invest that time in more welding projects, which will increase your production volume.
- Less downtime as you work, which means less money is lost because you don’t have to move around carefully in fear of breaking the cords.
- You will have less clutter in your workplace, which means you will experience fewer accidents and have a neater workspace.
- Also, getting rid of the cords eliminates the need for mounting techniques like welding lifting magnets, so you will be more comfortable when welding.
Limitations of wireless foot pedals
Like any technological advancement we see on the market today, wireless foot pedals have their advantages, but they also have their limitations. Below we look at some of the limitations of wireless foot pedals.
- Suppose you have to work a tiny enclosure. In that case, you may find that the wireless signal does not spread well if there isn’t sufficient space for the wireless signal to travel easily.
- When using a wireless welding foot pedal, you will be more limited to where you can set up your welder as wireless technology works. When you use wireless foot pedals, you need to keep the weld space in a visible place away from your power source. So wireless foot controls only work well when they are at a certain distance from their power source.
Although you’ll face some limitations when using the Wireless TIG Welder Food Step, you can overcome these issues and gain a lot more control over your weld. For example, you can do things like use a 14-pin control cord extension. With this control cord extension, you can increase the wireless receiver’s range, getting the accuracy you want when you weld.
Wireless welding foot pedals will be a significant boost to your welding efforts. However, it’s essential to get the best of these products to enjoy these benefits. The next section explores ways to select the excellent cordless foot pedals for your TIG welding.
How to Select the Best Wireless Welding Foot Pedals for Your Welding Requirements
Although this is a relatively new technology, there are already many brands and models of these cordless foot pedals. Selecting the most appropriate for your welding needs can be a tedious and time-consuming task. We have summarized some of the key features that you should consider as you make your selection to help you out. Consider the following:
Battery type
Some brands use standard batteries on the remote foot pedals to make things easier. If you want a wireless foot pedal that uses standard batteries, take a look at them. The nice thing about remote food pedals that use standard batteries is that batteries are cheaper. So you don’t have to spend a lot of money on your energy source.
Signal interference
Another option you may have when it comes to wireless foot controls is to choose a wireless foot pedal that prevents signal interference. Such a foot pedal can easily connect the signal to the machine. Usually, the foot control you want is attached to the same unit until you move it to connect to something else. Having this automatic capability means that your foot pedal can be easily matched to your machine.
Armed with the above facts, it’s now let’s focus on how you can use your foot pedal to pulse. Doing so will improve the quality of your welds.
Importance of Pulse by foot pedal
When you do TIG welding, you use a foot pedal to control the amperage. When you ignite, keep your foot on the pedal and keep the thrust with your feet steady because you need a balanced amperage. Adjust your feet frequently to add or reduce excess heat. Remember, how much the pedal presses down will affect the output of your TIG torch.
Using pulse systems
We are saying that using a welding pulse system is beneficial to you as a TIG welder.
But maybe you are as you gain experience using pulse systems, you will come up with your own choices about the pulse systems you want to use.
However, for now, let’s say you’re a newbie. We recommend using a pulse frequency of 1.2 Hz to 2.0 Hz with 35% background amperage and 35% duty if you are starting.
In general, you need to find the amperage that you usually use when not beating in your welder. Then, with the above settings in mind, you double it.
To help you better understand the pulse systems you want to use with your foot pedal, we will break it down into detail below:
- If you do not know what 1 Hz is when welding, don’t worry, it refers to one pulse per second; continuing with this idea, 2 Hz is two pulses per second. Therefore, a full second is required to complete the 1 Hz pulse. On the other hand, it takes 0.5 seconds to complete a 2 Hz pulse, breaking two pulses every second. So, you use the Hertz system to figure out how fast pulses should work.
If you have never heard the word “background amperage percentage,” again, don’t worry. It refers to the lower part of the waveform. When you set your waveform, it moves from its height to lower settings to create a pulse.
On the other hand, a duty rotation percentage refers to the amount of time the waveform spends against “high” and “low.” If you use a higher duty cycle, the amperage will last longer. More heat will go into the material to be welded, so if you need more heat while soldering, you will want more duty cycles.
