MIG Welding Helmets

[johnzcarz]

I’m in the market to get an auto-darkening welding helmet and toss the fixed shade one. I really like the Hobart XVS, but I also have been looking at other less expensive models like the ones offered at HF for about 1/2 the price of the Hobart. Anyone have experience with the HF helmets vs. the name brand units? This would be strictly light duty use so it's not like I'll wear it for a 10 hour shift.

One of the things I thought would be good is having removable batteries (XVS offers this), since the helmet may sit for extended periods – I would just pull the batteries - the HF unit has a solar charged battery that is not replaceable (at least they don’t admit to it). My guess is once the battery degrades the helmet is landfill material.

Any insight?

 

[spoolgarage]

I have two harbor freight models, a miller, and a $300 tig helmet with grinding options. My opinion is stick with the harbor freight for hobbyist work. My 5 year old harbor freight that I payed 40 bucks for works great still.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have the Hobart helemet that came with my welder. I was thinking about buying a new Miller, it goes down to a #8 shade instead of #9 like the Hobart.

 

[rwhite692]

I have gone through a couple of the chinese (Harbor Freight, Northern) $50 helmets. For a long time, I considered the "pro" helmets to be "too expensive".

My eyes do get more tired and fatigued when I use the chinese hoods for extended periods, as compared to when I use my good helmet (Miller Digital Elite). I left my Elite at a friends house and had to do some jobs using one of the chinese ones and I honestly can say that I had a new appreciation for the Elite, afterwards.

My wife (on the advice of a friend) had bought me the Miller Digital Elite at a trade show a few years ago and it really opened my eyes (pun!) as to how much better it really is. The switching speed is noticeably faster (to me). The optical qualities of what you see through the lens, is better, without question.

The better you can see (and the faster that your eyes can focus clearly on!) the weld pool, the better your welds will be.

Miller and others (such as Hobart) make several midrange helmets which are affordable, most notably the Pro-Hobby and Performance series. I have heard that the Hobart "Hood" is a very good helmet for the money.

Another thing to consider about the chinese helmets, is whether or not their manufacturing quality is actually controlled enough such that the switching speed of any given helmet is actually as fast as it was designed/intended to be.

The ones I have, could be switching only half as quickly as intended, for all I know.

I did call Miller and they do run both in-process and "open box" quality audit processes on their helmets and as part of their QA monitoring program, they test them and collect data for switching speed.

Do the chinese suppliers of the various welding helmets do this? I don't know.

Faster switching speed is better, period. As one example, the Miller Performance and Elites switch in 1/20,000 second. Many of the chinese helmets don't indicate a switching speed at all, or if they do, it is usually 1/12,000 or so.

I am not saying that the cheap hoods are bad. If you only weld occasionally they are probably just fine....But, spending 200 bucks or so for peace of mind is worth it to me, as I only have one pair of eyes, and one of them is not good (was born with very bad eyesight in that eye).

 

[rickairmedic]

I will say if you are dead set on buying a cheap hood Tractor supply usually has a good Hobart for less than $80.00 out the door . I have had several of the Harbor freight ones then got the Hobart . The differance was night and day . I then got a deal on a lightly used Miller Elite BWE and that is my go to hood now but the Hobart is a close second to it and had I not goten the deal on the Miller I would still grab it every time over the HF hoods .


Here it is at TSC.


http://www.tractorsupply.com/weldin...e-auto-darkening-welding-helmet-black-3806845



Rick

 

[koditten]

rwhite nailed it. My observations mirror what rwhite had to say. I used the HF units for 10 or so years then switched to a Miller Elite. The difference was night and day. I would get headaches at the end of the day after using the HF units, switching to the Elite elliminated this. I must have been getting some small flash burns because of the slower switching speed.

I know the Elite is expensive, but the purchase also gets you a boat load of spare lenses and sweat bands. No more hunting for the correct lenses when the original gets pitted.

If you are only welding for a couple hours a month you wwould most likely be fine with the HF unit. If you get into a job where you have to weld all day you might feel the scratchy, burning eyes at the end of the day along with a slight headache(eye ache?). You just need to decide if you will ever by doing a lot of welding.

I do a lot of mig welding so I won't ever use my HF again unless I leave it elswhere and have to use the back up HF helmet. As said previously, you only have set of eyes. And the Elite is really worth the money to me.

