I was surprised at how well it worked. I thought I might have trouble with it since I'm not a pro-welder and it is not a name brand, but I was wrong. I used the welder to repair a cracked mower deck. I had no problems striking an arc or burning the entire rod for 1/16"-6011 and 1/8"-7018 rods. I picked this model because of the rod and ground clamps, some of the other welders had inferior clamps I would replace. I like the helmet with the auto darkening feature. It's not a professional model hood, buts it works well, is lightweight and easy to adjust for a comfortable fit. The leads could be longer, but they are adequate for my needs as the welder is small enough to move close to the job. The welder is portable too, I test ran it on my portable generator and it worked great, so I can go anywhere I can get the generator close to. I would buy it again for myself or a gift for someone needing a welder to do repairs.