Do they make a foot switch for mig welding?

[mik32176]

Im a self tought welder so I dont know alot about welding. Im looking for a way to switch my millermatic 251 gun on from a foot switch. The reason being I would like to set up a rotary table and have the gun in position and be able to just step back and let the machines do the work. I do a lot of circular welding. right now Im holding the gun in my hand, and though the gun is rested up against somthing it still wanders a little.
I see these remote switches on millers website, what are these?
or should I just rewire the gun?
Thanks

[la_coterie]

In a previous life I was a welder & I never saw one (a foot switch for a MIG) but just cobble up some wires from the back of the euro connector in parallel that way you won't have to touch the torch.

Sounds like a on off toggle switch would suit that job best - but you'll have to watch for the end. Come back after a cup of rea and find a red hot donut otherwise ! :lol

[DareBee]

Exactly

A switch is a switch.
The trigger wires usually connect to 2 terminals at the point where the whip connects to the feeder.
Put any sort of switch you want there, it is also very easy to power your turntable add an end limit switch and have this an automatic cycle by loading the part(s) and pushing a start button - when machine stops load new parts and go again.

[mxtras]

It's likely that the switches you saw on the Miller site were for the TIGs - variable, not simply on/off.

I am guessing you just want on/off of the Mig gun - or were you hoping to vary the wire speed with the pedal, too?

Here's a link from my collection of links - foot pedals - http://www.ssccontrols.com/

Scott

[mik32176]

mxtras, I just wanted to be able to turn the gun on and off from a switch. preferably a foot switch to leave my hands open. It wont be to hard to make a switch. thought I would ask anyways, thanks for your responses.

[diarmaid]

Hi Im doing a welding night course at the moment in a university, and by a coincidence last week the instructor showed me a final year thesis project that was done last year by a student and they still have it in the shop.

...Anyway, the point is, that to do his thesis this guy built an automatic Mig welder on an adapted gas cutting rail (They wanted repeatability for testing). I'll check on Monday night what switch mechanism was used to operate the welder. They turn it on/off by hand I think, but Im sure you could adapt to switch to sit on the floor if you really want to!

Most Mig welding machines arc start can be set so that the arc begins after you release the button, instead of after you press it in. Then you again press the button to stop the arc. I think this is essentially what you want to use, and also some adaptation of it that the thesis guy used to become 'hands free'! Incidentially, because the welds were so consistant on his machine, once he had it set up, it was really good. I saw some weld samples done with it, very nice.

L8rs.

[mik32176]

so your saying you can set the gun to push button on and off without holding the button down? or am I misunderstanding. I have a millermatic 251, with a stock gun. how would I do this?

also, dont get me wrong about the automation thing, I would love for nothing more but my knowledge in electronics is very limited. I mean I can bypass a switch, but to set up limit switches and cycles I wouldnt even know where to start.

[Al_The_Man]

The trigger plug has a Amp Trigger-Plug connector into the front panel, this has the two trigger wires that go to the whip.
You can either get another amp connector and wire this to any kind of switch you want to put on it or remove the cover where the wires go into the whip at the power unit end, there should be two stake-on connectors, remove these and attach the two new wires that go to your switch, IOW use the existing connector with the two trigger wires, the two going up to the whip trigger will not be used.
The switch, wether toggle,push or footPedal, can be momentary (hold it down) or maintained (push on - Push off)
Al.

[garagefela]

Hi there,
I used to work in a heavy engineering workshop. We used to make a lot of cylindrical components typically around 2 foot diameter with a 1 foot diameter hole and around 2 foot high. Like a massive pipe.

They were actally welded out of 3 pieces that were flame cut out of 8" plate. Imagine 3 car tyres sitting on top of each other and welded together ( you get the picture)

We made up our own welding machine it was actually an old 4 jaw chuck that was tilted on 45 degrees so the sparks and crap fell to the ground. A motor and simple gearbox slowly rotated the chuck. ( Could even be thick flat plate with clamps on it)

On the back of the chuck a simple ring was made so some limit switches could be slid around.

