Cheap Wedling Helmet or Scam?

[old and tired]

I did not but I'll take your word on it. Sure about the cheap Chinses hoods too?

Yes...

 

[5030]

One thing I learned about China long ago and that is, left to their own devices with no oversight, they consistently produce inferior goods. Good example of that is Makita. Makita has a number of their products built in China but with strict oversight and those products are excellent but the Chinese copies (that sell for much less on Amazon) are junk.

 

[Fallon]

I haven't ever verified it, but always heard the dangerous UV gets blocked by the clear plastic lense. You can still flash yourself & end up seeing stars for a bit. But it's not the retina damaging light.

They have problems with the current gear for making high end chips. You can't use a lense to focus the light anymore as they move to smaller wavelengths of light (higer frequency UV). The glass eats up all the very high frequency light. So they have to use mirrors not lenses. Ordinary glass windows prevent sunburns for similar reasons. So even cheap chinesium plastic probably blocks the dangerous UV.

 

[yomax4]

It is stated by most manufacturers that UV and IR rays are blocked to the equivalent of shade 16 even if the lens is in the light state. That doesn't mean you won't get major eye fatigue from using too light of shade. As stated above. You only get one set of peepers so choose wisely.

 

[hornett22]

What are your eyes worth?

This is my first thought.

I highly recommend the harbour freight solar welder helmet. It's $150 but it's been great.

 

[ruffdog]

having endured one arc flash (by my own stupidity), switching speed will always be the most important aspect of any hood and what I look at when looking at a hood. Usually, the faster the speed, the more they cost. Switching speed, then viewing area then hood coverage. A cheap hood won't have a fast speed.

It is stated by most manufacturers that UV and IR rays are blocked to the equivalent of shade 16 even if the lens is in the light state. That doesn't mean you won't get major eye fatigue from using too light of shade. As stated above. You only get one set of peepers so choose wisely.

Yeah, I'm one of the people that would get eye pain with any auto hood, even the $350 ones my job bought me. I'm happy with the flip helmets as my eyes don't hurt. Most people didn't have an issue though.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Any lens rated 1/1/1/1 is awesome. I use a gold Jackson Truesight II W70 auto lens. More gold lenses have come available in the past few years and they have come down in price for off-brands. Gold lenses have the advantage over green lenses by offering a better view of the weld puddle you are welding.

Old man considerations: If you need to remove glasses or use cheater glasses to see anything, you still will need this eye this enhancement under your lens and hood.

My suggestion is to avoid using bi or trifocals or suffer the fate of old woodworkers who never cut a finger off until they got lenses that changed their depth perception by minor changes of their eye or head angle. You don't want hot junk touching yourself so if you need focusing lenses, use one consistent lens.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Yeah, I'm one of the people that would get eye pain with any auto hood, even the $350 ones my job bought me. I'm happy with the flip helmets as my eyes don't hurt. Most people didn't have an issue though.

My buddy Mark who frequently shows up on my Youtube channel welds anything one or maybe two shades lighter than I do. If I change my auto shade lighter, I get eye pain associated with flashing. As a Millwright, Mark is way more familiar with big, huge structural stick welds than I ever will be. Even so, if I used his settings on the same helmet I think I'd fry my eyes. Both of us can use fixed lenses but I really don't like it as it messes with my starts leading metal from cold into hot and then the real weld. I guess it is familiarity.

 

[aczlan]

I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZWT6KBW/
It is a 1/1/1/2 and it was a game changer as far as seeing what I am welding.
For a sub $60 helmet, it's been the single biggest improvement in my welding.

Aaron Z

 

[Rock Crawler]

I have a pair of $50 Amazon welding masks and both are worlds better than my 20 year old $300 mask. I give my weld shop mask to visitors in my shop, I use the new cheap ones that fit tighter to the head, have 4 sensors, provide true color and far larger view areas. I honestly love them.

These are the 2 I have in my shop now. The red one is my go-to.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09K423MCC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CDKVBL4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[California]

I have a pair of $50 Amazon welding masks and both are worlds better than my 20 year old $300 mask. I give my weld shop mask to visitors in my shop, I use the new cheap ones that fit tighter to the head, have 4 sensors, provide true color and far larger view areas. I honestly love them.

These are the 2 I have in my shop now. The red one is my go-to.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09K423MCC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CDKVBL4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You did good. Now 60 day delivery on your favorite.

Is the GoGonova nearly as good?

​

 

[DaBear3428]

My suggestion is to avoid using bi or trifocals or suffer the fate of old woodworkers who never cut a finger off until they got lenses that changed their depth perception by minor changes of their eye or head angle. You don't want hot junk touching yourself so if you need focusing lenses, use one consistent lens.

so like, don't eat flaming cheetos while watching XXX!

 

[MinnesotaEric]

so like, don't eat flaming cheetos while watching XXX!

Or suffer unexpected consequences in the bathroom similar to pouring gasoline on your crotch, a bad thing I learned vicariously through my brother when his gas cap gasket failed on our way out to Sturgis back in 1989.

