I've seen SSC foot pedals mentioned on multiple forums, but haven't seen an actual review posted anywhere, so I thought I'd start one and maybe others can chime in.
I have a mild welder purchase addiction (honest, I can stop at any time!) where I started out by buying a Miller Syncrowave 250DX, then bought a newer 250DX, then an even newer 250DX and sold the previous examples to largely cover the cost of getting a newer machine. The second and third machines were being used with finger amptrols, so I needed pedals for them and that led me to the SSC pedal.
I previously bought an SSC pedal for my Everlast PowerTIG 210EXT because I didn't like the factory pedal which was their older style...taller and narrow. I was happy with the SSC pedal, but never really thought much about it.
When I got the new SSC for the Sync 250DX I still had the previous 250DX with the factory RFCS-14HD pedal and decided to compare them on the same machine. I knew I was going to be selling the older machine and wanted to be sure which pedal I liked better before one went down the driveway to a new owner.
From a comfort and quality standpoint, I much prefer the SSC. It's wider, shorter, has less of an angle at rest and is made of metal rather than plastic. I can't speak to the quality of the internals, but the SSC is at least as smooth feeling throughout its range and the distance you have to move the pedal through is much less.
I set up the machine for 250A and had my wife read off amperages while I started the arc, ramped up to max, and then backed off until the arc stopped. The short version is that they're essentially identical. The two pedals weren't absolutely identical, but within a couple of amps. Neither would get to 250A, but my memory says the Miller pedal was 246 and the SSC was 248....not enough to worry about. On the low end they were within an amp or two of one another as well and the SSC may have gone an amp or so lower, but I wonder if heat into the same work piece may have changed things a touch. I didn't notice any difference in the ability to start the arc when I tried to just barely get it to start, or in the ability to just barely keep it going when tapering off. In short, they offer a very similar amperage range and sensitivity from a non-scientific measurement standpoint.
I did notice that since the pedal throw is so much less with the SSC it takes a few minutes to get used to the sensitivity, but I'll happily trade that so that I don't have to make an exaggerated movement with the Miller pedal to get full amperage. The fact the SSC pedal cost half (or a bit less) than the Miller pedal makes it a win-win.
I ordered the SSC pedal from SSC on eBay where they offer the pedals with "paint imperfections" at a discount. I couldn't see any signs of a flaw, but maybe I missed something minor. That saves about $20 and seemed more than worth it considering it's going on the floor and will get bumped around from the first minute anyway.
The only negative is that it has me considering the SSC wireless pedal now!