 

[Bender78]

I have one of the HF helmets. I have been wanting to try a better quality helmet because I'm not happy with the way the I can't really see the weld puddle. I feel like I'm welding blind. I've tried all of teh adjustments and the view is never as good as with my old fixed shade helmet.

 

[Norcal]

I will say if you are dead set on buying a cheap hood Tractor supply usually has a good Hobart for less than $80.00 out the door . I have had several of the Harbor freight ones then got the Hobart . The differance was night and day . I then got a deal on a lightly used Miller Elite BWE and that is my go to hood now but the Hobart is a close second to it and had I not goten the deal on the Miller I would still grab it every time over the HF hoods .


Here it is at TSC.


http://www.tractorsupply.com/weldin...e-auto-darkening-welding-helmet-black-3806845

Rick

I bought Hobart Hood @ Tractor Supply, when looking at them the lower priced model did not have replaceable batteries so bought the next one up, been happy w/ it so far....

 

[Jackfre]

At one time I was a pro welder. That was before auto darkening helmets were available. There are places to economize. To me, my eyes aren't one of them. I always go light weight, top quality on a hood. I think it makes welding so much more pleasant, and improves the quality of your work. Good investment, in other words

 

[Milton Shaw]

The better the hood the better, you see, the better you weld. I had a cheap hood and the adjustment was on the outside. I was always hitting it and changing the setting and wondering why I could not see. It had moved to 13 setting. The speedglass has the settings inside and I have loved them. They really make a big difference in what you see and what your eyes feel like at the end of the day. Get the better hood, you only have one set of eyes and one set of lungs, so use a respirator too.

 

[J Persons]

I have this Miller helmet, it's very light, with a fast lens. All the controls are on the inside and it will turn itself off after a period of inactivity. It's not recommended for low,(less than 20 amp) TIG.
http://store.cyberweld.com/miweheprohos2.html

 

[johnzcarz]

I bought Hobart Hood @ Tractor Supply, when looking at them the lower priced model did not have replaceable batteries so bought the next one up, been happy w/ it so far....

I was there yesterday looking at them. What I noticed is that the less expensive Hobart, aside from the non replaceable batteries, was a fixed shade (#10 I believe), and the reaction time was not as good - 1/3,600 sec. I think the all the other Hobarts I looked at were at least 1/12,000 sec. or better.

If the cheap Hobart's reaction time was 1/3,600 sec. I can only imagine what the HF units really are (even though they claim 1/25,000 sec!!!).

 

[Crusty Nut]

Anyone have any experience with these http://www.accustrike.com/
I'm just not convinced the auto darkening ones have been on the market long enough to fully ensure their long term eye safety.
I've been on the fence about buying an acuu strike. My old Jackson flip down still works well, the head gear is pretty worn though.

 

[lessan]

I used the HF one for several years and thought it was OK, however I never felt that it switched fast enough. The guys that I work with always used speedglas helmets and one day I tried one. I could not believe the difference. It was a night & day difference (No pun intended). The change speed is much faster, the clarity is better, and in my case I went with a 9100X so I also got the added benefit of a larger viewing area.

All in all it come down to one simple principal... If you can't see the weld puddle, you can't make a good weld.

Good luck!

 

[crewchief888]

to me theres a nite and day difference between my miller pro hobby and the cheap northern tool hood i keep at work.

i do most of my welding at home, so thats where i keep my miller and fixed shade jackson.
if i know i have to do some welding at the shop, i take one of the other hoods with me.

the NT is barely ok for a 5 min welding job.

 

[A**holes Garage]

Owned several, I have the Jackson Nexgen now.

/thread

 

[Zeke]

My welding instructor used a Speedglass. Any more questions?

 

[justanengineer]

Ive had similar experiences as those listed above. My precollege welding was always done with standard glass hoods/lenses, no autodarks. In college, the school had HF helmets, and I often would spend an hour+/night 3x/wk welding in the labs. I never got flash burn per-se, but I often did feel significantly tired and had eyestrain at the end of the night. When I went to the local community college and got certified I was introduced to a Speedglas and loved it. Definitely the most comfortable hood Ive ever used and well worth the money. I can weld all day long without issue, and truly enjoy it.

