maybe you had a secret technique of sorts. i dont know. but if you look at the trend in auto technology ,theyre now at 2 and 2.5 light shade. this all but eliminates any need to have the helmet lifted for a better view. no more nodding. im sure it wont be long and there will be shade 1.5. hek speedglas already figured out how to make a curved filter. something nobody else has been able to do. technology is a great thing
I need a recommendation for a welding helmet
- Thread starter MOS3522
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more photos from that same guy. like the first photos , the second ones say alot. in the up position the 9100 sits much lower on the head , doesnt hang out front as far and still provides quit a bit of ear and side face coverage. so how much r&d actually goes into some of those other big name helmets ? probly not much at all
Speedglass is a nice hood. I also like the Miller DE helmet as well as the lincoln.
If you are welding indoors in a safe environment a fixed shade doesn't make much sense. If you are a mobile welder, its always good to have a fixed shade on hand, IE breaking a lens or out of batteries.
Welding outdoors in a ditch can be pretty abusive on equipment.
Also they now make 2.5 inch auto cartriages. You can swap those into fixed shade hoods.
If you are welding indoors in a safe environment a fixed shade doesn't make much sense. If you are a mobile welder, its always good to have a fixed shade on hand, IE breaking a lens or out of batteries.
Welding outdoors in a ditch can be pretty abusive on equipment.
Also they now make 2.5 inch auto cartriages. You can swap those into fixed shade hoods.
craftsman creep
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2022
- Messages
- 300
if anybody looking for new helmet the miller elite 2.0 is $235 right now. its not a bad price for a decent helmet. they were around $300 for a while. i had one for a while before the new 2.0 lens and have no major complaints given the price of just a bit over $200
How about the Dewalt helmet? Anyone with first hand experience? Seems to be in middle price range.
dewaltwelding.com
DEWALT Wide View Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet | 41603
The DEWALT Wide View Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet protects your eyes against UV and IR light when welding.
dewaltwelding.com
dnschmidt
Well-known member
DeWalt makes power tools not welding helmets. No matter what I buy I try to buy from a specialist the makes that particular product and concentrates on it. I don't buy Milwaukee wrenches I buy Milwaukee Sawzalls. I buy welding helmets from companies that have been making them for 50 years not 20 weeks.
I picked up a Hobart a couple years ago to use in the field and keep my speedglass at the shop. I’ve been very impressed with it. Recently, I picked up a carbon fiber hood from pipelinerscloud and put an eagle vision lense in it… very happy with this set up. It’s light weight and the lense works well. I primarily use this welding outside.
If it hasn't got flames on the side, you aren't a real welder
My twopence for what it is worth:
I would say the best welding helmet, is the one that fits comfortably. Really he is best off going in to a shop and trying a few different lids on to see which works best for him. Fitment is a very personal thing, especially with headgear.
I settled on an ESAB A50, it isn't the best in the world, but it suits me.
I tried a miller which was nice, but was too much weight too far forward and was annoying.
Also consider the cost of consumables, the A50 isn't great on this front, although much cheaper your side of the pond.
He doesn't need the best helmet with the most perfect optical clarity starting out - just something affordable and comfortable that he won't be fighting with. Any decent brand will be fine - even the cheap Chinese ones are getting pretty good now.
I started with a fixed shade many years ago - anybody that uses them in preference to an auto is either a masochist or a pipeliner (usually amounts to the same thing).
The goal here is to make it as easy as possible to concentrate on controlling the weld pool, especially when you are starting out.
You have to be a little careful with reaction time ratings - a lot of very cheap ADFs will be rated for very fast times like 1/30000 - but in reality they only hit that under certain temperatures or parameters that aren't real world figures and might be closer 1/10000 in reality.
Still 0.1 ms is not bad though, and a lot better then they used to be years ago. For reference I think the speedglass is still 0.1 ms
I'd be more inclined to trust the accuracy of specs on a named brand such as miller, lincoln, 3m, optrel, esab etc.
My A50 is rated at 1/25000, I think the miller infinity is actually slightly slower at 1/20000. Not that you would ever tell the difference.
