Thanks!

As far as the welder goes, polarity isn't switched. Had this welder for a 5 years or so and I can't recall if I always had this particular problem, but I do know I was never too happy with how it welded. I don't remember having this particular issue, but I always thought it just seemed harder to get a nice, controlled bead with this welder and always seemed like the amperage was erratic and sloppy. I was never able to get that nice, tight sound from it.

I can go back to my old job and jump on either the Miller 175 or 212 and get nice, clean welds with nothing but some light brown silicon valleys around it. I never even thought about touching an anti-spatter spray or anything there, there was never any spatter to clean up. The welds seem to get nice when I crank the gas up to over 40psi, but I don't see any reason why the pressure should have to be that high. I am thinking either a clog somewhere, or the regulator is just off.


I think of one the few times where I was able to get cleaner welds was when I was welding a set of rock sliders up under a truck. My torch was snaked all the way up and under the truck with a tight fit between the rockers and the chassis. I didn't get much spatter or black soot leading to me believe it was because the shielding gas was lingering around the welds from being in an enclosed space. Of course the welds sucked from welding blind in a small space, but they were spatter/soot free! LOL