Welding Tips and Tricks

all the things i read on the site have greatly helped me gain knowledge before i made the investment in this welder...

picked up a syncrowave 200 with digital readouts, 4 hours 23 min on the clock, full runner with all kinds of filler rods for $1700, bought a miller elite for $325, and all kinds of tungsten sizes, collet bodies, collets, cups...

ive played with some aluminum but it seems to have very small amounts of porosity...


3/32 lanthiated tungsten
3/32 4043 aluminum filler rod
#7 cup
just ever so slightly rounded tip of tungsten

1/8" tubing "just laying beads across the pipe nothing more"
15cfm argon
welder set to 150amps

the beads look decent just not bright and have porosity....perhaps its just extremely dirty? maybe the tubing i have was clear coated??



want to clue this eager young newb on the settings for both aluminum and mild steel? im not sure if the previous owner messed with any other settings you access by pushing buttons and turning the welder on...

I would say your right about the tubing being dirty. Aluminum does have to be very clean. It could also be anodized, if it doesn't look dirty. Thats where the pulse would come in handy. Your in the range on all your settings. As long as your on A/C. The best thing I could tell you would be read the operating manual. If it didn't come with one you, can download it for free on Millerwelds.com.

thanks thanks, well im going to chock it up to an empty argon tank for now...the gauge i have might be broken...but the needle barely moves at all...waiting until i can find transport for the tank to get it refilled then ill give it a shot again....the piping is an intercooler pipe, could be anodized, could be clear coated, could just be super high polished who knows..ill grab some aluminum plate and have at it...

i set my pulse to 1.0 and balance to 8.0, produces nice beads for the most part just lots of porosity...my best guess is the metal and gas combo just not working in my favor....

cant wait to get a wp20 torch...looks sooo small!

got a new bottle of argon and that solved the problem! traded out my 150cf for a 275cf, i highly suggest upgrading to the biggest tank possible.....you get approx 16+ hours of welding out of a $60 fill, seems more than worth it to me.....


i changed my pulse to 3.5 and it seems to stabilize the puddle more, i don't dip on the high pulse just dip when i feel ready and it seems to work out great

just having some fun

idk i dont think its so bad after just a few days of practice