 

[in2everything]

I am fairly risk averse, but frugal at the same time, so I looked into harbor freight models. I read enough good (and little bad) about the harbor freight blue flame hood, so I bought it on a good sale.
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/welding-accessories/blue-flame-design-auto-darkening-welding-helmet-91214.html

It is the first and only auto dark helmet I've used, but I've been completely satisfied with it. I weld for my hobbies and for making repairs, so at most a couple of hours at a time, but its comfort, rate of darkening, large window have left me satisfied after good user reviews and price sucked me in...

I've had it for a couple of years, used it quite a bit making Christmas decorations, and then just a few days ago, and nothing has given me an issue. Your post just provoked me to read the manual again, and it actually states in there that

This Welding Helmet utilizes high performance solar cells as power supply, and has two built-in 3V lithium batteries as power backup. No change of battery is needed. Under normal welding conditions, users can expect a battery lifetime of more than 6 years.

Maybe someday I'll put on a costly, quality helmet and be pleasantly surprised, but until then, I'm happy with my Harbor Freight Blue Flame helmet. Good luck!

 

[brucer]

how much do you value your eyes?

i've love my speedglas, i've had it for about 6yrs...


if i had to buy another helmet, i would probably go with a speedglas 9002v or 9002x..

next choice would be hobart xvs..

 

[PCO6]

I have a Lincoln auto darkening helmet and an inexpensive Auto Weld one that I purchased at Princess Auto. They both work fine and I can't say that there's much difference between them.

I found this video on Welding Tips and Tricks interesting.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/cheap-auto-darkening-helmet.html

 

[Hammer1963]

I have had great success with my Jackson made Snap-on helmets. One is variable shade, variable delay and the other is fixed shade. Both are self charging with AA batteries, so the batteries never seem to run down. expensive, but my God, we have one set of eyes, so this is one area you can't afford to go the cheap route if you do any amount of welding.

 

[Tom Hintz]

I had the Hobart XVS initially and was happy with it. Then I got a Lincoln 2450 Viking supposedly just to review it and then sell it to my buddy. After using it for the review I offered the Hobart XVS to my buddy because the Lincoln wasn't leaving my shop!
I love the bigger viewing area and the fact that I can see more clearly around the arc and farther out from the arc. I'm not sure exactly how this happens but it does and my welding got better because I could see so much better.
I have reviews of both helmets that shows their features at the link below if that would help. Both are very good helmets, I just like the Lincoln a bunch more.

http://www.newmetalworker.com/Reviews/#welders

 

[kcaz507]

I use a Jackson Nexgen.

 

[CKC]

After using my friends miller elite, I bought a new miller elite also, after going from the old jackson flip down welding helmet in a word incredible, I can see where I'm going with the tig torch

I would not even consider an offshore brand where my eye's are conserned.

like helmet shopping for the racecar or motorcycle what is your head worth?

 

[PCO6]

I like this Snap-on helmet. It has auto-darkening (1/25000 of a second) 9.14 sq in. of viewing area, 4 sensors, solar lithium power, etc. It looks great and at $315 it must be good.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...oup_ID=1751&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog#Li

Too bad it's made in China.

 

[bw77]

I like this Snap-on helmet. It has auto-darkening (1/25000 of a second) 9.14 sq in. of viewing area, 4 sensors, solar lithium power, etc. It looks great and at $315 it must be good.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...oup_ID=1751&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog#Li

Too bad it's made in China.

Are any brands of welding helmets made in the USA?

 

[graybeard62]

I have one of the HF helmets. I have been wanting to try a better quality helmet because I'm not happy with the way the I can't really see the weld puddle. I feel like I'm welding blind. I've tried all of teh adjustments and the view is never as good as with my old fixed shade helmet.

I have the same problem, it is so bad at times I don't even stay on the weld line. Hard to learn to MIG weld when you don't see the puddle

 

[rwhite692]

Are any brands of welding helmets made in the USA?

Jackson.

