Auto darkening welding helmets?

Mine was a Christmas present, Sears Craftsman. Somewhere around $100., (probably Chinese made...), but I LOVE it!!! I will NEVER go back to my manual helmet... Hmmm...mine doesn't seem to be battery, or solar-powered...am I missing something...? Maybe it isn't auto-darkening after all...

 

Not what the optometrist said.... but maybe you know better... I was told repeated exposure to a flash that makes you see spots is bad... I can adjust my helmet enough to where it'll let it flash me.... with your eyes I'd error on the side of caution...

 

That might be the funniest shit Ive ever seen on this site. Ever.

That said, I bought a $100 Lincoln @ Lowes. Most of my friends love it, I hate it. VERY sensitive eyes to light. Like Im some freakin Vampire or something. Anywho, near future Im going to upgrade. Level 12 isnt dark enough for me!

 

I have a cheap one to try for MIG work...haven't done any ARC yet to try it with that style but it seems fine for the MIG.
One thing...its shade #4 when its not activated...so it still shields a bit even if it did shut off for some reason.

I figure you can keep it down during setup so if you hit the ARC stinger off as your moving in on the weld your less likely to suffer an accidental flash than if you have a standard mask.

I've had ZERO eye issues with it in MIG use. No spots, flash symptoms...anything. It's comfortable and light too.

With only two photocells I expected shielding issues to keep it "clear" during some position welds but no issues as yet!

Seems like a good tool for a hobby price...thats all I can ask!

 

My family bought me the HF helmet for my birthday. I thanked them and then told them I would probably be sending it back. But after reading the specs I saw that it had a reaction time that was faster than many of the name brand helmets. So I started doing some research on helmets and found a lot of glowing reports on it, and it exceeds ANSI Z87 standards, so I decided to keep it, I'm glad I did, I really like it.

 

Got a part number on it? Or anything that I could go to thier store and check out? My luck Id get there and they would have switched suppliers that morning or something.

 

Hmmmm...do you breathe funny when you wear it?
Perhaps its powered by "the force"...

 

I bought mine from Harbor Freight about a year ago for about $60. It works great, no complaints for the price!

 

I have a harbor freight as well. I've never seen spots or had any problems. not bad for 50 clams.

 

True, to the best of my knowlege.

 

Get outa here! Have you ever spent five days in a darkened room recovering from WELDING FLASH? Of course not!
I have been welding, and looking into Furnaces and Forge Fires for 35 years, my eyes are fucked. I work in the office now, my eyes aren't good enough to weld, ( if I stick weld I have to use a shade #5 lens), naturally I don't weld. If I look into a furnace all I see is white/bright yellow,(I can't see what's inside).
How many eyes you are given at birth is the SUM TOTAL you will ever have, LOOK after them, they are the only ones you will ever get.
Another thing, a lot of PRO, very PRO welders won't use auto darkening helmets. I wonder why?

 

Afraid of new technology? The way I understand it, your eyes are protected from the UV light wether the lens darkens or not. The darkening makes it so you can see what you are doing through the glare. I have burned my eyes before, too, but not with an auto-darkening hood. Maybe an expert will chime in?

P.S. I have nothing against buying the best equipment you can, especially if it ISN'T import. USA all the way.

 

I have a cheap one, It is nothing like my friends expensive one. I should have saved up money, and just bought the good one.
Now I will have to tack an extra 40$ to the final price of my GOOD welding helmet for the money I wasted on this one.
A guy told me once, "do you want to buy a cheap tool and keep replacing it, or just one good one and keep it forever"
Aquality tool , while more expensive initally, will be cheaper in the long run.
My cheap helmet darkens too slow, I see spots , and the headband fell apart after two weeks.

 

i started out with one of those helmets with the nice flames on it...it would not react to low amperage tig welding so i sent it back and got the best helmet miller sold...it has sensativity adjustment on it...
still did not react all the time to VERY LOW amperage welding
eventually the helmet fell off the bench and cracked the lense so that only half of it darkened...i gave up
im back to the old trusty non-darkening helmet with the biggest lense possible 5x6?
i dont think i'll buy another autodarkening...

note though that they will not hurt your eyes even when not dark...the actual rays are still shielded...its just bright...not actually harmful...atleast thats what they say

Zach

 

Anybody here have one of those Nextgen helmets? How are they?

 

When the first auto darkening helmets came out they were $1,800 + each. Our firm bought 4x helmets, about a year later I accidentally knocked mine off my work bench, it broke. An hour or so later I accidentally bumped a collegues helmet left on the cold saw roller bench and broke that one, then I got the spare helmet and dropped it, yep it broke. $20.00 flip tops for me.

 

basic 25 dollar helment is as good as any