How to install a foot control on my old tig?

[slimpickens]

I have and old tig unit that is and airco model 2.5a ddr-224-hf-b see pics
I have been looking for a pedal control to add to it to control the torch. I have found an old
pedal made by Ltech but am not sure how this would wire up to my unit any help would be appreciated. Next im going to try and build a cooler and get a water cooled torch.

[hoffman]

I was in the same boat not too long ago with an old Lincoln TIG. You need to find out what the pot in the airco pedal is supposed to be. Mine was a 1000 ohm 25 watt but some are different. If your lucky the pedal you have has the right pot in it. I rigged up a Miller pedal to work with my Lincoln.

Post some pics of the plug on the welder where the pedal goes. The old ones (Lincoln and Miller) had one 3 prong plug which was the current control and a 2 prong plug which turned the hi-freq off/on.

Several of us are working on coolers right now :D

[Fishy Jim]

Not anymore. lol Mines done! :D

[slimpickens]

[SIZE=3]I took a couple of close ups of the high freq sttart plug but theres not a plug for anything else. This welder does say AC/DC MSM Heliwelder just below the large AIRCO in the middle of the front panel. It has a place for water in and out but there are no fittings just plugs they are on the lower left corner of the panel. It also has the gas in and out on the lower right side. The work and electrode lugs are on the bottom and you should be able to see the ac/dc and polarity controls in the first welder pic. The gas flow timer is to the right of the high freq control and the const. / off / start switch is to the right of it. does that mean you cant hook a peddle up to it if it doesnt have a plug for the remote?

[hoffman]

It looks like you have a HF machine with no remote current control. I ran into a few of them during my TIG quest. You'll need to get a switch to mount on your torch that will turn the HF off/on. Not as good as a remote machine but way better than a scratch start machine.

The old machines have water valves because they used tap water which went through the torch and down the drain. The valve may have been plugged up because whoever had it used an air cooled torch. On mine the water valve had left hand threads so keep this in mind if you pull the plugs out.

My machine didn't come with a torch either and I got one off ebay and the rest of the stuff came from a local welding shop. I think my torch was about $75 and didn't come with a collet or cup and I had to get a sheath for the lines.

I don't know a lot about these old machines I'm just passing along what I went through with mine. If I'm telling you anything you already know then disregard it. I was starting from scratch so I had to learn everything :eek:

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Fishy Jim]

Water fittings are always left handed threads (just like combustible gasses). You can pick up the needed 5/8-18 Western brand adapters to hook into your cooler for under $3 at a welding shop. All torches are going to come with the LH male counterparts, so you're doing yourself a favor in taking the plunge right the first time.

[slimpickens]

Thanks for all the info guys. I just found this site last week and am becoming a big fan already. My machine came with a brand new torch and lead and victor regulator so i guess im good but i just liked the water cooled torches ive welded with before they are much cooler to run for any length of time. I got the machine from a guy with a welding / gun shop. he was short on guns to display and had the welder in back and offered to trade for an old 45 i had. I did the swap and never looked back! that was two years ago and have only welded with it three times as I dont have much time or a good place to work with it. I was hoping to be able to get it set up for a remote to make it a bit easier to regulate my temps. But i cant complain the pistol was a 225$ beater. Thanks again and any more thoughts will be appreciated. I am going to get the trigger remote start for the HF I may check and see if it possible to build it out of a micro switch depending on the amount of power it takes HMMM?

[450deer]

Thanks for all the info guys. I just found this site last week and am becoming a big fan already. My machine came with a brand new torch and lead and victor regulator so i guess im good but i just liked the water cooled torches ive welded with before they are much cooler to run for any length of time. I got the machine from a guy with a welding / gun shop. he was short on guns to display and had the welder in back and offered to trade for an old 45 i had. I did the swap and never looked back! that was two years ago and have only welded with it three times as I dont have much time or a good place to work with it. I was hoping to be able to get it set up for a remote to make it a bit easier to regulate my temps. But i cant complain the pistol was a 225$ beater. Thanks again and any more thoughts will be appreciated. I am going to get the trigger remote start for the HF I may check and see if it possible to build it out of a micro switch depending on the amount of power it takes HMMM? Slim, would you be intrested in selling that peddel, it may be something I could use. If your intrested send me a private email.