Used to turn on the motor, turn the gun on (forget how it stayed on, clip on the trigger??) and when the chuck had turned 360 degrees (or whatever) the limit switches would turn off both the chuck and mig. One switch for the chuck and one for the gun.

You make the hardware any sparky worth anything could wire the switches in.

The best part was this welder was operated by one of the guys that used to operate one of the heavy mills, it was set up right next to him. He would set it to weld then go and do some milling. Really did the welding for free(ish) and did not tie up someone manually holding a torch.

Keep in mind that the parts we made had a hugh weld vee on them and required a large amount amount of filler material. What I mean by that is wasn't just a one or two pass operation. The chuck welder was very beneficial in our circumstances.

Is this the sort of thing that would help you out?

Cheers all M.

[diarmaid]

I looked at the miller site and saw those remotes. I don't have enough experience to say anything about them, sorry. Here is the link if anyone else can advise you:
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...mote_controls/

The welders we're using have an arc start switch, but Im not familiar with your machine so I don't know if it has one. Probably not, or you would have figured it out by now!
Switch in one position - Standard operation so the arc and wire feed starts when you press the trigger in and hold it. Stops when you release the trigger.
Flip the switch to the other position - You press the trigger in and release it to start the arc and wire feed. The feed and arc keeps going until you press the trigger again.

The set up of your rotating table is a different matter altogether, and I don't have a clue about how you'd go about that. But as you see in the post above there are plenty of people on this site who have experience with that type of thing, and I'd wager more than one who've done it b4.

Is this your machine?
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...llermatic_251/
If so at the bottom it says: For aluminum welding, add the optional Push-Pull Module for aluminum wire feed capability. Push-Pull guns can be directly connected to the Millermatic 251 with this additional push-pull module.
Plus it lists suitable spool guns.

Here is a series of video instructions, including one for aluminiim welding:
http://www.millerwelds.com/education...llermatic.html

Edit: I've looked at your machines instructions and the videos. It doesn't have a built in arc start adjustment that I can see.


.

[mik32176]

Originally Posted by garagefela Hi there, I used to work in a heavy engineering workshop. We used to make a lot of cylindrical components typically around 2 foot diameter with a 1 foot diameter hole and around 2 foot high. Like a massive pipe. They were actally welded out of 3 pieces that were flame cut out of 8" plate. Imagine 3 car tyres sitting on top of each other and welded together ( you get the picture) We made up our own welding machine it was actually an old 4 jaw chuck that was tilted on 45 degrees so the sparks and crap fell to the ground. A motor and simple gearbox slowly rotated the chuck. ( Could even be thick flat plate with clamps on it) On the back of the chuck a simple ring was made so some limit switches could be slid around. Used to turn on the motor, turn the gun on (forget how it stayed on, clip on the trigger??) and when the chuck had turned 360 degrees (or whatever) the limit switches would turn off both the chuck and mig. One switch for the chuck and one for the gun. You make the hardware any sparky worth anything could wire the switches in. The best part was this welder was operated by one of the guys that used to operate one of the heavy mills, it was set up right next to him. He would set it to weld then go and do some milling. Really did the welding for free(ish) and did not tie up someone manually holding a torch. Keep in mind that the parts we made had a hugh weld vee on them and required a large amount amount of filler material. What I mean by that is wasn't just a one or two pass operation. The chuck welder was very beneficial in our circumstances. Is this the sort of thing that would help you out? Cheers all M.

this is kind of what Im getting at, I have a 4 jaw turning head now that im using, and Im holding the torch until it makes one full revolution. which is hard to see by the way. so I love the idea of a limit switch where it would just stop a little after one revolution. somthing that would free me up to do other things close by. when I get home tonight If anyone wants I will upload the picture of my turning head and welder plus the parts im tring to weld if it would help.

[mik32176]

Do you or anyone else know what the voltage is? 12v? or for that fact where I can get a maintained d.c. foot switch for my application. I will make it work with a regular switch if I have to, But I want to do this right the first time. I checked MSC but didnt see anything there. thanks for all the help.