Harbor Freight vs. Northern auto dark helm?

[moronmountain]

So are the Chicago Electric auto darkening helmets basically the same thing as the Northern ones? I read good things about the Northern helms, and it's quicker to just go get the CE one from Harbor Freight. Has anyone here used the one from HF? Does it work ok for a weekend/beginner welder?

 

[A_Pmech]

I wouldn't use one under any circumstances.

The Chinese killed thousands of American pets by selling pet food ingredients that contained plastic:

http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/safetyhealth/recallswithdrawals/ucm129575.htm

They killed their own children by feeding baby formula that was actually colored water laced with plastic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/world/asia/16iht-16milk.16181488.html

They seriously sickened and killed people in Panama by mis-representing toxic chemicals as safe for use in cough syrup:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19917676/ns/business-world_business/

They can't keep lead out of children's toys:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19toys.html

And China takes worker safety SO seriously, they require workers to sit INSIDE an operating press to operate a transfer die set:

Keeping all of the above in mind, and realizing that workers in China are disposable property, I would NEVER, under ANY circumstances consider using a Chinese-made piece of welding safety equipment. A welding filter lens must not only reduce the intensity of light in the visible spectrum, it must completely filter out damaging ultraviolet light (the cause of weldor's burn).

They can't manage to protect their own workers with adequate safety equipment so why should the safety equipment they export be any better?

 

[moronmountain]

I'm frightened now................

 

[A_Pmech]

I'm frightened now................

You should be!

Just wait until you hear all the OTHER stuff they're doing over there and shipping here.

 

[t100]

The Chinese killed thousands of American pets by selling pet food ingredients that contained plastic:

thou pet food has nothing to do with the quality of the welding helmet, I would agree to not use them.

our school welding lab bought 8 of them 2 years ago for students to use 2 nights a week, 8 months a year. only 1 works now but not 100%.

 

[mikevango]

Ohhhhhhh! My eyes!!!!

 

[BUBJEL]

I've had my HF helmet for about 4 years now; used & abused. Still works like new. Loved my Miller helmet (free with my 210 purchase). Didn't last a lick.

 

[jmauld]

You only get one pair of eyes. My vote would be to protect them.

 

[Case IH]

I have a HF one and it works fine.....i wanna get a Miller performance but not till I start apprenticship

 

[35mastr]

Both helmets are junk. I have the HF one hanging in the shop. Used it once and bought a Miller Digital Elite. Best helmet I have ever owned.

You are only going to be dealt one set of eyes. There is no money in this world to replace them. So get a good quality helmet right from the beginning.

 

[stricht8]

I have a HF helmet and it works just fine. I've only had it for a few months and no problems yet but I'm a hobbyist. I had an expensive US made helmet but it eventually stopped working.

 

[BigK600]

Here a review of the Northern:

I got the Northern One for my dad for Im not sure if hes even used it. But Im pretty sure HF and Northerns are the same.

 

[greasemonkey44]

ive got the northern, its good
all auto dark helmets need to have the outer lenses cleaned regularly to keep the auto dark feature working
lots of ppl use the CE ones and are plenty happy with it, i spent the extra dough(all 20$) so i could count on a lil more reliability
lots of autodark helmets are made in china, tweco for example
lots of ppl bash china tools but alot of tools are made there almost all hyd floor jacks come from a factory in shin fu china, 99%; thier tools are built to spec for the buyer if the buyer wants cheap they get **** specs its that simple

 

[shampoop]

I have a large view hf auto darkening one. I bought it for a welding class I took at school. I had zero complaints about it and it worked great.

But now after i've heard some horror stories, I think once i get my own welder in the future, i'm either going to buy a top of the line auto darkening helmet, or a super cheap traditional helmet until i can afford one. IMO, it's just not worth having to worry about for however long you own/use the cheap auto darkening helmet.

 

[diesel research]

The northern one is fine.

Some people are making a bigger deal of this than need be. Usual complaints are more related to head gear.

You DO only get one pair of eyes. They ARE the quickest healing part of the body.

That said, we DID all get flashed before the advent of auto-darkening helmets. This was greatly reduced even by the cheap ones.

In some aspects a non-auto can be more dangerous, since you are prone to lift your hood now and then.

It is real simple. The moment it doesn't work properly, stop. Investigate. Did it **** out? Did you block a sensor? I don't use the cheap one so much since it was a little bent from being tossed around. Been stowed away for 6 years. Just went and tested it with a lighter. You can easily test yours before use as well.

That said, you DO get some better features with higher quality units. You get more sensors (4 vs 2) and you get room for dedicated forced air respirators, along with cutting/grinding modes, and sometimes a larger viewing area.


What horror story did someone hear/experience?

 

[jtbinvalrico]

My HF works fine.

 

[dime]

i have the nicer northern one i think they call it the northern large view and i love it. it has 4 sensors it also is solar with battery backup and it is a very large view. anyway it goes on sale for around 100 bucks pretty often and i recomend it. its also comfortable.

 

[moronmountain]

Thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate everyone that has an opinion based on experience. I haven't found a "horror story" yet related to the cheaper helms, but I'm sure one exists. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there are probably horror stories about the expensive ones as well though.