Determining amperage
Now we have talked about how to face your waveform profile above, and then you need to find the amperage that you need to use in your welder. When your foot does not beat through the pedal and instead uses standard amperage, you should follow a simple rule.
If you are welding mild steel or even aluminum watercraft, you need to know the thickness of the material you are using, in thousands.
Once you know that, you will also use that number as the number of amps you need when adding a butt.
When adding a butt, take the number of amps you need and multiply that number by 1.3. This will tell you the number of arrows you need to fillet weld in a corner. For example, if you use 1/8” thickness or 0.125” steel, you want to start at 12 amps.
If you do a corner fillet weld, you get 163 amps if you take 125 and multiply by 1.3.
However, if you are welding steel, you will use your initial thickness number, multiply by 0.7 and use it. Keep in mind that welding does not require much heat other than welding some other stainless steel
pendants.
Now, we assumed that you need a constant level of 100% amperage for all the formulas we used above, i.e., no pulse. However, as you begin to add to the pulse, you will notice the use of low amperage with metal.
For example, let’s say you set your background amperage to about 0. Then, you add 50% of the duty cycle, which means that the total amps going into the metal will halve when you beat it when you don’t.
If you have 50% more background amperage, if you still have a 50% duty cycle, you are using 75% heat when you are beating without it. So, even for the things here, you have to increase your amps by 25%.
Amperage computations
When doing TIG welding, you must calculate your amperage to determine the ideal settings. However, we know that working with amperage calculations is not always the most natural thing to do. We recommend rating the high end when you first start, starting welding at 75% speed with your foot pedal.
As you look for nice foot pedals that won’t let you down, consider the following for a start.
- Heavy-duty construction foot control pedal
- The broad base with low profile provides secure legs without tips.
- Current adjustment with industrial potentiometer resolution
- Improved low current welding in patented design
- Reasonable cable length with high-quality connectors (on most models)
- Balanced spring force for a responsive and comfortable feel
- Custom cable with neoprene jacket and incomparable durability Very flexible stranding
- Non-slip traction pads
Starting at this level, you will have little space to go when you find the amount of heat you need. Keep in mind that if you need more heat, you will only apply half the heat to your work surface, so you will need to do this by doubling the amperage in your welder and keeping the foot pedal at 75% speed.
If you need to change the Hertz setting, it will not affect the amperage setting you are already going through in your welder. If you spin using a slower pulse system such as 0.5 Hz, you will have to lower the amps slightly.
Advantages of wireless foot pedals
Wireless foot pedals offer us several benefits, including:
Less work time means less money is lost because you do not have to worry about breaking the ropes.
You will save time as you do not have to worry about complicating the cords every time you weld. Instead, you can re-invest that time in more welding projects, which will increase your production volume.
You will have less clutter in your workplace, which means you will experience fewer accidents and be much safer this way.
Also, getting rid of the control rod is a stem length, so there is no need to use odd mounting techniques so you will be more comfortable when welding.
Limitations of wireless foot pedals
Like any technological advancement we see on the market today, wireless foot pedals have their advantages, but they also have their limitations. Below we look at some of the limitations of wireless foot pedals.
Suppose you have to weld into a small metal enclosure, such as the top of a ship. In that case, you may find that the wireless signal does not spread well if there is not enough space for the wireless signal to travel easily.
You will be more limited to where you can set up your welder as wireless technology works. When you use wireless foot pedals, you need to keep the weld space in a visible place away from your power source. So wireless call controls only work well when they are at a certain distance from their power source.
You can do things like use a 14-pin control cord extension. With the 14-pin control cord extension, you can increase the wireless receiver range while giving you the accuracy you want when you weld.
Selecting a wireless foot pedal
When determining the wireless TIG foot pedal type you want, you need to look at some additional factors. Some brands use standard batteries on the remote foot pedals to make things easier. If you want a wireless foot pedal that uses standard batteries, take a look at them.
Usually, the foot control you want is attached to the same unit until you move it to connect to something else. Having this automatic capability means that your foot pedal can be easily matched to your machine.