New auto-darkening welding helmet

[kooldino]

I have an ArcOne auto darkening welding helmet that I got about 4 or 5 years ago for around $150. It just crapped out on me last week and needs a replacement.

The main thing I look for in the auto darkening helmets is the large lens.

I'd like something reliable, preferably with adjustability of the darkness (maybe something that does 9-12 or so).

 

[Chadro]

If you have the money I'd pick up a Miller Elite. I have one in realtree and love it. It's 8-13 so it meets your requirements and I got mine for $250 which I thought was a pretty good deal.

 

[kooldino]

I saw the Elite, they looked decent. My main gripe about them was that they were more expensive than most and have a smaller screen than my arcone.

 

[Merkava_4]

Optrel is a good one too.

 

[bent valves]

Optrel is a good one if you don't work under florescent lights. Mine will trigger the auto-dark before an arc is struck.

 

[kooldino]

This any good?

http://www.toolsforless.com/product...er_Fusion_4000V_Auto_Darkening_Welding_Helmet

 

[welderwink]

Speedglas is what I have and love. 9002x or 9100x are awesome have had both. the miller digital elites are also sweet. Id say you can go wrong with either. But just a side note, you can not get a hardhat adapter for 9100x, Speedglas (which is owned by 3M) hasn't come out with them yet.

 

[crewchief888]

i was in the same situation over the winter, my autodarkening lens stopped autodarkening.
after i could finally see again, i look at a LOT of new hoods, and settled for a miller pro-hobby from cyberweld.com .
under $140 shipped to my door, and has spare inner and outer lenses.

 

[dr_clyde]

the best helment I have ever used is the jackson nexgen. You can pick one up online for like, $200 and it is my fav. shades 9-13, 4 sensors, amber lens or blue, huge viewing area. Its the lens snap on puts in their helmets if that tells you anything.

 

[Tigwldr]

I weld Everyday in a shop with over 100 welders working 6-7 days a week. We have used speedglass for years. I have had the same hood for over 7 years. Only replace clear lens and batteries. The shop actually got a wild hair about a year ago and ordered 175,000.00 worth of optrel hoods. With in a month everyone had went back to there speedglas and 95% have only used the optrel a hand full of times.

Now your next question is price. I am sure there are cheaper hoods out there. If I had to find another job I would buy my own speedglass though.

 

[ephotrod]

Jackson has the nexgen which I've used for about 5 years. Its easy to find batteries for the clear lenses are cheap. It has four sensors and a fairly large viewing area and if i remember correctly the lens wasn't to bad i think i paid 150 for the lens it self and i already had a hood. Please note that the jackons have hard hat mounts availible if need be.
Josh

 

[t100]

I tig with an old trusty Speedglas 9000x, it has separated settings for tig, really lightweight compare to others. Miller Elite covers all my other stuff.

lots of construction welders(ironworkers) use Jackson.

if you work on automotive fab, i.e. buiding tube frames and cages, there are more chances you got stuff between welding torch and your hood, you will need some thing with multiple sensors, one senor is blocked, there are others to pickup the arc. more sensors, more expensive.

you can get a decent Miller Elite around $180 on ebay. I sold 2 last year for $150. there are deals out there.

 

[R6 Racer]

I have been contemplating a auto darkening hood & have been totally befuddled with the speedglas stuff!
If anyone can help me understand what all the numbers & letters from speedglas stand for It would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry..... I didn't mean to hijack..... A pm would be great!

Steve

 

[dumper]

this may be a dumb question, but is there a way to tell if your auto-darkening helmit is going to auto-darken before actually welding? I always wondered about that, as I don't use it very often...

 

[welderwink]

the best helment I have ever used is the jackson nexgen. You can pick one up online for like, $200 and it is my fav. shades 9-13, 4 sensors, amber lens or blue, huge viewing area. Its the lens snap on puts in their helmets if that tells you anything.

All that tells me is that a tool company picked it. Doesnt mean its the best. From what Ive read snap on welders (made by century and other companies) ****. Now if it was miller or lincoln using the nexgen lens then I would say that says something.
Im not ripping the jackson lens, I have heard its great. But just because Snap on picks it doesn't mean ****. For all we known jackson could have given them to snappy for 5 cents each so that some guy that worships snap on would rave about it.

 

[MBeaty]

the best helment I have ever used is the jackson nexgen. You can pick one up online for like, $200 and it is my fav. shades 9-13, 4 sensors, amber lens or blue, huge viewing area. Its the lens snap on puts in their helmets if that tells you anything.

+1 For this suggestion

I have done an extensive amount of low amperage tig welding and I don't trust the Miller hoods like I trust my Jackson. I am sure the technology has changed over the past few years, but with my Jackson Nexgen, I have only had it flicker off on me one or two times ever, where as it seems like all the Millers I have used do it quite frequently. The hood itself is not that pretty, but the lens and electronics are top notch.

A few other pluses are that it uses standard size replacement covers, so it is cheap to put a new shield on the front and back when it gets scratched.

