Welding for the first time - need advice

Make sure the polarity is set right for solid wire and not flux cored, the back side of the side cover will show you which way the leads should be. You need to clean more of the paint away from your weld and make sure the back side of the panel is clean too, if stuff is burning off the panel near the weld it will contaminate the weld. Set your heat setting as hot as you can without burning through, then adjust your wire speed and travel accordingly, if your not burning through occasionally your probably not hot enough. Use the chart on the inside of the side cover to set your heat and wire speed, then adjust to where your comfortable. Oh and practice practice practice.