 

[A**holes Garage]

Jackson.

http://www.brweldingsupplies.com/shop/products/jackson-hellraiser-nexgen-helmet-0744-1090.cfm

 

[johnzcarz]

Well I ended up getting the Hobart XVS, happy with it so far. I like the fact that all the controls are on the inside, it’s slightly lighter than some of the others I was looking at, and it runs off of 2 ‘AAA’ batteries – which are cheap, easy to replace, and best of all I can take them out if the helmet is sitting in a hot garage and not being used for a while (I’ve had a few bad experiences with batteries leaking and destroying stuff). Best of all I found it for about $40 over the HF model. Considering it’s a known brand and comes with several replacement lens covers (7?), I thought it was a deal. FAIK all these things come out of the same factory, but I had a hard time believing the specs on some of the cheaper helmets – how can a $50 helmet have faster response time than the $250+ ‘pro’ helmets? Seems kinda fishy to me.

 

[Autometer]

My son used an elite. I picked up a used elite and pro from a friend. On the pro, the sticker was messed up so I pulled it off and looks like a new black helmet.

 

[steel 35]

I have several Jacksons, 3 Auto's and the same in flip hoods newest one purchased today flip top with a magnifying lens, (flashed) to many times trying the autos with a tig! I don't try it any more; and have three speed glass hoods at work I won't touch but hear they have the best now? You think the hoods are expensive my last bifocals were expensive.

 

[speed bump]

Are any brands of welding helmets made in the USA?

Lincoln and Jackson.


I have a lincoln Vista 2000 which is an awesome hard hat and other than maybe buying the 3000 (bigger viewing area) I would buy another without even thinking about it.

 

[toolfreak]

I have a speedglass and a radnor. I bought the radnor when I was working out of town, I needed a hood since mine was 1000 miles away. I paid right around $100 for it when I bought my trailblazer and it turned out to be a really nice hood. I just didn't want to spend a lot of money when I had a nice hood sitting in the garage. Only thing I didn't like is hte lenses were a pain in the *** to find but I found them and ordered enough to outlast the hood.

 

[Neuswede]

I've owned my Speedglass helmet for 8+ years. Fantastic product that is easy on the eyes, easy on the neck and my eye exams have shown no damage; just the normal macro degeneration caused by normal aging. I can't replace my eyes, and while not a professional welder, I can spend as much as 8 or 10 hours during a typical weekend welding session. Your needs and budget may demand something else, but the money I spent on this helmet was money well spent.

 

[larryq]

Anyone have any experience with these http://www.accustrike.com/
I'm just not convinced the auto darkening ones have been on the market long enough to fully ensure their long term eye safety.
I've been on the fence about buying an acuu strike. My old Jackson flip down still works well, the head gear is pretty worn though.

Second this question. I've heard about and seen the accustrike too and am interested as well. Has anyone used these or knows some people who have?

 

[Agent1320]

I have the Accu-Strike and won't ever go back to Auto Darkening. I've had a few of the cheap HF Auto Darkening Helmets, and they are fine for the money. I've used a friends Miller and I really didn't see a difference between it or the HF helmets. I used some fancy Speedglas helmet at a shop I worked at, blah blah, no better than anything else IMHO. I couldn't justify spending the extra money on some brand name when the HF helmets have always been good to me. One day my HF helmet strap broke and I started looking around for a cheap replacement because money was tight, I bought a $25 helmet off ebay and it broke in a week. Ok, time to buy a quality helmet. Since money was an issue, I decided to spend a little more and get something that would last.

So I looked around some more, found the Accu-Strike for $89. I liked what I read and saw, so I ordered it. It took about 20 minutes to get it fitted and get used to it's operation. Well made, MADE IN USA, you can purchase different shades for it, and some other accessories, and you can buy any replacement part for cheap. I've been using it for about a year and a half and it's been great. No problems with it at all. I love this helmet and will not ever buy another auto darkening helmet again. Accu Strike FTW!

 

[383 240z]

I have the HF at home, liked it for a long time, then I was picking up some slack in the R&D department at work and used my buddies Jackson I noticed a HUGE difference. I was making a comment to the guy who taught me TIG and he threw me his speedglass, WOW I have been hiding away a few bucks every pay for one. It was way lighter, had a larger viewing area, and the lens cover seemed to last longer, I dont know if it was because I was being extra careful because it was not mine or what, but it held it's setting well. My HF would move from me kicking it up and down and setting it down on the machine (Hobart 187 if your wondering) Keith

 

[Teal Jay]

Are any brands of welding helmets made in the USA?

Don't forget http://www.sellstrom.com/

My current helmet is a made in USA Jackson