Helmet with Best Clarity of Vision, Replaceable/rechargeable battery

[retnev]

Anyone with the best recommendation for a Helmet with

1) Best Clarity of Vision for MIG and TIG welding from 4-200A
2) Replaceable/rechargeable battery
3) Actually workable flip up/down latches
4) With darkness / response time settings.
5) Reliable.

I bought quite an expensive helmet 8 years ago and now find I can see basically not much through it. somehow it is difficult to make out anything at any darkness setting. It makes work difficult.
Back then, I think I paid over 400USD for it.

What do youi have that has Clear Vison / works easilty according to requirements above and lasts.

 

[cwby]

Best deal I have found for an inexpensive helmet is an ESAB Savage A40. Cyber weld sells them for about 90 bucks.

 

[CA_Bgrwldr]

I bought quite an expensive helmet 8 years ago and now find I can see basically not much through it. somehow it is difficult to make out anything at any darkness setting. It makes work difficult.
Back then, I think I paid over 400USD for it.

Does your helmet have a removable lens unit?

 

[drb1215]

I have a Miller Digital Elite helmet that I really like. I started with and inexpensive auto darkening helmet, but it was not very clear. Especially when tig welding where I really needed to see clearly what I was doing in order to watch the puddle.

The Digital Elite is not cheap, but it does tick all 5 points that you have listed.

 

[retnev]

Does your helmet have a removable lens unit?

There is no lens just removable flat glass plate, but I know what you are referring too. I already replaced that about every 6 months. I dont know why the manufacturers call a flat plate a lens. It is scientifically completely incorrect. There is no focussing of light by the flat plate.

 

[retnev]

I have a Miller Digital Elite helmet that I really like. I started with and inexpensive auto darkening helmet, but it was not very clear. Especially when tig welding where I really needed to see clearly what I was doing in order to watch the puddle.

The Digital Elite is not cheap, but it does tick all 5 points that you have listed.

This seems like the ticket. That is quite alow price $250, as my Striker cost me 400+ when I bought it years ago. The ones el-cheapo Striker now sells is just damn awful.
How long do you feel working with it the Miller will last ? Just based on your intuition working with it.

Welding Helmets are the biggest trouble for me. If I cannot see what I am doing all the training and experience helps zip. They last about 5 months flat for me.

 

[drb1215]

This seems like the ticket. That is quite alow price $250, as my Striker cost me 400+ when I bought it years ago. The ones el-cheapo Striker now sells is just damn awful.
How long do you feel working with it the Miller will last ? Just based on your intuition working with it.

Welding Helmets are the biggest trouble for me. If I cannot see what I am doing all the training and experience helps zip. They last about 5 months flat for me.

How long it will last is a good question. I guess it depends on well you take care of it. I keep the lens clean and store it in its bag hanging up when not in use. I think as long as I'm not abusing it, it will last for many years. There will be the need to replace things like the lens shields as they become scratched, and maybe down the road the auto darkening lens itself if it should die (I don't see why it would, but electronics don't last forever). The good thing is the parts are replaceable. I know that was a long answer, but like any tool the better you care for it, the longer it will last.

 

[kenmbz]

So as the auto-dark helmets get more expensive, do they get easy to replace batteries or rechargeable batteries?
I see that as a big issue with the HF and other lower cost ones in the user reviews

 

[retnev]

Someone mentioned the Harbour Freight Vulcan. Thank you for that: I cannot find the post, it is missing this morning, maybe the poster removed it: Anyway here it is.

https://www.harborfreight.com/arcsa...-helmet-63749.html?_br_psugg_q=welding+helmet

The images in the Vulcan page shows about what happens to my helmets in 6 months of use. The top image just get way worse so you cant see any puddle at all.

I am wondering if the flat plate protection window doesnt maybe become diffuse due to all the harsh UV. UV does exactly that to polycarbonate and such. From new to 6 months the visibility decreases quite substantially.

The best would be to get a UV reflective (Not only Absorbing) protective window. If the window only Absorbs UV it will become diffuse.

 

[retnev]

So as the auto-dark helmets get more expensive, do they get easy to replace batteries or rechargeable batteries?
I see that as a big issue with the HF and other lower cost ones in the user reviews

I found that expensive helmets has exactly the same problems as cheaper ones. Batteries , LCD wiindow developing spots, diffusing protective window all seems to be happening to expensive and cheap. I buy expensive in the hope that at least they properly block UV. The shorter wavelength UV is not visible enough and you wont even know you get damage. Problem with Polycarbonate they use use is that it passes a strong UV peak as that is just a property of polycarbonate. Cant remember what exactly it was, between as I can remember 200-300nm
The protective window MUST be UV reflective coated, preferably in an interior layer.

