Harbor freight welding helmet... any users?

So it looks like the consensus is...
they don't last, it's a night and day difference between the Harbor freight and a good one, but they don't hurt you and not everybody is getting headaches. I will look for a quality used one as well as a better quality used Welder. Thank you all so much for your input. Knowledge is golden
peace

 

It funny how when you first get a good helmet your welds look so much better. I got a Miller several years ago and the quality of my welds went up at least 50%.

I also don't worry about my eyes as much anymore.

 

I've been using my Harbor Freight for almost 5 years now. Was $95 new back then.
I always wondered if the shading was as safe as some others, or even if electronic shading was as safe as tint.

So far, so good. Some days I weld all afternoon, some days not.

 

Can I have your spare?

 

I use a standard Jackson Shadow,with a 11 shade gold lense.I ve used auto hoods,but for $30 you cant beat this thing it works every time no question.Ive found that at the right(or is it wrong) angle auto hoods will turn off and that may be contributing to your headaches.before it starts they all do it ,the one im refering to is a $600 Speedglas.

 

I have a HF auto darkening model and it works good. I have it set on the highest setting. I weld all the time and have not seen any issues that I might have w/ my eyes.

I would love to have Miller, but $350 is steep, especially on a budget.

After reading this, what is the moral to the story?

 

I'll throw in something about the headaches...
Seems everyone has plenty of input about the helmet.

I'd think about the gas the weld produces.... that could be a source of your headaches.
Make sure you step out and get a breather of fresh air firly often, better yet, make sure the area you weld in is well ventilated.
I have a friend who has some kinda nervous disorder now and it is caused by years of welding and inhaling the gases of the burn.
Head aches could be the same cause.

 

Old timers drink a glass of milk after a days welding (so I hear).
Old wives tail, or is there any validity to the usefulness of this trick?

 

The glass of milk is about zinc poisoning (ghetto medicine). If this was China I might entertain ideas like that but on a serious note, If welding is your career wear a respirator and a quality helmet. Heavy metal poisoning is real. There is no smoke found to be good for you regardless of what you might remember from high school.

 

Before I flunked-out of anatomy, we got to disect a human lung in the lab. When you see how delicate those things are, you can't imagine running around without a filter over your mouth.

Robert Goulet can't sing without one...

 

A freind of mine painted it with real flames and skulls now it's my best wall art

 

I bought a HF helmet three years ago and it still works good, I use it several times a day. It is far better than the Jackson helmet I paid $300.00 for seven or eight years ago.

 

many years ago when i went to schol to learn something about welding the guys in my class worked at the local shipyards and i was having headaches and they told me it was the fumes from the welding. get some kind of fan going to keep smoke away from you. some people are more sensitive to it. i have a HF. helmet and it seems to work fine for the little welding i do. they are adjustable and have seen then on a lower power because the poor worklight, you can't weld without good light,very common mistake.

 

you guys have better input than my doctor!

 

the glasses gene is using on the hammer weld are shade #5 which is sufficient for oxy/aceth welders and plasma cutters.

the headaches are more than likely from the fumes of the gases. if it was from lack of arc shielding your eyes would hurt too. (grainy dry itchy) I have had to use the potatoes once before.

the HF sheilds just like the paint guns are hit and miss. I hear stories of guys who say they love their HF spray guns and welding helmuts and have heard the nightmare stories as well. i put my hard earned money on the sure bet all day.......

 

Bla Bla Bla, you only have one set of eyes.....Yes, if you weld every day, all day, spend the $$. I weld at least 15 minutes to one hour or more every day and have been using the HFT helmet for two years. I am on my second one....only because I drove over the first one backing a car out of the shop...and it still worked after that! It works fine, I don't get welding flash. I can see just fine. Is it cheap?....yes, does it work....yes. If you don't own more than a $150 welder, buy the cheap one. If you do it for a living or have $$ burning a hole in your pocket, send me $50 for wasting my time reading all the same garbage over and over again on this post and spend the cash on a good one. Nuf said, get on with your lives and get back in the damn shop and get something done!

 

I think I read today in the paper that Robert Goulet just died waiting for a lung transplant. Probably was doing too much freestyle welding between shows. Ah, yes, checking the official website, seems to be true:
http://www.robertgoulet.com/index.php

 

I went to an auction at a guy's garage and bought the second nicest helmet there - kind of screwed myself, but I was tired and didn't want to wait around for them to get to all the helmets, so I brought up the best couple, guy outbid me for the best one, I got the other for $5. Not as nice, but still in the box it came in. Not auto-darkening, but then again it won't go bad on me either. The lens on it folds up from the bottom, which may actually be better than from the top... we'll see. But it has to be better than Harbor Frieght's crap.

 

If you can afford it buy a Speedglass helmet, they are the original autodarkening helmet.
And you´l get some Swedish quality too.