I love my Miller helmet. Its their middle priced one. I am going to buy another here pretty soon so I can have an auto I can leave at home. Going to get either millers top line, or a speedglas, both are very nice helmets. if your just going to be welding occasionally the mid line miller is a good one.
I have a Miller Elite series - the auto darkening one with the large window - and I love it. Before I got this I was borrowing a Jackson that seemed to be OK but not as well made as the Miller and *much* heavier. I ended up getting it at CyberWeld which had the best prices when I shopped around: http://store.cyberweld.com/autdarwelhel.html
I bought a really expensive Speedglas when they were first coming out, it's an excellent unit even 5 years later. I use it so much, i have a hard time welding without it. I was in a welding store last week and I tried on one of those big window Millers and they are really nice too. Light weight and when they're on the view is so clear and bright, plus the new ones have 5 shade for cutting with a torch, I was impressed with those. So I guess either a big window Miller or a Speedglas would be my choice, and seems to be everyone else's choices too. DON'T buy one of those cheapie **** ones from Harbor Freight, they'll work for a while but they break if you drop them. My Speedglas has been all beat to hell and still works good.
I have Miller Big Window Elite (it improves you visibilty greatly if you wear gl***es) Love it. When I got it a couple years ago it was $280 and well worth it. It's much lighter than the Jacksons & Speedgl*** Battery power as well & it has 4 sensors - helpful for low voltage welding (i.e. TIG)
I have a Big Window Elite Miller too. It is great, love it. 221.00 new off ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/MILLER-ELITE-AUTO-WELDING-HELMET-BLACK-216322_W0QQitemZ130008975730QQihZ003QQcategoryZ92090QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Lemme stir everybody up. What about these el cheapo Harbor Freight $50 auto darkening helmets? It ain't me but I got a buddy that uses one.
I'll admit to using one. The current one I've used for the past couple years with no problems and it has two delay settings and various shade settings. It was about $60. I can also see out of it with my bifocals. The one I had before that one also came from them and I used it for a number of years before it went belly up. I did quite a bit of research on the net and found there are only a couple different companies actually making these and others are putting their names on them. The previous one was also sold by Hobart and I believe Miller. The one I have now is sold under a couple different names. If I welded for a living I'm sure I would get one that the other guys are mentioning, but for me I'm real happy with the one I have and have other friends that have ones from HF and that are happy. These helmets have come a long ways in the last 10 years and I would say the cheapest one you can buy today is probably better (faster reaction time) than the most expensive one from 10 years ago. Let the flaming begin . c ya, Sum
The only problem with the hf one is the weight, my pops has one but he dosent weld that much anymore. I have a miller/hobart hood I really like it.
I have a Jackson and although it probably weighs twice what a Speedgl*** does I'd rather have the Jackson because I can put it all the way back to verticle on my head so I don't "feel" the weight. The Speedgl***' I've used sit horizontal on your head and the end up hurting your neck way more than a Jackson.
i bought a lincon when they first came out changed my life. not to adj. just 10 or 11 shade ill keep watching this post though mine got broke while moving to new house!
I've always been leery of those. What with light travelling 186,000 miles per second, I have to believe that your eyes (about 16-24 inches away) still receive a bit of flash before the lens darkens, evertime the arc is struck. I have no data to back up my su****ion, but just by using common sense, I would recommend the auto-darkening helmets only for those occasions that a normal helmet just won't work.
The biggest thing is to make sure if it is a cheap one that it has ANSI Z87.1 certification. This means that the helmet will block out the damaging rays IR and UV even when they are not darkened. The darkening is more for the brightness of the arc which is very uncomfotable.
It would be interesting to do the math, Miller claims a 1/20,000th of a second response time for the lens to darken.
I also had a hard time trusting my miller auto after 15 years of conventional helmet use. My biggest problem is at night at work no matter where the sinsetivity adjustment is it will auto darken from the sparks from a hand grinder, then for a moment you can't see what the hell you are doing. It will also auto darken when outside at night and you look toward an area light or light pole. Joe
I got the plain black Hobart XTV model for about $135. I love it. I use it strictly for MIG though. I tried it with a stick welder, but the spatter is so bad I'm worried about ruining the sensors. Also, I dropped it hard on the concrete once so far with no problems. Ben
I only have one thing to say.....You get one set of eye's...If yours are only worth 50.00 ..then have at it ....
miller the bad boy one big window 4 sensor becaus i had a cheep harbour freight one but when i found out i liked to tig weld not sensitive enough i have a magnifier in mine now so when i tig my tungtstin looks like a freeking 44mag sharpie
I'm going to check into that magnifier thing, thats my biggest problem trying to tig is seeing the stupid puddle, I'm gonna break down and get the Elite too.
Seeing is everything, if you have an excellent helmet and keep the lenses changed you'll be a better welder, and you'll -get- better faster because you can see & understand. The best welder in the world can't weld for **** if he can't see what he's doing. Bad helmets only lead to frustration. You'll never learn to be good at small/thin TIG without clear vision.
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