I will try a Philips Gold and see if it doesnt improve things on the Stryker.
https://www.phillips-safety.com/pro...-products/welding-lenses/gold-welding-lenses/

 

[Chiefwebb]

After owning about 6 helmets I recently purchased the ESAB Sentinel A50. Should have spent that money years ago. Very comfortable and great vision. Has a Tig range and a regular range of tint settings along with a grind mode that you can access via an external button large enough to use with a gloved finger.

 

[retnev]

After owning about 6 helmets I recently purchased the ESAB Sentinel A50. Should have spent that money years ago. Very comfortable and great vision. Has a Tig range and a regular range of tint settings along with a grind mode that you can access via an external button large enough to use with a gloved finger.

The external controls for some functionality is great. Nothing annoys me more than to have to take my helmet off to make small adjustments. What is also nice is that both the external and internal windows are replaceable. These points alone makes it worth the money.

 

[PILOON]

I'm 'frugal', LOL cheap.

After a fair bit of on line research checking specs etc I ordered a $40.00 helmet and was very pleasantly surprised.
At first very cautious using it, actually a bit scared.
From studying specs I determined that the response speed was probably the most critical aspect while the shading could always be adjusted.
Well wanting to not catch a flash I decided that a rapid response to a spark would be a good test so I 'flicked my BIC (lighter) and was amazed as to the rapid response. So now it is my standard test.
Also even the spark from the welding torch starter is good test.
OK, so all to say close to maybe 8 years or so with an el cheepo helmet and never have caught a flash nor had headaches either.
My main complaint with the cheepo is it always nips my right ear when I put it on.

OK. my 2 cents and your experience might vary etc.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My original auto-dark lens was a SpeedGlas but I stored it with the batteries (it used regular AA or AAA batteries) and they leaked and ruined it.
I have been using the HF auto-dark hoods ever since. My first one started taking a couple seconds to darken after non-use for a long period of time and then would work fine after the first arc. I suspect the battery is failing even though I hang it from my shop door so it faces the sun. It still works fine after the initial charge up by the solar cell.
It doesnt have a grind mode nor cutting mode so useless for that, but I have had it for 10 years and no problem with clarity or fading of the top/bottom etc of the lens.
I now use my second HF helmet that does have grind mode, setting for fast/slow responds and sensitivity adjustment. I have been using it for a few months and it is working well with no clarity issues.

A welding hood lens should not need any special type of clear lens to augment the clarity or response nor increase the UV protection. Actually even if the auto-dark response doesnt work, the lens still filters out the UV light.

Just my opinion, but I suspect that those $400 hoods have lens of no better quality than a $40 hood and likely all made in China just like the HF ones. The only difference I can see in higher cost ones is maybe some of them have more than 2 sensors to detect the arc so that if one or both the top sensors get blocked for some reason, a couple on the bottom corners will continue to work. I have only had that happen once when I was welding in a very awkward position and I dont know if having additional sensors would have helped.

 

[PILOON]

The few, (friends and mine) that I have seen al use the same 'guts' and employ standard 3 volt lithium 'penny' batteries which are easily available.
IMHO rapid response is the most critical function as the other functions are adjustable to suit the task.

 

[Gary Fowler]

So do you need more than 1/25000 of a second for the lens to darken to prevent arc burn? 1 second of exposure to UV light from welding certainly isn't going to burn your eyes. I have been there many times when working as a welder helper and also welding inside a vessel with other welders while getting back scatter light from behind. It takes quiet a lot of flashes to really burn the eyes.
Anyway back to my hypothesis. So it would take 25000 arc strikes for your eyes to receive 1 second of UV light even assuming that the lens gives no protection until it darkens. According to info I have read, the lens gives 100% UV protections even in the lightest shade which is 4 or 5. A welder could work many weeks welding 10 hours per day to do 25000 arc strikes.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I posted this on another thread but I just ordered one of these and will let everyone know how it works when it comes in. Expect at least a week since I didnt op for te $120+ 3 day air rate. Cheapest was $9 so I used that since I have a working helmet.

www.toolots.com/welding-helmet-auto-darkening-sun9b-carbon-fiber-1.html