 

[old and tired]

I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZWT6KBW/
It is a 1/1/1/2 and it was a game changer as far as seeing what I am welding.
For a sub $60 helmet, it's been the single biggest improvement in my welding.

Aaron Z

Thanks, just ordered it. My welding needs all the help it can get!!! Got some Cheater Lens, too...

Re-decking an old Land Pride mower because I'm cheap!!

 

[Rock Crawler]

You did good. Now 60 day delivery on your favorite.

Is the GoGonova nearly as good?

​

The GoGoNova works just fine, but why it is not my favored of the pair is the larger knobs located on the outside are a potential issue for me mig welding in tight spaces under vehicles where I could hit and move the adjusters. The other one has the more typical small knobs located inside where they can not be inadvertently changed while rubbing the mask around under the frame or in tight spaces.

This is my review that I just copied from Amazon on that one:

I have a 15 year old (or so) professional auto dark welding helmet, I decided to order 3 new lesser expensive ones from Amazon to test out.

All 3 have provided a far better experience than my old $350 unit! What I can not speak to (obviously) is long term durability of the auto darkening functions and dirt/grit resistance of the controls.

This one, I'll call it the second of the 3 I just had shipped in, has the super large viewing window. Wow. I've never used a mask with the large full viewing area. I really like it! It helps greatly when your wrapped up tight under a vehicle and can not get your head and helmet fully aligned with the work location, with this you can actually look up/down from center with your eyes even though the helmet is hitting against something and can not be aligned correctly. This makes your welding job so much easier! It's the big screen TV equivalent of a welding helmet.

The first thing you'll notice if you are like me and coming from the older style is that these are "true color". That does take a bit to wrap your mind around, I am used to the greenish sort of night vision look of my old mask. These do not at all look like what I was used to. These provide a view that is 100 times better, both prior to the arc and during the arc.

If I were to call out a negative point on this (2 of the 3 welding masks I ordered have this same feature), and trust me it is subjective.... I am not a fan of the adjustments on the outside. I'll explain. They are more exposed to dirt and grit, they can be stuck on objects and damaged or could be rubbed and moved into an unsafe condition (related to eye protection). I would prefer the style with controls on the inside to mitigate these issues from a personal point of view. I say it is subjective because maybe others prefer the outside position like this so that the adjustment can be done without removing the mask, maybe the job is in a standing position working at a bench where rubbing and striking the controls is a non-issue. I work on vehicles and typically am shoving myself into awkward and cramp locations and bang the welding helmet a good bit.

The adjustability of this is all that you need. You can go as low as grinding mode or go into dark shade modes for welding with your preferred technique. And you will be shocked how much the image provided looks like you have on sun glasses! No more odd greenish hue. Honestly, I will never go back to my old welding mask. This is life changing!

 

[California]

The GoGoNova works just fine, but why it is not my favored of the pair is the larger knobs located on the outside

Thanks.

I'm tempted to get one.

The Antra I have now is adequate but this true color sounds a lot better.

 

[California]

The GoGoNova works just fine, but why it is not my favored of the pair is the larger knobs located on the outside are a potential issue for me mig welding in tight spaces under vehicles

I'm convinced, so I ordered it. Amazon says same day delivery! These must be popular around here.

I don't have the tight space issue, and could go back to the Antra if there is something with limited clearance.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[California]

The GoGoNova works just fine, but why it is not my favored of the pair is the larger knobs located on the outside are a potential issue for me mig welding in tight spaces under vehicles where I could hit and move the adjusters.

The GoGoNova GT001-L helmet arrived and I got a chance to try it today. I like it! It's a nice improvement over what I have been using. The larger window is nice, but not a critical feature. But the large 'natural-color' display is far better. I hadn't realized how much natural color improves your sense of what's out there. Also the unshaded view is much brighter, a lot easier to use with poor surrounding light. It's a keeper.

Cons: The Amazon reviews are generally complimentary but some users say the headgear is so lightweight that it breaks easily. Could be, the headgear looks to be as light as possible. Not near as robust as my prior helmets. I expect to treat it gently. And I seem to be too pointy-headed, the lens assembly is obviously 90% of the weight of the whole thing and nodding my head to drop the helmet always pulls up the back of the headband. Not serious but its a two-handed helmet, I need to reach back and hold the back of the headband for lowering. Working through all of the many possible adjustments didn't help.

Overall, recommended. A nice improvement.

Thanks for the good advice here!

 

[scootr]

I just ordered the Gogonova helmet from Amazon. My old HF helmet is probably worse than I think. lol
Went with the recharge feature and exterior knobs. Most of my welding is table top stuff due to age restrictions. Looking forward to true color vision. Thanks for all the input and reviews.

 

[scootr]

Received the Gogonova helmet with exterior controls yesterday. What is the recommended filter setting for indoor mig use medium duty ? 11-12 ?