Was welding fairly thin ss pipe today at work, was using chrome rods forgot the exact name but they were 2.5's.. Was blowing through at the start, ran lower amps about 60-70 and i literally done stop/starts the whole way round on opposite sides to distribute heat..
Worked out good in the end, cleaned it up a bit n looked nice. But just find out the thickness n try to get some scrap and play around till u realise its limits....