firepower welders

hey guys i need some help first off for the welders out there ive got a (fp120)firepower mig welder, anybody know anything about these welders? i'm new at welding but seem to have problems with the wire getting kinked up inside the welder also when im welding it seems that its not always smooth it like the welder surges or somthing, lastly what size wire do you guys use to mig weld 18 gauge steel, and what is your wire speed and volts set at.

I dont know anything about this welder,but try loosening your tensioner up that might help the problem with your wire getting kinked up.Also make sure your tip is the right size for your wire. you should run it on pretty low settings for thin material.Me and my buddy use .35 or at least that's what i think the wire diameter is.

.035

i know one thing, its a overpriced piece of junk......

thats what i was thinking chris have you actually used one or just heard from others, i'm using 0.30 wire and the correct tip for that wire but thinking that is to small of a wire.

in my smaller welder i just always ask for "023" wire and thats what i weld thinner stuff with

I use .030 on almost everything. Really thin stuff (22 gauge or thinner)I like .023.

If the wire is surging maybe turn the speed down. And loosen the tension on the feed wheel if it kinks. A good way to tell if your tension is right, is to hold the nozzle am inch away from a piece of wood and pull the trigger. The wire should stop when it hits the wood and the wheel should be slipping. But it should still feed the wire.

i use .o25 and it really penetrates into everything i weld, lincoln 135 i think

Firepower is made by Thermadyne and is really the same as their Thermal Arc models. Thermadyne is a high end company, just go to there website http://www.thermadyne.com/. I have a Thermal Arc Arcmaster 185 AC/DC Tig welder and it is bad ass. Much nicer with more fine tuned settings and options than the Lincoln Invertec that I was previously using. I dont have any experience with their migs though.

we use a firepower at work. i changed otu the ground wire cuz it sucked ass. put 4 gauge on it.it got to were ti was poppin and not welded, turned out to be that. usin .023 wire i have it set at 2 for heat and 6 for wirespeed.