The stock pedal is a little stiffer, and feels more ratchety, “clunking” as the potentiometer turns. The new Nova pedal is much smoother – you can’t feel any of the mechanism working inside. You just feel a little springiness.
The third TIG foot pedal is the SSC Controls pedal he got for the Everlast PowerTIG 255EXT. It feels pretty similar to the Nova pedal, maybe a little smoother.
Perhaps the most important criterion for a foot pedal, though, is how it fits under your foot. The SSC pedal is nice and wide – you can get your foot all the way on it. The Nova pedal is pretty much the same, with lots of room for your foot.
The older style foot pedal is narrower but taller. It also leans back a little more, which may be harder on your ankle if you are using it a lot. The newer pedals have a lower profile, making them easier on your ankle.
With the Nova pedal hooked up, Kevin has the Everlast PowerMTS 221STi set at 147 amps – just pick a number, because you’ll control the amperage with the foot pedal, but that’s the maximum it will allow.
He wants to see how low the Nova pedal will start at, and how low the machine will weld at. Kevin is wearing all of his welding safety equipment, and has a piece of 1/8″ cold rolled steel clamped to his workbench. He begins welding, and is able to get the welder to weld at 10.4 amps. That’s low enough that his autodarkening helmet isn’t even going dark!
Kevin couldn’t feel any ratcheting at all – it was totally smooth. “That’s pretty impressive,” he says. As for the 221STi welder, 10.4 was pretty impressive, too.
Kevin is ready to play with the Nova pedal some more, but you might want to stick around for another moment to see an opening that didn’t make the cut ….