My HF auto darkening helmet is giving up. ~5 years of use including welding school for 6 hours/week so I think I got my money's worth from it. Never any problems other than it it wearing out (suspension breaking and battery going dead). I want to move up to better quality. I have a price point around $150. I want another auto darkening helmet, and would prefer something with external controls and a grind mode. I don't care about the fancy paint job or stickers. Proper operation on low powered TIG would be nice, but not needed now. I'm running a HH187 welder here at home. That price point puts me into the basic range of most makers (Hobart XVS, Speedglas 100 series, the low end Miller, etc.) Looking around I found some other helmets, and that's what this post is about. ArcOne - 400V series "Python" Sellstrom ***an with magsense - uses both optical and electromagnetic sensors to darken the lens, so it will darken even if the light does not directly hit the sensors - like the high end Miller Elite? Metal Man - Professional or Industrial series. The industrial models have a larger view area which looks interesting. Anyone ever heard of or better yet used any of these three brands?
I have started giving away my auto darkining hoods, i dont need or want to use one, just a plain old 11 shade hood for me. For some one that is not very good or only using them for hobby welding mighty be different. I do not believe they have been around and tested for enough years to prove they are not bad for your eyes, especially when you may be tacking or welding 100's or 1000's of welds a day. The sellstorm is the least favored of all i have used
Just ordered a Accu-strike after checking out their website. Sounded interesting and there is only one way to find out if its any good
The Lincoln Viking is in your price range too I had one of the old slow HF helmets and first strike would blind me. I picked up a newer version the other day and I can see now. It has 2 sensors, grind mode, external controls, and will accept a cheater lens.
Not sure any more what model fits your budget, but the 3M (formerly Hornell) hoods are about the best you can buy. After selling them for almost 10 years I've never had a bad one. Of course I sold them a while back, but still use one everyday now.
My HF auto dark seems fine to me, never blinded on first strike, always works. I do, however, question if any auto-dark helmet really does protect the eyes well. I'm just a hobbyist welder.
I like my trusty ol Jackson...wore one out after 20 years and bought a new one with all the whistles and bells..I like it.
The last shop I worked at only had auto dark hoods. After it flashed me for the third tme, I bought a fixed shade, and I doubt I'll go back. It has a large viewing window, was only thirty bucks, and it protects my eyes like it's supposed to.
I use only fixed shade, cheaper the better (trying to find one of those old stapled cardboard ones). I don't care what the mfgrs say, i know for a fact that UV damage is ***ulative, irreversable and happens every time you strike the arc. Wouldn't it be a ***** that 40 years from now you'll remember this thread asking for peoples' opinions on which shield tp get that burned out your eyes. I have only one eye left, you think i am going to risk that?
The auto darkening part of the lens is not what protects your eyes from damage. The UV/IR blocking is always there. BUT, to your point that's why I want to move up from the cheapest of the cheap.
Yes, I could get one of the HF hoods again, but I need to decide if I want to spend about $50 every few years or get something better that won't need replacement that often. I'd rather put batteries in a helmet than buy a new one. I like the adjustable shade feature of the auto helmets, I don't think I'd be happy with a fixed shade. No one knows anything about the three makers I listed? (I do appreciate the other advice!)
If your helmet is still in good shape, you can just swap out the lens to a high quality auto dark one. My supplier helped me with this, in choosing high quality for a lower price.
I just threw away a Miller. It didn't have a replaceable battery. Bought a HF on sale for $59. Works great, just replaced the batteries. I don't think the name brands are gunna be any more reliable. Rich
I have a Hobart solar powerd Auto Darkening hood,had it for 5 years (hobby welding) no problems so far!. David
Thanks! I think this is what I will end up getting. They make the 2450 series that has a larger window than most other hoods. If you don't mind skipping the fancy paintjob you can get one for $165 delivered. Wow, I do wish I could justify the $230 for the Speedglas 9100V. OK, or the greater prices for their bigger window hoods. That $230 is just close enough to the budget. . . I've done lots of www shopping in the last week, and it looks like auto-dimming helmets fall into a few ranges. $50, give or take a little gets you the HF level. Most places have a no-name helmet in this range. I was happy with the one I had, but after 5 years it needs to be cut open to try to replace the battery and the headgear is cracked. $120-$150 gets you into the hobby level stuff, real makers and replaceable parts. Not many replaceable batteries in this range, so you still need to replace it in 5 years or so unless you want to cut it open. $180-$250 puts you into the full feature range, but typically with a smaller viewing window. The Lincoln Viking 2450 usually fits here but there are a few good online suppliers. Get the painted versions and you're here. Over $250 there are some amazing helmets, but I'd have to do it for a living to justify those. No one seems to make an external shade control hood with replaceable batteries. It also appears that the external control models are only at the low end of the range. I guess that says something about who wants that feature. (Inexperienced welders like me?) Thanks for the advice!