Also it is made in the USA, so you can not go wrong there

 

[Merkava_4]

Optrel is a good one if you don't work under florescent lights. Mine will trigger the auto-dark before an arc is struck.

Hmm... that's interesting.

 

[t100]

Hmm... that's interesting.

my speedglas does the same thing when it's set to tig. it probably has a sensor detecting the hi-frequency start pulse from the torch, even without an actual arc.

 

[mrshaun]

i have sold the ya4601 and the guys love it. they stop using all other brands and go for the snap on one. All of the guys say they have a better viewing area because the lense is closer to your face. Anyone here try one yet?

 

[kooldino]

i was in the same situation over the winter, my autodarkening lens stopped autodarkening.
after i could finally see again, i look at a LOT of new hoods, and settled for a miller pro-hobby from cyberweld.com .
under $140 shipped to my door, and has spare inner and outer lenses.

Good deal, but the lens is too small for my liking.

 

[kooldino]

the best helment I have ever used is the jackson nexgen. You can pick one up online for like, $200 and it is my fav. shades 9-13, 4 sensors, amber lens or blue, huge viewing area. Its the lens snap on puts in their helmets if that tells you anything.

Can't find them for $200, but like this?

http://store.cyberweld.com/jaweheneauda.html

 

[kooldino]

I weld Everyday in a shop with over 100 welders working 6-7 days a week. We have used speedglass for years. I have had the same hood for over 7 years. Only replace clear lens and batteries.

My ArcOne doesn't have batteres. What does the Speedglass take, a watch battery? What does the battery do?

Now your next question is price. I am sure there are cheaper hoods out there. If I had to find another job I would buy my own speedglass though.

I'm looking to spend about $200.

 

[kooldino]

I have been contemplating a auto darkening hood & have been totally befuddled with the speedglas stuff!
If anyone can help me understand what all the numbers & letters from speedglas stand for It would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry..... I didn't mean to hijack..... A pm would be great!

Steve

Which numbers were you wondering about?

Many of the numbers refer to the shade of the lens.

For instance, a particular lens may be a 5 when it's off. When it's on, it may darken to a 10. Nicer lenses have the ability to darken to a more adjustable range (ie, 8-13, etc). Depending on what metals you weld and what intensity, you may want to adjust your "dark" setting differently.

 

[kooldino]

this may be a dumb question, but is there a way to tell if your auto-darkening helmit is going to auto-darken before actually welding? I always wondered about that, as I don't use it very often...

There's a way to trigger it with an infared light or something (I've seen this done in stores). Also, you can take it outside, put it on, and look at the sun. It should trigger it.

 

[kooldino]

i have sold the ya4601 and the guys love it. they stop using all other brands and go for the snap on one. All of the guys say they have a better viewing area because the lense is closer to your face. Anyone here try one yet?

Looks decent, except for the chinese make.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...d=1751&supersede=&store=snapon-store&tool=all

 

[kooldino]

Bit the bullet and went for the Snap On since I got a new one at a discount.

Found a nice looking used on on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SNAP-SNAP-ON-YA...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b3156d3b

 

[mrholeshot]

I use my Speedglas 9000 for everything.

 

[brian90505]

I have two hoods, the Esab EyeTech 5-13 and a Hobart XVS 9-12. Although the Esab is probably one of the best helmets, I tend to grap my Hobart more often.

 

[Atlascycle]

I have had a Jackson EQC, I think it is the master for about 5-6 years, if the lens is cold it will not operate properly. Lately i have been having more and more trouble with it shutting down completely, i have called Jackson and they have had me try a number of things and it will still intermittently shut down on me, they have said that there must be too much electrical interference and that is what is causing the problem, I should have my new speedglas 9100XX tomorrow, talked to the 3m rep last year at fabtech and they have never heard of the problem that I was having. The miller hoods that the shop has bought for the production welders do not have the problems that my Jackson does but I dont like they way that they fit my head. they sit too close to my face for my tastes.

Jason

 

[aczr2k]

I like my Speedglass 9002x. I did have to replace the lense somehow it cracked, either to cold weather or getting dropped in cold weather. My next one will be another speedglass 9100 series due to the better headgear. Expensive but so are my eyes! No el cheapo helmets for me.

 

[blaze_125]

There's a way to trigger it with an infared light or something (I've seen this done in stores). Also, you can take it outside, put it on, and look at the sun. It should trigger it.

I'm not sure if it works will every hood, but mine will trigger if I get close enough to my 500w halogen work light.

 

[kartracer55]

I run a Speedglas 9100X and I love it. I used it probably 15-20 hours a week from September 09 to May 2010, and Im going to start using it heavily again this September Again.

Spendy? Yeah. But its an awesome helmet, I have been flashed a few times due to me not reading the directions on the sensitivity settings, but no big deal. I posted a thread on the hood a while back, but long story short, I love it and would absolutely buy another.

 

[wrencheshurt]

this may be a dumb question, but is there a way to tell if your auto-darkening helmit is going to auto-darken before actually welding? I always wondered about that, as I don't use it very often...

Take a Striker or a lighter and try and start it right in front of the helmet, the sparks will darken the hood.