Welding Helmet Recommendations

[rbattelle]

the $59 one from harbor freight has done fine for me for the last couple plus years, adjustable from 8-13 and the adjustable head strap hasn't broken yet

Harbor Freight's el-cheapo offerings are very tempting. I'm just afraid of being disappointed. I suppose since I've never owned one (and never used one) it would be hard to be disappointed without any reference.



-Ryan

 

[Turbo1Ton]

when i notice it's doing that i blink when i strike the arc to lessen the chance i get popped, you only need to get one flash burn the know you really don't want another, that sucks bad

WD, that's why the 100% UV protection is important. Its the UV that gives you the flash burns. At least that was my understanding. I have not had any flash burns yet and it happens to me occasionally.



You are right though, you don't want to get burned. My buddy has been burned and he didn't realize it until he tried to go to sleep. Said it felt like someone had poured sand in his eyes!



Ryan, a friend of mine has a Miller big window elite and he really likes it. I think he found it on sale for less than $200. I think that's the way I would go if I were buying another.



Jeff

 

[WDixon27]

got burned over 12 years ago in high school trade school, i've had sand in my eyes and that feels better, caught a load of salt in one eye once and that was pretty close, my oh god moment came when i woke up after falling asleep watching tv, as soon as i opened my eyes the hell began, that's when i learned you don't actually need to watch a arc to get screwed

You are right though, you don't want to get burned. My buddy has been burned and he didn't realize it until he tried to go to sleep. Said it felt like someone had poured sand in his eyes! Jeff

 

[DMcPherson]

I just bought anew Miller helmet. forget which one, its a big window. the more expensive one. has 4 sensors opposed to just 2. great for tig, super fast and shade adjusting and all that other good stuff. I dont think Ive used one faster.

 

[BKiel]

I'm a welder/fabricator by trade, and I could not live without my Speedglas 9002x. I have the sidewindows as well. It is extremely lightweight, has awesome sensors especially for low amp tig. I won another helmet in the Wisconsin state welding competition, and I realized how it was to have a crappy auto-darkening. I say do not by cheap by these. They WILL flash you if you get a crappy one. Speedglas is awesome by my standards. Takes a beating. I've gotten it wet, dropped it I don't know how many times, and it is tough.

 

[Matt400]

Harbor Freight's el-cheapo offerings are very tempting. I'm just afraid of being disappointed.

Or worse with an eye injury.

I would look at it like buying a motorcycle helmet, whats your head worth? and whats your eyes worth?

I am glad I read this thread. I still use the manual type and it shows in my welding but I only weld maybe once every other month.



I was interested to read from such a wide source, from DIY'ers to welders by trade and even a purchasing agent for hundreds of welders

 

[Turbo1Ton]

that's when i learned you don't actually need to watch a arc to get screwed

Yeah, funny thing is he didn't get burned by looking at the arc either. Just the flash off of the surrounding metal as he would look away.



What it comes down to is keep those eyes safe! Stick with a name brand. You don't have to go top of the line but I wouldn't scrape the bottom either. You will appreciate having a nice helmet and it will make a difference in your welds. My best suggestion is to go to a local welding supply store and try some on. Plus getting to know the guys at your local store is a good thing. They can help you out with a lot of stuff.



Check out the threads at Hobart welders (http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/). I haven't been there in a while but the last time I spent some time there those guys were a great bunch.



Jeff

 

[DValentine]

I weld on steam boilers for a living. I have been using a speed glas for 5 years. I work with others who have the Jackson Next Gen. Both have pos/neg to them.

It comes down to money. I bought my dad a hobart which I used a little. I was impressed with it for what it was. The speed seemed good and the at rest mode seems equal with my speed glas..... a guy can grind with it... . with good light and see reasoniblly well through the lens.



I would say that anything except the cheapest stuff will perform for the weekend guy. You can alway sell it and move up.



Dave

 

[rbattelle]

I ended up with a Harbor Freight special. I am so ashamed.



-Ryan

p. s. - seems to work great... for now.

 

[LesStallings]

Come to the Dark Side, Luke...

 

[Matt400]

I am so ashamed.

:-laf :-laf

 

[Nate]

I have a Miller XLi. Was around $170 or so. Been using it for about 1 year now and it's worked great. Only damage I did to it is I was overhead welding and the foam band lining caught on fire. I had a welders cap on, so it didn't burn my head or anything.

 

[rbattelle]

The guy at the local welding shop shamed me on Saturday morning. I told him I was a novice hobby welder, and what machine I've got (Maxstar 150). Then he asked what helmet I was using. I bowed my head and said "Harbor Freight special" and braced for impact. He rolled his eyes and said "oh, you gotta get rid of that piece of junk". He then tried to sell me a Miller XLi. I'm sorry, I can't afford a $200 welding helmet right now.



I've spent a lot of time reading welding boards over the last month. All the guys who have the really nice helmets have nothing but bad things to say about the HF helmets. But there are lots of guys out there who say "I've had a HF for a couple years now and it still seems to work fine. "



Without a doubt the Miller, Jackson, Speedglas, and Lincoln's out there are far superior to the HF models. But if you've never experienced a really nice helmet, you'll never know the difference.



-Ryan

 

[Grunt]

Ryan



I stopped at HF on my way through Spokane this evening and bought the $59 helmet. I wish that I could afford a fancier helmet and welder but will have to make do with my Miller ThunderBolt and Craftsman wirefeed. The machines are capable of better welds than I can do.

