A Beginner's Guide to 5-in-1 Welders: Unpacking Multi-Process Capabilities

Update on Oct. 29, 2025, 12:50 p.m.

Choosing your first welder can be overwhelming. You’re faced with a wall of acronyms: MIG, TIG, SMAW, FCAW. For decades, you had to choose one, buying a massive, heavy machine dedicated to a single task. Today, a new class of welder has changed the game: the 5-in-1 multi-process machine.

These compact powerhouses promise the versatility of an entire workshop in a box. But what do those five functions actually mean, and how do they work in practice?

Instead of a generic overview, we’re going to use a common example, the YESWELDER MIG-185DS PRO, as a case study to unpack what these five processes are, what they’re good for, and how a modern machine handles them.

The “Brains” and “Brawn”: Why Modern Welders Are Smart and Light

Before diving into the five processes, you need to understand the two technologies that make these machines possible: Synergic Control and IGBT Inverters.

The digital display and controls of the YESWELDER MIG-185DS PRO, showing the synergic control interface.

1. Synergic Control: Welding on “Easy Mode”

For beginners, the hardest part of MIG welding is balancing two key settings: voltage (the “power” or “heat” of the arc) and wire feed speed (how fast the metal wire is fed into the weld). If they’re out of sync, you get a sputtering, messy weld.

Synergic Control is the solution. It’s an intelligent program inside the welder that automatically links these two settings.

How it works: You tell the machine what wire diameter you’re using (e.g., 0.030” or 0.035”). From then on, you only need to adjust one dial, typically the wire feed speed or amperage. The machine’s microprocessor automatically selects the optimal voltage to match.
Practical Benefit: This flattens the learning curve dramatically. Instead of endless trial and error, you can focus on your torch technique—your travel speed, angle, and distance. It’s the single best feature for anyone new to welding, and it’s what allows users to get good results right out of the box.

2. IGBT Inverter: Power Without the Weight

If you’ve seen an old welder, you know they are often 100-pound-plus monsters made of massive copper-wound transformers. The YESWELDER MIG-185DS PRO, by contrast, weighs around 12 pounds. The magic behind this is IGBT Inverter Technology.

How it works: Instead of using a giant, heavy transformer to convert 60Hz wall power directly, an inverter-based system is much more complex and efficient. It converts the incoming AC power to DC, chops it up into very high-frequency AC (thousands of times per second) using fast-switching Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), sends it through a tiny, lightweight transformer, and then rectifies it back into perfectly smooth DC power for welding.
Practical Benefit: This results in a machine that is incredibly light and portable. More importantly, it gives the microprocessor fine-grain control over the arc, leading to a more stable, consistent, and spatter-free weld.

The internal components of an IGBT inverter welder, showing the compact transformer and circuit boards.

The 5-in-1 Deep Dive: A Process for Every Problem

Now, let’s break down the five distinct processes this single machine can handle.

1. Gas MIG (GMAW)

What It Is: This is what most people think of as “MIG welding.” A spool of solid wire is fed through the welding gun, and a shielding gas (usually a C25 mix of 75% Argon and 25% CO2) flows out of the nozzle to protect the molten weld from the atmosphere.
Best For: Clean, fast, and efficient welding on mild steel, stainless steel, and other alloys. It’s the go-to for auto body work, light fabrication, and building projects where you want visually appealing welds with minimal cleanup.
How the Machine Handles It: This is the machine’s primary function. You connect your gas bottle, set the machine to Gas MIG, and let the synergic control help you dial in the settings.

2. Flux-Core (FCAW-S)

What It Is: This is “MIG welding without the gas.” Instead of solid wire, you use a special hollow wire that contains a “flux” agent in its core. As the wire melts, the flux vaporizes and creates its own protective gas shield. This is technically “self-shielded flux-cored arc welding.”
Best For: Outdoor work. Wind is the enemy of Gas MIG, as it simply blows the shielding gas away. Flux-core welding doesn’t care about wind. It also burns hotter and penetrates deeper, making it excellent for welding on thicker or slightly rusty/dirty metal.
How the Machine Handles It: You simply load a spool of flux-core wire, switch the polarity of your ground clamp and torch inside the machine (a simple one-minute swap), and set the machine to flux-core mode.