I have a Hobart #770424 auto-darkening (replaceable batteries)... about $164 + tax at Northern Tool or $106 no tax and free shipping from http://store.cyberweld.com/
im not interested in auto darkening helmets , not my thing , so i saw a nice balkamp made one at the napa store shade 10 lens and made in the usa , good enough for me
I weld for a living,mostly tig, but a lot of stick and mig as well and I have never burnt my eyes using an auto hood.I still use my old speedgl*** but I just got a new huntsman for about $150 at a trade show and its very nice for the money.
I have a Miller Elite that I use for TIG and low power welding. It has a 4th sensor I believe, that helps a bunch when doing delicate TIG work, especially stuff where a bit of a turn of your head will shield the arc. If I remember correctly, it was about $300 on sale? I also have a Jackson EQC I use for production, high power welding. We run a Miller 350P on many of our jobs. In pulse mode it ruins everything. It'll burn the shirt off of you in about 10 hours of hard welding so why pay extra for a production helmet? I think it was around $150 on sale. Very happy with it. They stand behind them pretty well too. I think to replace the AD part of the hood, its over a hundred bucks, but they do a swap and you can get it for less than $50. And I have a $30, fixed 11 shade that I use pretty regularly too. I like it fine, but if I am welding for long, my neck gets sore from always flipping it down. Then there is the trouble of finding a good head gear that flops down easily and stays up when you want it to. But thats the same for any helmet. I am a big fan of the Jackson head gear and am refitting my Miller helmet with it. I have a big g****. Millers do not accommodate a big g**** very well.
I have a Hobart auto darkening that I won at a NSRA show almost 10 years ago and it still works great. My welding got better after using it.
Really? I never knew that, maybe i'll look into one. I did use an autodarkening at a customrs shop - it was quite a bit of welding and i noticed my eyes were tired or strained after each welding session for a couple hours each time. I use an 8 in my shield and i've been worried that it may not be dark enough to protect my eyes, but you say the protection is independant of the shading then i'm good to go right?
I bought a Jackson with large lens and was very happy with it. It fell off the bench and broke the solar cell so it only works by battery now. New unit is expensive. When I bought a new Lincoln TIG machine I also bought one of theit Vista 3000 hoods that has all the bells and whistles and doesn't use batteries. I love it. I'm old and wear tri focal gl***es so the large viewing lens is a must. Save a little longer if you must but don't buy anything this important based strictly on price.
I weld for a living. I think I paid between $20-$30 for my jackson. It has a gold lense in it, #10. You never see guys in the field welding with an auto darkening helmet. Contractors aren't going to pay for them and nobody with any sense is going to take their own equipment into the field to get ruined. I wouldn't pay for an autodarkening helmet. People have been doing it for 100 years without. Sometimes I have to weld in places where I can't even wear a hood and I have to take the lense out of the hood and hold the gl*** with one hand and the stinger with the other. You do what you need to do. My jackson has the large viewing window and I bought it knowing I could upgrade it later to autodarkening. 10 years later I see no need to. The flip down method is so ingrained I even do it on the rare occasion when I'm using someone's autodarkening helmet. It takes no extra effort once you've been doing it long enough. Mathius
I had the same deal with a cheap old HF auto-darkening helmet. I was getting flashed on every start and then it'd take a second or two to get my vision back so not only were my eyes hurting, I couldn't weld either. I picked up a newer HF model on a whim and it works much much better. Now I can see my puddle, and my eyes don't hurt. Maybe that was the deal with your customer's helmet, it was old slow and not blocking enough of the arc at start. (PS I'm no welder, still trying to get to where I'm even beginning to think about striking a weld on my car)
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