Welding Helmets

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

thinger2

I'm Awesome
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
3,935
Location
Tacoma
Yep. 100 percent on the cheater lense.
On site welding with glasses and a hood and a hard hat sucks bad.
The only way to keep that mess from fogging up is to stop breathing.
I dont weld a whole lot anymore.
Im an office weeny.
My "Go too" is an old Fibre-Metal Ultralight.
Though the neck flip is getting kinda rough
But I figure that this might be a good time to share my experiance transitioning to an auto dark.
When I was getting all ready and practising to pass my 3G.
I ran out and bought a Miller auto variable shade.
Trying to get every advantage I could.
So I put prepped my 3/8 plates and did my root pass.
And I took my auto off of my head and put a flip faceshied on to back gouge my root pass.
My shield was also a head nogger.
So I took a good look at my root and was happy as hell and I head wagged the face shield back down.
Habit.
And I burried that 7018 butter rod into the root.
It took a couple of seconds.
Why isnt this auto darkening hood not dark.
Seeing stars and having blinded yourself from stupidity is bad enough.
The steroid eye drops they put in your eyes are really not fun.
The headache is horrible.
But the absolute worst part of arc flashing your eyeballs is the itch.
Your eyes itch when they heal.
It is insane and you cant sleep
And goopy eye boogers come out during thia whole process
 

Schurkey

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
10,963
Reaction score
13,741
Location
The Seasonally Frozen Wastelands
I bought what I thought was a decent auto-darkening helmet about twenty years ago.

No replaceable batteries in it--"solar powered". Had a solar panel above the lens, senses the arc, turns dark. What could go wrong? In normal use, it worked well enough.

What goes wrong is that if the arc stuttered, the lens lightened-up instantly, but when the arc re-starts it kinda confused the helmet. It took a moment to re-darken. So I kept getting these instantaneous arc flashes.

Eventually bought a better helmet that has an actual battery in it, along with the "solar panel". The reaction time for it to go from dark to clear is adjustable. The battery sustains the darkening if the arc goes out momentarily. No more arc flashes. Much happier. A bigger lens would be a bonus.

I would not buy a welding helmet--or anything else--from Eastwood. Far as I know, they sell nothing that isn't available somewhere else for significantly less money.
 

DeCaff2007

I'm Awesome
Joined
Sep 25, 2021
Messages
1,120
Reaction score
1,268
Location
PA
I would not buy a welding helmet--or anything else--from Eastwood. Far as I know, they sell nothing that isn't available somewhere else for significantly less money.

I'm going to have to agree with you on that. Slightly off topic - I bought a 6 inch bench vise from an Eastwood vendor at Carlisle, years ago. Cost me $90 on site. Happy as a lark with my new vise, I got it home, set it up, and the worm gear stripped out of the body on the FIRST use. Junk. Couldn't find the receipt for the life of me, so couldn't return the vise. Never again do I buy from Eastwood.

As for a welding helmet, I took a 71 Pontiac 455 block up to a machine shop near me and they just happened to have a retail store on the premises. Walked out of there with a $100 auto-darkening helmet. I couldn't even tell you the brand name, but it serves my needs.

Before that, I had a POS helmet from Harbor Freight. All that did was look cool. Nothing else.
 
Last edited:

thinger2

I'm Awesome
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
3,935
Location
Tacoma
I bought what I thought was a decent auto-darkening helmet about twenty years ago.

No replaceable batteries in it--"solar powered". Had a solar panel above the lens, senses the arc, turns dark. What could go wrong? In normal use, it worked well enough.

What goes wrong is that if the arc stuttered, the lens lightened-up instantly, but when the arc re-starts it kinda confused the helmet. It took a moment to re-darken. So I kept getting these instantaneous arc flashes.

Eventually bought a better helmet that has an actual battery in it, along with the "solar panel". The reaction time for it to go from dark to clear is adjustable. The battery sustains the darkening if the arc goes out momentarily. No more arc flashes. Much happier. A bigger lens would be a bonus.

I would not buy a welding helmet--or anything else--from Eastwood. Far as I know, they sell nothing that isn't available somewhere else for significantly less money.
Yep. Buy the best you can buy.
But dont buy based on price.
A welding helmet has a long range effect on your eyesight.

Just because it is expensive, doesnt mean its good.
The tool hooker trucks sell all kinds of welding helmets.
Flames, Flags, Skulls.
Flaming skulls with flags.
A welding helmet is not a fashion statement.
It is a piece of equipment designed to keep you from going blind.
You are not cool because you have some stupid cartoon on your head.
If I see you wearing some stupid clown hat on my job I instantly have you pegged as an idiot who needs to be watched.
You aint cool at all for wearing a clown hat.
Youre an idiot on your way to being blind.
And somebody like me is going to kick your silly little ass right the **** off of the job.
You want to weld?
Then take it as a potential life threatening trade and be a pro.
Dont play dress up like its halloween..
It isnt.
 

Eveready

I'm Awesome
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Messages
1,342
Reaction score
1,634
Location
North Carolina
Yes, and no. If you're trying to learn welding, the Harbor Freight isn't good enough. Being able to see the puddle matters. With the Harbor Freight, my welds looked like a crooked butt crack. With the Jackson, they look like relatively straight bird poop. Hey, I'm still learning.

I'm a hobbyist, and I can't afford a $300 helmet, but I can stretch to afford a $150 helmet. It's worth it - keep checking and try to catch a good helmet on sale. Both my ArcOne and Jackson were $200 helmets I caught on sale for just over $100.
My use doesn't even rise to the level of hobbyist. One or two times a year is literally it. I would get a lot fancier if I were trying to learn anything more than the occasional tack weld. The new HF flux core is DC and really does a pretty good job as does their helmet. If I went beyond "very occasional" I would get better equipment.
 
Top