Welding helmet advice?

kuraki said:
Just in case anyone is looking right now, this is possibly the best deal running for a quality auto darkening lid.

https://store.cyberweld.com/esab-savage-a40-welding-helmet-0700000480.html

.07 ms darkening time which is comparable to speedglas.
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Do you have one? How's the head strap / hinge? I've bought or used a few of the cheaper hoods and it seems like the head strap adjustments left a little to be desired, or the tension on the hinge would keep loosening or tightening about every other time I tried to flip it down.
 
I've come from using cheap hoods as well. I used to have the HF hood, but it started darkening a full second late. Then when I started going to welding school I got a Yeswelder hood that had great features (truecolor, wide viewing, etc) but terrible quality. It worked for about a month but then I notice my eyes being sore. Turns out the shade was patchy when it went dark so some bright like was getting to my eyes, but from the side so it was hard to notice. I'm broke but I decided not to screw around and got a Viking.

I have the Lincoln Electric viking 2450 and I absolutely love it. I got it for $180 on amazon. It has truecolor tech which is really nice and the headgear is amazing, super comfortable. All around a really great hood. Like I said I go to welding school so I use it every day for 4+ hours. Like JT said, its amazing how good a good hood can be. They have cheaper options of similar quality as well.
 
Drew Riley said:
Do you have one? How's the head strap / hinge? I've bought or used a few of the cheaper hoods and it seems like the head strap adjustments left a little to be desired, or the tension on the hinge would keep loosening or tightening about every other time I tried to flip it down.
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Yes, I bought one. I only put it on and adjusted it for my head, so I can't say for sure, but right out of the box it was set with the proper tension to flip it down with a chin jerk (there's also a detent in the linkage) and the headgear itself seemed comfortable and well made.

I have a Viking at work, with the large true color filter and while it has a larger filter and is an excellent lid, just looking through both the ESAB and Viking, they are comparable in color/clarity.
 
kuraki said:
Yes, I bought one. I only put it on and adjusted it for my head, so I can't say for sure, but right out of the box it was set with the proper tension to flip it down with a chin jerk (there's also a detent in the linkage) and the headgear itself seemed comfortable and well made.

I have a Viking at work, with the large true color filter and while it has a larger filter and is an excellent lid, just looking through both the ESAB and Viking, they are comparable in color/clarity.
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I know a couple guys that have had that good esab for a while and they are great hoods for the price. Very clear and good features.
Lower priced hoods have come a long way in the last decade.
HF(yes harbor freight believe it or not) has a higher end line now. They have a Vulcan auto hood that is $149 or $119 with coupon that is as clear or more clear than any speedglas, Jackson, Miller or Lincoln ever used.
It looks like they copied the Lincoln Viking 3350 because they are nearly identical with same specs.. then lenses even interchange and the headgear is also the same
 
I have a old Hornell 9000( pre 3M) that I bought in the 90s that still works after using it for all these years. I bought a new one and the headgear is amazing. The colors and visibility is so much better. A quality hood really makes a difference.
 
Hello all. Seeing as how this thread has been re-opened, getting back to the original problem of bright flashes, I'm pretty sure the problem has been solved (see post#32).
I'm welding up a stand for my forge upgrade and now that I have a HT oven, I decided to bake some 6013 rods in an attempt to remove the moisture that I thought they may have absorbed over the past year or so and today was able to run a number of beads with no bright flashes and could see the puddle the whole time:D!!!
 
I have a Jackson Safety HSL-100. that works great. When I was shopping for an auto helmet I read this review, I looked for the one with the fastest switching time and the Jackson was the quickest.
 
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weo said:
Have you ever done this? I don't see an easy way to open it to access the battery.

To replace the entire lens would be about $100 if I remember correctly.
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I've changed a battery.

Get another helmet first so you have nothing to lose by fixing the broken one.

It's all snapped shut, no screws so pry it open carefully - make some pG10 or Micarta prybars
There is an industrial rechargeable battery inside.
I found an identical replacement on Digikey, or Mouser and soldered it in.

Keep your helmets in the light, not the dark, keeps them topped up. Maybe the batteries last longer.
 
12345678910 said:
I've changed a battery.

Get another helmet first so you have nothing to lose by fixing the broken one.

It's all snapped shut, no screws so pry it open carefully - make some pG10 or Micarta prybars
There is an industrial rechargeable battery inside.
I found an identical replacement on Digikey, or Mouser and soldered it in.
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Thanks, Count. Great idea on getting another helmet. I like having 2 of things around... Seeing as how you brought it up, I did crack it open and saw that the batteries were soldered in and I didn't have any soldering equip, so I just snapped it back together and put it back. I think I broke one of the 4 tabs...
The original problem was with the rods and I've been using the hood without problems since.
 
I'm off the opinion that you should just use what you have until you can afford what you want.

I used half mask filtration for years, then I bit the bullet and bought a full-faced PAPR with the organic solvent filters. Never looked back, and I sure as heck haven't missed that money. I would have spent it on something anyway, and now I am way better protected and way more comfortable to boot.

When I find an auto darkening welding mask that will plug into the system, I'll buy that too!
 
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I'm using a cheap one from harbor freight, till I can get the one I want.
 
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