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which type of welding helmet is best?

26K views 51 replies 25 participants last post by  Too Many Projects 
#1 ·
Is auto-darkening best? What brands are good?
 
#3 ·
welding helmets

I have 3 $ 50 cheapies. I keep thinking I might do more welding and get a really good one. I don't like the battery powered one because I forget to turn it on. , sometimes when repairing Farm and construction equipment the auto dark doesn't work right because It doesn't see the start up arc. one of them I have to stick on a piece of duct tape because the dial turns as I move around. and I still have a couple old style with different shades.
 
#4 ·
Auto darkening is the way to go. Makes it way easier to keep track of what you're doing. Your profile doesn't give your age, but if you wear graduated bi-focals like me, you'll find it impossible to see well without a cheater lens. You can't look down like you do when you read.
 
#14 ·
You know, I bought one of those, mainly based on your suggestion, even bought the upgraded lens, and I have to say, I HATE it. The lenses are nice and clear (better than most autdarkening ones), especially the gold (I forgot what they're called) upgraded ones, the headgear fits well, the helmet is OK.... so what's the problem???

Well, the flip up bit only seems to adjust well for use in one position. If you always weld at the same bench, or in the same position then great, but since it somewhat relies on gravity to work the tension is only right when the helmet is at one angle. It's not uncommon for me to go from welding at a bench, to welding upside down putting a cage in, to welding under a car (which doesn't work at all if you don't have room, the flip up thing can take too much room a surprising amount of the time. I gave it an honest shot a few times, and it seemed like every time I got started by half way through the job I was futzing with it trying to get it adjusted better. Right now it’s not even by my bench, it ended up getting moved out of the way behind the mill, I believe it’s covered in a pile of swarf.

My first helmet, a cheap one that I bought at Home Depod on the way home when I bought my first welder, is my staple. It looks like this but it’s black:
CAMPBELL HAUSFELD WIDE VISION WELDING HELMET PART#WT101000AV-NEW IN BOX on eBay!
it has a nice large view area, it’s light and fits well. Flips down easily with a head nod but is still stiff enough that you can walk around and do things with it up without it just falling on you at random. I have a really large head so when I got it adjusted so it fit well the adjuster hit part of the top of the helmet when flipped up so I cut a notch out of it, but I keep this one around in case I have problems with one of my others.
Most people are quite happy with the cheap autodarkening helmets from HF and others. I have one of the early HF helmets and I’m one of the few people that has issues with it (my brother and some of my friends that have borrowed it have all liked it, so I keep it around for them to use since most don’t want to mess with my old school CH hemet). The problem that I have with it is that I can actually see the flash before it darkens. Most people can’t, for some reason I can. I used it for a long time and just got used to blinking my eyes as I pulled the trigger on the gun so I wouldn’t see the flash. The thing is durable and reliable, it always worked when I picked it up, but eventually I replaced it because of the flash thing. Only minor annoyances that I can say about it otherwise is that it has a smallish viewing area that is a bit low in the helmet (if you’re used to large ports or a more standard layout it takes a little getting used to the idea that you need to adjust it to sit a little higher), and the adjustment knob is on the outside so some complain you can accidently hit it and change it (I don’t honestly remember it happening but I’m sure someone will complain about controls on the outside).

My favorite is my Miller Digital Elite Inferno helmet. It’s comfortable (I had to remove the pad that they add to the headgear to fit my head), adjustable, big view port, clear and beautiful view, and it looks good too. One really nice thing about it is that it is that it has sensors in all corners of the lens, so it’s hard to block them and get flashed (this does happen with autodark helmets). It’s really a nice helmet. The biggest complaint that I have about it is one that I haven’t heard from anyone else, mine tends to kill a set of batteries (and they’re fairly expensive) in about a year, and you don’t really get any warning when they’re going to die (so I end up using my old CH one). Occasionally I find the controls to be a bit awkward to work in welding gloves. It’s expensive but you get what you pay for with this (and this is coming from someone that is cheap, and will rarely spend $$$ on the good stuff).