Switching speed is one side of the coin, but how reliably it switches is also important - no point having an ultra fast reaction time if it misses the arc and flashes you 3 times out of 10. A good number of well positioned sensors helps. Again I think any of modern offerings from the decent brands are going to have good reaction times and be fairly reliable.
ill post a link at the bottom
fabricator has a article about the modern adf helmets. a representative from balder says in plain english that if the switch time is less than (aka faster than) .2ms then the eye cant tell any difference. so every helmet on the market is likely 2-3 times faster than .2ms. probly even $60 **** from amazon.
heres something else most people dont know. speedglas offers the most adf models (9). far more than anyone else. whether its their $250 or $800 model , they all switch at .1ms (73F). this isnt by accident or happenstance. surely theyve done hundreds if not thousands of tests and determined exactly the same conclusion as the fellow from balder spoke about. once the switch speed is faster than a certain point ,the eye can tell no difference.
miller claims about .05ms (probly for better marketing) but they wont divulge at what temperature. its possible their lenses are no faster than anyone elses. but it still doesnt matter as even the very worst chinese filter on ebay is probly 2x faster than what it really needs to be
Welding helmets, with color
These days welders can peer through welding helmets and see the world in color.
www.thefabricator.com
William Payne
Well-known member
I have never ever had arc eye ever and I weld as part of my job. I have watched people weld (not directly) while not wearing a helmet, I have had people welding around me while I am not wearing a helmet. I have even been flashed due to forgetting to turn an auto darkening helmet on. I have never had arc eye. So I worry less about the delay.
For absolute optical quality though but he will have to learn to flip and honestly I think this is a good thing to learn anyway. A glass passive lensed helmet.
Auto darken is great but if you learn to use a passive hood you can grab any helmet and go.
I always used an auto darken miller elite at my day job and then oneday I went away for a week to some Tig welding tests and all they had at the testing place were passive helmets. I am very glad I went through that experience.
For absolute optical quality though but he will have to learn to flip and honestly I think this is a good thing to learn anyway. A glass passive lensed helmet.
Auto darken is great but if you learn to use a passive hood you can grab any helmet and go.
I always used an auto darken miller elite at my day job and then oneday I went away for a week to some Tig welding tests and all they had at the testing place were passive helmets. I am very glad I went through that experience.
my understanding of arc eye is the eye exposed to uv. if the filter is doing its job there should be no uv passing through. fatigued eyes i believe is something quit different and from the light dark transition a hundred times a day. this is why some filters have a ramp down from dark to light or a step down from welding shade to 5 then to 3.
miller ,lincoln and esab conveniently dont bother to list a temp for their switch time. where as speedglas and optrel do. since a lower temp increases switch time its possible miller ,lincoln and esab are fluffing up the number by testing at well over 100F. at ~70F they may not have a much different switch time than optrel or speedglas
YESWELDER Large Viewing Screen 3.94"X3.66" True Color Solar Power Auto Darkening Welding Helmet, 4 Arc Sensor Wide Shade 4~5/9-9/13 for TIG MIG Arc Weld Grinding Welder Mask LYG-M800H https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M5WKCYX/?tag=atomicindus08-20
This one seems pretty decent.
Got one for my 13year old son to learn with.
I like it about as well as my miller digital elite. Except the external knops are easy to bump on the yes welder.
This one seems pretty decent.
Got one for my 13year old son to learn with.
I like it about as well as my miller digital elite. Except the external knops are easy to bump on the yes welder.
should of went with another elite. theyre hard to beat at $235. plus they meet all the proper saftey standards. and millers warranty is top notch if there was ever a problem.
I
I had thought about it. It was a last min present. He says he wants to learn, alas he's a teenager so he might stick with it and might not. If he does stick with it I'll get him a Miller as well and retire his hood to the "guest" hood. Currently that is my old HF hood. One of the blue flame 40 dollar jobs.
ill post a link at the bottom
fabricator has a article about the modern adf helmets. a representative from balder says in plain english that if the switch time is less than (aka faster than) .2ms then the eye cant tell any difference. so every helmet on the market is likely 2-3 times faster than .2ms. probly even $60 **** from amazon.
heres something else most people dont know. speedglas offers the most adf models (9). far more than anyone else. whether its their $250 or $800 model , they all switch at .1ms (73F). this isnt by accident or happenstance. surely theyve done hundreds if not thousands of tests and determined exactly the same conclusion as the fellow from balder spoke about. once the switch speed is faster than a certain point ,the eye can tell no difference.
miller claims about .05ms (probly for better marketing) but they wont divulge at what temperature. its possible their lenses are no faster than anyone elses. but it still doesnt matter as even the very worst chinese filter on ebay is probly 2x faster than what it really needs to be
Welding helmets, with color
These days welders can peer through welding helmets and see the world in color.
The Weldcote Ultraview Plus states a "0.08" switching time: light to dark.
BUT : 0.1-0.9s time from DARK to Light
Trying to figure out if I should keep this helmet, or buy a better 1?
Anyone with experience with WELDCOTE?
saw one earlier when I was looking for the $60 one on sale from $99 and these two popped up.... over $1000 and $2000 don't know what is so good about it.