Horrible welds, need some direction

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I just purchased an ESAB Rebel and was trying it out for the first time yesterday. I have never done any welding before, so I know my technique is bad, but I don't know if I'm really this bad or maybe I have an equipment problem. Any help would be appreciated. Here is the setup infoESAB Rebel.030 solid wire75/25 Argon mixFlow rate, tried from 20 to 30Used the S-Mig (auto-set) settings and also tried the settings from the door chart.Tried different thickness' of metal from 22ga to .120I've tried push, pull, fast and slow.I think this was on 16gaAgain, any help would be appreciated.
Reply:Was the steel clean?Is machine set to dcep ?
Reply:Where did you weld this at inside,outside
Reply:Looks like a gas problem.
Reply:Yes, it does appear to be a gas related issue. Either the shielding gas isn't flowing through the mig gun properly, or a wind current is carrying it away before it reaches the molten puddle.
Reply:Are you welding indoors ?
Reply:I had the same issue the first time I used my rebel. I found that I had not pushed the gun far enough into the machine and I was not getting the gas flowing.
Reply:Originally Posted by SmasonI had the same issue the first time I used my rebel. I found that I had not pushed the gun far enough into the machine and I was not getting the gas flowing.
Reply:Originally Posted by MinnesotaDaveThis is my guess - happens pretty often to people.
Reply:I'll check the gas flow. This was inside my garage with the door open but wind was pretty calm.  Thank you for all the replies, I'll check it out this afternoon and post back. If I remove the wire and then turn on the welder and pull the trigger, should I be able to feel the gas flow at the nozzle?
Reply:You can release the drive roll tensioner and put your figers around the wire and feel for gas while you pull the trigger , just don't be holding the ground clamp at the same time.Eventual master of the obvious, practitioner of "stream of consciousness fabrication".  P.S. I edit almost every post because because I'm posting from my phone and my fingers sometimes move faster than my brain.
Reply:Originally Posted by Doug247Happened to me before, switching out my spool gun to the mig gun
Reply:Thanks for all the advice, the gun wasn't seated all the way. Still need lots of practice but at least they look like beads now.
Reply:yzfoneWhether: it be MIG or TIG, when I start - I hold the gun/torch to my ear, and initiate the trigger/pedal - to feel/hear the gas flow.This practice will save you countless 'Heart Aches' . . .Opus
Reply:Originally Posted by OPUS FERROyzfoneWhether: it be MIG or TIG, when I start - I hold the gun/torch to my ear, and initiate the trigger/pedal - to feel/hear the gas flow.This practice will save you countless 'Heart Aches' . . .Opus
Reply:yzfone,If your setting on your flow rate is 20-30 your really wasting gas. Set it at 15 and save some money. I weld outside quite a bit and I set at 15 and for me that's a high end setting for a .030 with the wind still blowing slightly from 0-5 mph. Also keep in mind that using too high a flow rate will cause oxygen to be sucked into the path of the shielding gas causing it to lose the coverage as show in your pictures. As you all ready figured out it was a bad connection, remember too much is not good either.When I die I want to go out peacefully sleeping like my grandfather did,not screaming in horror like his passengers in the car.
Reply:It is very hard to see when the gun is seated so I took the set screw all the way out so I knew it was not stopping the gun from seating.yzfone, doe you machine feed wire smoothly?
Reply:I went back to 20 last night after installing the gun correctly, I'll give 15 a shot this weekend.
Reply:As far as I can tell it does. Originally Posted by vwguy3It is very hard to see when the gun is seated so I took the set screw all the way out so I knew it was not stopping the gun from seating.yzfone, doe you machine feed wire smoothly?
Reply:Try holding the angle of gun right and make sure ur close enough so u dnt long arc and aren't losing gas Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk