I have the same stuff as that kit for my #20 as well. its fine.


the advantage of the larger lens is being able to weld stainless longer without having to stop in fear of losing gas coverage.

That kit would only have up to a #8 cup.

Also I have heard of triggers for the tig torch to replace the pedal. Is there an actual name for that and is it possibly covered in the video posted above? I will watch the video when I get home from work tonight.

When I bought my trig welder I just went up to the local airgas and had them get me a torch and such. I plugged it in and started practicing. So I have no real knowledge of what the proper names of things are, but I would like to learn.

you mean like a thumb control? My torch has it built in, on/off button and a thumb wheel for amperage control. Its super duper nice for tack welding an exhaust while under a car thats on jack stands. and its also great when you are doing a long ass weld where you're not expecting to have to vary the amperage like at all.

The video does a real good job explaining the fucking retarded torch naming scheme.

He's talking about a #12 cup on a gas lens (the pink thing). The cup sizes are in 1/16" increments, so a #12 is a 3/4" diameter cup.

The torch styles are also numbered, but in an apparently random system. the #20 is the small sized water-cooled torch. The link below has a pretty decent run-down of the different torch styles.

Tig Torch -Air Cooled - Water Cooled ...Which one is best?

Probably says the number on the neck of the torch... where a flex head torch would flex.


My welder came with a trigger (on off, set panel amps and go) and with a pedal. I generally use the pedal to weld since you can control the amps on the fly, but I will use a trigger for things like tacking an exhaust under the car so I don't have to mess around with the pedal. I would assume that roll cage welders use a trigger vs a pedal. The issue with trigger welding is odd hand placement reaching into something like a tubular manifold where the trigger and your finger would get into the way reducing your maneuverability and reduce your vision of the weld.


most field weldors would use a trigger if not scratch start, depending on the process and the requirements spelled out by the welding contract.



The welding video leafy posted is a good start. that guy likes to ramble on, but there is a lot of good info there.

matt your trigger is a hold style? I like the one thats on mine, its a tap to start, tap to stop.

A thumb control is exactly what I mean. I am asking specifically because trying to tack weld while under the car when building an exhaust was a royal pita having to try to use the foot pedal.

It took 18 months but I finally bought a welder. Got the Everlast PowerPro 205, but haven't gotten any argon yet so I have yet to weld anything with it.

If you find yourself getting bad welds or having trouble, replace the torch.

That's the one I ended up with too. My only complaint is that I'm currently on my third plasma torch. The first two were replaced under warranty (apparently only 6 months for the plasma torch) even though I barely use them. Both failures occurred before I'd worn out my first cutting tip. I'm outside the warranty period now so I'm not looking forward to the next time it craps out.

Mine a hold.

Tap on, tap off wouldn't help in the case I mentioned. You still need post flow on the part. to tap off in tight spaces you would have to pull off of the part similar to scratch start (no post flow)

Couldn't you use downslope or whatever it's called to gradually lower the amperage with either kind? I wouldn't trust myself with a 'tap to start tap to stop' style, I'd be afraid of dropping it.

I'm not sure how you'd drop it. The little button you hit is right on the torch, and thankfully it gets disabled when you have the pedal plugged in on my machine.

Thumb control is for precisely these types of situations. But I find thumb control is harder to operate than foot control, so I end up using foot control most of the time (e.g. whenever possible). But if you're a boss, then you practice all the time and get proficient so you can handle both thumb and foot controls with ease!

I hadn't heard of the encoder problem until I read this. I bought a pt 225 last month. Works great but the guy holding the torch.....well....

My amperage knob is strange. It steps up and down correctly, one amp per notch. It doesn't work like the post flow knob, where 12 o clock is the same every time. Does your pt do the same thing?

Eastwood has their tig on sale for STOOPID cheap money right now. TIG Welder | TIG Welders | TIG Welding ? Eastwood TIG 200 AC/DC Welder

Damn, that is cheap. I picked up a used Miller Maxstar 90 Tig machine a few weeks ago. I like it quite a bit, but it's DC only and only 90A. It can do up to 0.10 single pass, but if I bevel it enough, preheat, and make a few passes it shouldn't really be an issue if I want to make myself a few parts.

For bigger stuff, I just use the big boy mig machines at work at the end of the day. Sadly, we don't have a tig machine at all so I guess I have to pay someone to do aluminum.

I would still not recommend the Everlast. So if you are debating the Everlast, Eastwood or HTP. Choose the last 2. I have had great experiences with HTP.