My suggestion- get yourself something cheap and reliable like the CH single shade or a cheap import and use it for a while and then decide if you really need something better.
 
#7 · (Edited)
cheater lens

The magnifing "cheater lens" doesn't fit into any of my auto dark helmets. I had to duct tape it into one I use for more accurate work. I was into the welding supplier the other day and he now stocks a plastic adaptor that holds the lens. but for $ 7.00 I said I would have to bring in a helmet and make sure it would fit.
some one needs to make a "FAT head" welding helmet. large enough so I can wear a thick insulated cap when I am out welding when it's well below , ZERO *
PS, I use my hair dryer type heat gun to warm up the helmet, so it won't fog up for a few minutes, just hold it back far enough to not melt any plast parts
 
#10 · (Edited)
My Hobart "the hood" is auto darkening and accepts a standard cheater lens.

The new Lincoln auto darkening hood accept cheaters.

Lincoln 3350

All Miller auto darken hoods accept cheater lens.

IF you are working outside the new Miller Digital Elite has a special mode that responds to electromagnetic arc and not the sun. I like the large lens in this helmet :thumbup:

I like the Miller Digital Elite for its shade adjustment down to 5 as well as grind mode @ 3.5 which is about like a decent pair of sunglassed. Wish it was priced the same as then Lincoln 3350 :(
 
#12 ·
I'll rate my personal experience as a union welder/pipfitter. 1bad 10 perfect
Fibermetal pipeliners 4 its small veiwing area and aqward shape but its cheap fairly light
Hunstman 5 shape takes a getting used to- big viewing area, cheap, ratchets are solid(stays up)
Jackson std 4.5x5 3 heavy crappy headgear- cheap
Jackson nexgen/or boss 7 auto dark lenses are great big viewing area uses standard covers and are nearly indestructable. I dropped 30 ft off a scaffold hood exploded but the lense still worked and no cracks.
Hobart hood 5 controls on outside terrible design. Lens is good can make covers by cutting std 4.5x5
Speedglas 9100xx 8 the best hood I've ever used /owned clarity is great not as green as with cheaper auto darks hood is extremly comfortable for long days it light. The only bad thing is lenses are special and its stupid expensive I got a smoking deal on a warranty of a different hood and could pass.

I think for home use autodark is the way to go. Get a battery powered not solar because after long periods of no use the solar will die and not work till its sat on sunlight for a few hours. The Jackson nexgen lense is probably my personal favorite for home use cheaters fit and uses std lenses it fits in hunstman hoods witch are better than Jackson. Miller's are a good bang for buck get the biggest viewing area don't worry about grind modes etc if it goes from 9-13 that's all you need. I have owne HF hoods before crap plan and simple. I'd by a good non auto before I'd use one of those again.

The only reason I don't say get a passive hood is the convenience and saftey of the auto dark in wierd positions say under a dash or laying on floor welding exhaust in places. Less likely to arc on something besides what you want to and less flash when your not ready.

Kris,
 
#13 ·
Another thing to think about is making friends at a welding supply the have the hoods in house and usually give a year or so warranty themselves. I had one crap out and they gave me one of the shelf. I've owned a lot if hoods, though I won't own another that's not a speedglas I can't in good conscience tell you to buy one 540.00 is ridiculous. So find one with the 4.5 x5 standard lenses and get the biggest viewing area.
 
#16 ·
My very close freind is a machinist and loves the Jackson brand. I use the Jackson NexGen with a Halo X shell and the 370 head gear. Lightweight and super fast. It's an light amber lens that seems to have better clarity of the weld pool than others.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Im a union ironworker foreman (378) i do a lot of welding, everything from stainless tig to FEMA 3/32 rat holes. I just got the lincoln electric torch red hood with exterior shade adjuetment so you can adjust shade on thefly instead of under the hood. I love it, best hood ive ever used. Guts stay adjusted and are comfortable. Hood is light and flexible. 135.00 at home depot.
 
