I have a Lincoln mig welder that I picked up used. The helmet that came with it is old and beat up. What should I look for in a new helmet and do I have to spend a couple hundred dollars? Thank you!
Get an auto darkening one with as big of lens as you can find. For home owner / hobby work slightly over $100 should get you a good serviceable one at a farm supply store. (TSC, bomgaars, etc). For full time production work would be a whole ‘nother matter
I picked up a $40 auto darkening helmet at TSC a few years ago and like it better than the 15 year old $200 helmet it replaced.
Don’t know. I think most of them have adjustments for sensitivity and darkness levels. Again, might be the difference between production & weekend warrior needs. We have a Hobart at work, $79 I think at TSC. I occasionally use it for a couple hours a day. No complaints. Guy that works for us has his own because he used to be a production welder. Said he paid over $500 for it. I can’t see where it’s $400 better
Just got a new viking unit( close out at welding supplier) at apx 1/2 list $125. far and away better than my old ( 10 years?) $50 HF unit which is still serviceable. The response time in both directions is a night and day différance. And that is what you are paying for ( aside from a brand name that is). I see that HF has a higher priced unit as well now, but I have no info on it.
I recently retired from welding/fabrication/construction and welded steady for maybe 30 years, but did fly a desk a lot in later years. The auto darkening helmets are very good anymore, and a lot of the guys used them. We used Jackson helmets a lot, but I never liked the Jackson helmets that well, personally. I didn't find the headgear to be of the best quality, although that is what I own now. I still weld a lot on the farm, but mine are all traditional flip up hoods. I personally never made the transition to the auto darkening for my own helmets, although, I have used other people's auto darkening helmets. But old habits are hard to break and I never made the switch. My favorite welding helmet was a Fibermetal brand, traditional flip up with a big lense for many years, because I liked the headgear better for my own use. But our welding supply service in later years only handled the Jackson so I ended up using them later on, but never liked them as well. I have to use cheater lenses (magnifying lenses) now, anyway, to see weld enough to weld, but you can add those to the auto darkening helmets. Actually, some auto darkening helmets may have magnification available also, or you can clip the cheater lenses to the inside.
We have 3 Jackson Nexgen ones. Oldest is over 15 years old and the electronics are dependable but the helmets only hold up a couple of years. My sons friend has been welding professionally with a harbor freight one for years.
I have a HF self dark.. Works fine and as long as my eyes dont feel like I have sand in them after welding they are good enough.
I have an old Speedglas fixed power which I don't use much anymore. Use a Miller Classic mostly now. Just put new cheaters in it. May start to enjoy welding again with this setup!
I also have the Harbor Freighty A/D helmet Works fine Red Design Auto Darkening Welding Helmet Did u get a 120 or 240 VAC welder? Is it a mig, tig or stick? In my workshop, I wired in a 50 amp outlet for my HF Omni Pro 220. I put in a 125 amp sub panel in my boiler room for an instant electric DHW panel to switch off the oil boiler if the price of oil goes way up. So I put the 50 amp breaker in there for the welder and just ran the 6 guage wire to my workshop. The 30 amp sub panel in my workshop runs everything else. Welder has a Nice digital display screen that calculates wire speed and voltage when I enter the guage of the metal to weld. I did have to bump up the voltage when I welded Stainless Steel to steel and then bump down the voltage when I welded my muffler back on to my tailpipe when it fell off so I would not blow thru it. Search Results For "Omnipro 220"
Jack Straw...just a suggestion, but I would bet the helmet you wore to school on the short bus would work fine!!
I just picked up 2 auto darkening helmets for kids Christmas presents. One is harbor freight midgrade auto darkening. The other is from the local ag store. The second is a KT brand true color auto darking. Didn't pay $60 for either. I would have picked up 2 KT true color helmets but I got the last one hidden on the top shelf. They should work for initial welding training and learning. Far better than the old fixed lense I used growing up. Hobart brand auto helmets were on sale at Tractor Supply. Mid range Inventor was under $70 I believe if you got plain black.
I don't believe so. At one point years ago HF helmet had one of the fastest response times on the market. More money usually buys more viewing area, more sensors, true color lenses, better mask material, replaceable batteries, external controls, and support for replacement parts. Big viewing area and a tough helmet and head gear are more important the more you weld professionally. $80 helmet will last me a decade or more. Buddy at work that welds for a living uses a $200+ helmet. His next one will probably be $500 plus but will have powered respirator integrated into the helmet.
I have had real good service from this one. Also had the clips inside to install cheaters. TACKLIFE Welding Helmet Solar Power Auto Darkening, Optical Class (1/1/1/1), Full Shade Range 3/4-8/9-13, 6Pcs Replacement Lenses, Grinding Feature for TIG MIG MMA Plasma For some reason the linky didn’t work. I use a Speedglas 9100 now that I got on a deal from a guy that won it in a raffle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
FYI you can get a drop in auto dark lens for those old stye fibermetal hoods. I use the "arc one" brand ones and love it
I welded mostly ship board construction, fabrication and Institution welding. Taught at a Vocational school and was the welding Instructor for ship board welding at the US Coast Guard Academy and Navy High Pressure classes. My 2-cents, it's a matter of preference. In tight spot's like in a boiler, (which I did much of) the auto darkening was great! In the shop, I like the old school $49.00 helmet. Why? if you drop a helmet and smash the lens, your not out $150.00, Been there done that got that T-shirt! Your standard welding helmet should come with a #10 lens. The nice thing about an auto lens is you can change that. I've busted more than my share of helmets as most have. It's Just what you want to spend.