 

[Nate]

The thing with the cheap helmets is the reaction time isn't as good as a quality helmet. So you get flashed a bit. You won't really notice it until you weld alot and your eyes get itchy. I value my eyesight too much to trust a cheap *** welding helmet.



You can get a decent non auto dark helmet for $40. I would invest in that before getting a cheap auto dark.

 

[rbattelle]

The thing with the cheap helmets is the reaction time isn't as good as a quality helmet. So you get flashed a bit. You won't really notice it until you weld alot and your eyes get itchy. I value my eyesight too much to trust a cheap *** welding helmet.



You can get a decent non auto dark helmet for $40. I would invest in that before getting a cheap auto dark.

I thought I had done a lot of research prior to going with the HF. The fastest I could find at the time I bought mine was 1/25000 second switching speed, which is precisely what the HF claims to provide. I thought that was the fastest you could get, regardless of price. What are the XLi's and NexGen's switching at now?



And I guess you're right - my eyes do get itchy and burny after several hours of welding. I thought it was just all the welding fumes - didn't realize I was killing my eyesight by flashing myself all the time. To be honest, it doesn't even hurt (feels like being in a smoky bar for a few hours). So much for the "UV protection to shade 14 when off" claim.



What's really confusing is a quick search indicates the XLi switches at 1/16000 second and the NexGen switches at 1/25000. These must be older models that are still available for sale? I can't seem to find the current switching speed for these models: everywhere I look just indicates a 1/25000 switch speed (or slower).



Can someone point me to the correct data? I'd prefer not to be blind by age 30.



-Ryan

 

[LesStallings]

"Can someone point me to the correct data? I'd prefer not to be blind by age 30.



-Ryan"



I was blind when I was 30, I just did not realize it... Blind to what was truly important in life. You've got it right, Ryan. If I had used decent hearing protection all the time I was grinding on cylinder heads, I would not have the high frequency hearing loss I have today. I believe we should all not skimp on safety related items and skimp or delay purchases of non-safety related toys.



Believe me, when you get a little more on in years you will "see the wisdom" of your earlier choices.

 

[rbattelle]

Nate, could you help me out here? I still cannot find one bit of information anywhere that indicates the HF model 91212 helmet is in any way inferior to the best from Miller or Jackson in terms of safety. I've been looking all day. In fact, I can't find one single person who has ever had even the slightest bit of trauma from using any of the HF helmets. I found one guy who said his "eyes hurt" after using one so he switched. Did you get flashed using one?



I'm not convinced that my own eyes weren't irritated last night by the fact that the welding fumes and burning paint fumes in my garage were thick enough to cut with a knife (I wear a respirator, of course).



-Ryan

 

[Nate]

My brother is a welder/machinist by trade and this is info I got from him. I have not personally used the Harbor Freight helmet.



I don't know how familar you are with Harbor Freight, but with most of their stuff it seems like they take a brand name tools and figured out how to make it cheap... in both cost and quality. I don't normally buy stuff from them.



I cannot provide you with tech. data that will back up what I posted. I guess it's more my opinion than anything else at this point.



Personally I like saving money, but I will normally buy a brand name item, since I know it will be of decent quality.



I suppose the Harbor Freight helmet would be fine if your not welding much. If I was in your position, I would just buy a regular helmet, and when you have enough money to get an auto dark, get one. They are nice, but not "needed".



Some of that itch is fumes, but it's also that momentary flash you get. It's not enough for you to really notice, but after a while you will. Some interesting info... .



My Dad and brother work for JM Huber wood mill. They had a safety bullentin come down that people shouldn't weld with contact lenses. The reasoning was that the contacts could "melt" from the UV light and fuse to your eyes. I weld with contacts, never had a problem, but I wonder if I got flashed too much if that could happen? That mill is part of a multi-billion dollar corporation, so it's not like it's some guy at joe jim-bob's weld shop is saying that.



When I got mine, I bought my welder than same day. Got bascially everything I needed for a nice discount since I was spending around $1200.

 

[rbattelle]

I cannot provide you with tech. data that will back up what I posted. I guess it's more my opinion than anything else at this point.

So you have no data, no facts, and no experience with HF welding helmets? I certainly respect your opinion, but I wish you'd have pointed that out earlier - I assumed you had direct experience with HF welding helmets. Please don't misunderstand my typing here - I know you have more expertise than me in this area, I'm just trying to understand what sort of danger I'm putting myself in at this point. I mean you absolutely no disrespect.



I have trouble understanding how I can be getting flashed by a helmet with 1/25000 response time because it's a HF but Miller XLi's get 1/16000 response time and they don't flash the user? Or are Miller XLi owners constantly getting flashed by their helmets? Or is HF outright lying about their response time?



Judging strictly by the numbers, the HF helmet is safer than the Miller XLi at roughly 1/3 the cost. Now I assume that the XLi has features on it that make it a superior helmet in some way (at least I hope so for 3 times the cost), but I don't think it is any safer in terms of flash danger than the $60 HF el-cheapo (unless HF is simply lying).



Believe me - I know most of what HF sells is bad stuff. Ordinarily the only things I will buy from them are consumables like latex gloves and paintbrushes. But in this case I cannot find one single documented case of anyone being harmed in any way by using a HF welding helmet. The closest I can find are vague references to "itchy" or "irritated" eyes after using the helmet 1 time (after which the subject immediately tosses the helmet and buys a name-brand only to discover a lack of discomfort - nevermind the fact that the irritated eyes could have been caused by something other than the helmet).



-Ryan