#20 ·
My welding hood experience has been an example of "You don't know what you don't know" I had never used a decent hood until I received a new auto darkening Viking 1840 hood as gift.

WOW!!!! What a difference!!

A good hood is adjustable to greatly improve your comfort level, has a giant viewing area, adjustable darkness setting that actually works etc. etc.
I can honestly say that having a good hood has made me a better welder.
I wish I had not been such a tight *** and bought myself a good hood years ago....
 
#23 ·
I have 2 miller auto-shades, a Pro hobby (6 years old) and an Elite(2 years old). I love them both, I use the pro hobby for overhead and dirty/greasy areas and the elite for general shop work. I had an Hobart "hood" and I liked it too because you can use regular glass like a pipeliner flip hood. Unfortunately that shield ended up into a rock crusher and that is when I bought the pro hobby and have stayed miller since.
 
#24 ·
Ok I'll just say it, in a body class we used nice Miller helmets, but at home I just have a cheapie auto-darkening HF helmet--have been using it for several years now--and it works just fine. I always wear my safety glasses even under my welding helmet to further protect my eyes from the UV. Twice I made a big arc with my face just inches from it and forgetting to put my helmet down. Fortunately I had my safety glasses on and they protected my eyes from the UV. I went home that night in a sheer panic fearing I'd live the burned eyes stories I've read about, even went to sleep with potatoes on my eyes, but never experienced anything. UV won't penetrate a plastic surface so even clear safety glasses offer additional protection.
 
#25 ·
Wish I'd read this thread before getting my new welding helmet, after happily using my yard-sale purchase p.o.s. for twenty-plus years and many hundreds of hours.

This thing: Titan Tekz Solar Powered Auto Darkening Welding Helmets 41266 - SummitRacing.com for $90 sure was fun until the first time I did aluminum (AC). Doing close work w/ high amps, totally focused-in, the auto-dark failed and blammo, I'm not sure if my eyes are back to the same yet. Yeah, I was a little upset. Summit agreed to take the return, and I'm back to using my old "freind" again, duct-taped up and fraying on the edges. No way will I ever get another auto-dark until I know someone who's had one for years and had it be reliable. Whether it be $30 or $300... Back when auto-darks first came out the shop I worked at tried one and the head welder had it fail once so we didn't use them, and I'm so used to the regular kind it sorta doesn't matter that much for the convenience difference.
 
#26 ·
fifteeen year old harbor freight auto dark hood

I use an old hf hood. I rivited a piece of an old sued jacket to the top and sides of it and it covers the top and sides of my head. No burn spots and it keeps my head warm when in the cold. I use reading glasses when welding, $2 at the dollar store. I'm in my seventies and will probably be dead by the time that the hood fails.
 
#33 ·
Open and close your mouth all day and then you might get your answer....

I weld just about my whole life... And the last thing I would want is a helmet I have to open my mouth to lift my shield every five Mins...That's all I was trying to say about the shield you think highly of..
 
#36 ·
You need to take a chill pill Randy you really do. You are saying sly crap because you have a problem with me. You have told me over and over so I know you are tossing barbs, it isn't that friggin hard to see that.

Lay off and have fun Randy you are using way too much energy on me.

It's sad really, it really is.

Brian
 
#39 · (Edited)
I asked a question on post 29..


Because you was being a smart a** about it on post 30..


I was asking you a simple question... About welding all day long... And I didn't mean tacking a quarter panel on at a body shop... There's a big difference....

The 7 years I been here your on here 24-7,, Even at work... You must have a very nice boss..:D

So that's why the question came up about welding 10 to 12 hours a day... What I was getting at since I weld all my life,, Was having to move you mouth all day every day just would be a pain to do if you weld ALL DAY LONG..Wouldn't work for me and I see it didn't work for someone else here either..;)
 
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