3. Stick (SMAW)

What It Is: The classic, old-school welding process. It uses a flux-coated consumable electrode (a “stick” or “rod”). You strike an arc, and as the rod melts, the flux burns off to create a shielding gas and a protective slag layer over the weld.
Best For: Heavy-duty repairs, thick materials, and terrible conditions. Stick welding is the all-terrain vehicle of welding. It’s not pretty, but it’s strong and can handle rust, paint, and dirt better than any other process.
How the Machine Handles It: You plug the electrode holder (stinger) into the machine, set it to “SMAW” or “Stick,” and set your amperage. This is where a key question comes up: Can the YESWELDER 185DS PRO weld 6011 rods? The answer is yes. This is critical because 6011 rods are aggressive, deep-penetrating rods that require a high “open-circuit voltage” (OCV) to run smoothly. Many small inverter welders can’t handle them, but this one can, making it truly versatile for farm and field repairs. It also runs smoother rods like 7018 beautifully.

4. Lift TIG (GTAW)

What It Is: TIG welding is the art of welding. It uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to create a precise, focused arc. You control the heat with a foot pedal or torch switch (in this case, just the arc) and add filler metal to the puddle by hand. It uses pure Argon gas for shielding.
Best For: High-precision, beautiful welds on stainless steel, thin metal, and critical joints. Think of it as “soldering for big-boy metal.”
How the Machine Handles It: This is not high-frequency (HF) TIG. HF TIG, found on expensive, dedicated machines, starts the arc without touching the metal. This machine uses Lift TIG. You must buy a separate TIG torch (with a gas valve on the handle) and connect it. To start the arc, you gently touch the tungsten to the metal and “lift” it, which initiates a low-amperage arc that won’t contaminate your electrode. It’s a perfectly viable way to get high-quality TIG welds without the cost of an HF machine.

A complete welding setup showing the MIG-185DS PRO machine, MIG torch, ground clamp, and stick electrode holder.

5. Spool Gun MIG (Aluminum)

What It Is: This directly answers the question: “How does it weld aluminum?” Aluminum wire is very soft, like a wet noodle. Trying to push it 10 feet down a standard MIG torch hose is a recipe for a “bird’s nest”—a tangled mess of wire at the drive rollers.
Best For: MIG welding aluminum.
How the Machine Handles It: The machine is “spool gun compatible.” This means you buy a separate spool gun (like the LBT150). This gun holds a small 1-lb spool of aluminum wire directly on the handle. It only has to push the wire about 6 inches. You plug this gun into the front of the welder, switch your gas to 100% Argon, and you are ready to weld aluminum effectively.

Practical Realities: Power, Circuits, and Limits

A 5-in-1 machine is a master of versatility, but it’s important to understand its practical limitations.

Power (110V vs. 220V): This is a dual-voltage machine. This is a critical feature, but it has a trade-off.
- On a 110V/120V (standard household outlet): You can do most of your light-duty work. This is perfect for hobbyists, sheet metal, or running flux-core and stick at lower amperages.
- On a 220V/240V (like a dryer outlet): This is required to unlock the machine’s full 185-amp power. To weld 1/4” or 3/8” steel, you will need a 220V circuit.
Duty Cycle: This spec answers “How long can I weld before the machine needs a break?” The duty cycle on the YESWELDER 185DS PRO is typically rated at 60% @ 185 Amps (on 220V).
- What this means: In a 10-minute period, you can weld at full power (185A) for 6 minutes straight before the machine’s thermal protection will stop you for a 4-minute cool-down. For any hobbyist or light-fab work, this is more than enough.
Display and Setup: The clear digital display is a huge advantage over old machines with vague analog dials. It allows you to note your settings (yeswelder 185 circuit settings) for a specific job and repeat them perfectly next time.

Conclusion: Who Is a 5-in-1 Welder For?

A multi-process machine like the YESWELDER MIG-185DS PRO is not a “master of one.” A $3,000 dedicated TIG welder will have more features (like HF start and AC for aluminum). A $4,000 industrial MIG welder will have a 100% duty cycle.

But this machine is a “master of versatility.”

It is the ideal solution for the serious hobbyist, the farm owner, the automotive enthusiast, or the beginner who wants a single machine that will allow them to learn every major welding process. It gives you the ability to tackle 95% of the jobs you will ever encounter—from fixing a fence with stick, to fabricating a stainless-steel counter with TIG, to repairing an aluminum boat with a spool gun.