Welding helmet recommendation help please

[Rebeldad1]

over 70 and fighting to see a weld like a lot of you.
Never used a auto darkening helmet. Still old school. I'm sure (hoping) a auto darkening hood will help me start my welds where they are supposed to be. Dont do much welding anymore. Some stick, some wire feed.

Looking for a reasonably priced helmet. Doesnt need a lot of bells and whistles. Just something simple.
Reading some of the threads a must have would be a helmet I can get cheater glass for and adjustable shades of darkness. Possibly adaptable to a hardhat if needed? not a big issue.... just keeps a lot of splatter off the head.
Anything else?
A lot of you have gone through lots of helmets. Are there any common ones that stand out?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[AWSubie]

Take a look at usaweld.com and their “striker” brand helmets. They sell for around $140. With the display technology available today, you don’t need to spend more to get a wide, clear view, “grind” mode, variable shade, and reasonably comfortable headgear.

If $140 is over budget look at Eastwood.com I don’t have personal experience with these helmets but the reviews seem good.

 

[3Ts]

I started welding with a fixed shade small (2x4 or whatever the small size is). I was reluctant to go to an auto darkening hood, but finally gave in when I couldn't get my welds to start in the right place. It also had a larger lens. So! Auto darkening are the only way to go!!! My current helmet comes from tractor supply and has an adjustable shade as in I can turn a dial to get the shade I want. It also has a grind mode, and was under $100. I still have my fixed shade, but it's sitting on the shelf gathering dust.

I'm also over 70 and do mostly MIG anymore, but still use stick for some items.

 

[WranglerX]

Several things not necessarily related to "new" helmet, though a AD helmet is really good for us oldsters...

Try with magnifying lenses in helmet, I find 2 diopter cheater lens really help.
Flood a lot of ambient light on area to weld, actually putting headlight on helmet helps....
Clean weld area very well and highlight bead line with white or silver marking paint stick.....

Edit to add: Go see opthamologist about if you have cataracts, I have had cataract surgery in both eyes and it helps immensely....

Dale

 

[GeneV]

This is what I have, <$40 on Amazon, it's great: Antra AH6-260-0000

#4-13 shade adjustment, sensitivity and delay adjustment, grinder mode, comes with a bunch of extra lense covers, and you could put magnifying lenses in there if you need them. Dunno how they stick all that into a 40 buck price tag, but it's a hella deal.

Quick edit: For some reason, this website is redirecting amazon links to ebay. Amazon has a better price on this, just go on there and look up the model number.

 

[Captain Dirty]

over 70 and fighting to see a weld like a lot of you.
Never used a auto darkening helmet. Still old school. I'm sure (hoping) a auto darkening hood will help me start my welds where they are supposed to be. Dont do much welding anymore. Some stick, some wire feed.

Looking for a reasonably priced helmet. Doesnt need a lot of bells and whistles. Just something simple.
Reading some of the threads a must have would be a helmet I can get cheater glass for and adjustable shades of darkness. Possibly adaptable to a hardhat if needed? not a big issue.... just keeps a lot of splatter off the head.
Anything else?
A lot of you have gone through lots of helmets. Are there any common ones that stand out?

Thanks in advance!!!

At your age it is likely you wear glasses, you may have moved beyond the strength of drugstore reading glasses (and cheaters), and likely the prescription for each eye is different. I have all 4 problems. I normally wear progressive bifocals and find the magnification field is too small and close to the bottom of my field of view when wearing the helmet. I have tried wearing the glasses upside down when welding or doing overhead work; it is too cumbersome. My work-around is reading glasses that have the full magnification over the entire lens, and they work well for welding and overhead work like wiring. Middle and far distance acuity suffers but is okay for moving around the shop.

When I shopped for auto-darkening helmet I found the HD, HF, NT, and other cheap models were an order of magnitude slower than the Millers or the Arc One I bought. (1/2000 second vs 1/20000) I suspect the number of arc strikes left in these old eyes is limited, and the faster speed is warranted. Arc One is a Taunton, MA company bought at a local Air Gas dealer, not sure if it available where you are.

 

[gsganzer]

I have an autodarkening and I have mixed views about it, especially if you'll be using it outdoors. More importantly is probably the use of a cheater lens if you need it.

 

[dragoneggs]

Cheater lens mounted inside your helmet was the best thing by far I did to improve my welding. Gotta see the puddle.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Interesting timing: I just did an 8 minute video on welding hoods for my welding students this week. Usually I am always late to these kinds of questions! :thumbsup:

You will like an auto-darkening welding hood, so go right out and get one: you will not regret it.

Also, do not over-spend. My auto-darkening welding hood was bought at Harbor Freight for $50 last week. It does all I need it too. The cheaper welding hoods have only (2) sensors instead of (4) or even (6), but you only need that when you are doing mirror welding, pipe welding, or places where you are not always around the arc to get the helmet to trigger on. When I worked at a shipyard...welding 8 hours a day...yeah, a $400 welding hood was justified. As a welding instructor, or welding at home; a $50 one is just fine.

Another point: do not think that setting the shade higher or lower is going to save your eyes, or let you see better. Shade is about the intensity of the arc. I like to put my hood on 10 for stick or tig, 11 for flux-core, and for bare metal wire maybe 12-13. Putting your weld hood at 13 is not better, as it just makes you squint (and makes it hard to see your welds). But equally, setting the hood at say 9, makes it just as hard to see with too much arc light.

 

[BrokenTrack]

But I did a companion video to welding hoods, about how to start welds. This was only in regards to stick welding, but here are (3) different methods you can use to allow a previously welded rod, to light up like it is a brand new rod, so you do not waste welding rod, or struggle to get it lit.

1. Flick your wrist IMMEDIATELY after stopping your weld. A ball of snot will fly off the end of the rod, and when you go to start it again, it will arc like a brand new rod.

(I do not like this method as it can start fires or burn other people, but it does work really well.)

2. The reason a rod does not restart like a brand new rod is because there is a little bit of flux protecting the metal filler of the rod. I like to take my gloved-thumb and gently break that bit of flux off the bottom of the rod before lighting it up again.

(I typically do this, but it can burn the thumbs off your gloves prematurely).

3. This is my favorite, and preferred method. Take a piece of wood, any wood, hard or softwood, and immediately after finishing your weld, put the still hot rod onto the wood and let it burn in for a second. That consumes that flux, and you can start your next weld as if that rod is brand new. Try it, it is amazing how well it works!