OLD RED.....
I bought the first generation import helmet , battery powered around 5 years ago....I did not like it....the headband was lousy....the helmet did not have enough sweep rearwards so when welding outside too much ambient light came into the helmet making visibility of the weld area tuff....and the lens once darkened became a very dark shade of green making the weld puddle tuff to see....and the shade control was on the top of the lens on the inside of the helmet....and the batteries shut off automatically all the time between passes...ALL IN ALL THAT HELMET WAS CRAP!
HOWEVER....I did buy a helmet similar to the solar chicago electric sold by harbor a couple of years ago.....(I live in Canada and I got it at Princess Auto;our version of harbor).
I like it very much and have nothing bad to say about it....and have never had any eye irritations.....and it does what I expect of an autodarkening helmet .....and so far the headgear has stood up well....
My only comment about these types of helmets in general is that I would like to have one with a larger lens viewing area....something around 4" square so I would have better visibility when welding overhead or lying on the ground on my side....
as for me.....I am not a weekend amateur....I am a professional in every sense of the word....
