Are cheap welding helmets any good? (recommendations?)

[NCBurb]

Howdy. it looks like my old auto-darkening welding helmet has bit the dust, so time to find a new one. As little as I weld I hate to spend $150 or more, but at the same time, you only have one set of eyes, so I definitely don't want to take any chances. I'm just wondering if the Harbor freight or other ones for less than $50 are any good? Any recommendations for a good one that won't break the bank? Or should I just suck it up and get a Lincoln or another Hobart like my old one? I mostly weld smaller stuff, although i am hoping to build myself a bumper one of these days. I've just got a little 120v MIG setup. All tips, etc appreciated.

 

[RedBeard_83]

Hobart makes a decent one . and I paid $60 or 70 for it IIRC. It's what I use. Auto darkening and has multiple shade settings including a grinding setting . works good for at home use but if you are welding for a considerable amount a time I would recommend a better one . in sure all the welders and fabricators will chime in on this

 

[wanderinthru]

I would suggest to learn the skill of flipping your hood, and use a static lense(? spelling sucks) It is not hard to do and you don't have to wonder if the shade will work or if the battery is dead. That being said static lenses come in different colors of shade, orange, green and blue have heard that eye color determins what color one needs?? Dunno just heard that, I can see nothing with orange, see good with blue. I pretty much weld for a living and have for some time and only use an auto dark if I'm TIG welding really small stuff. Get you a good, Fibre Metal, Jackson or Huntsman hood, figure out your shade and color and your set for life. For under 50 bucks if you have to go thru several lenses.

Edit. It's a passive lense, not static.....though I do not know why?

 

[Swearbody]

I have the el-cheapo auto darkening from HF. Picked it up for $35. Its light weight and fits well even wearing glasses...Works as described. I have no complaints

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[shiftpro]

I would suggest to learn the skill of flipping your hood, and use a static lense(? spelling sucks) It is not hard to do and you don't have to wonder if the shade will work or if the battery is dead. That being said static lenses come in different colors of shade, orange, green and blue have heard that eye color determins what color one needs?? Dunno just heard that, I can see nothing with orange, see good with blue. I pretty much weld for a living and have for some time and only use an auto dark if I'm TIG welding really small stuff. Get you a good, Fibre Metal, Jackson or Huntsman hood, figure out your shade and color and your set for life. For under 50 bucks if you have to go thru several lenses.

Edit. It's a passive lense, not static.....though I do not know why?

I don't weld for a living anymore but I can't use my high end Miller Infinity. I threw it into the wall. I love the optics, the adjustable auto darkening, but the fancy head gear I can't get to stay on my head. I have adjusted it to go as low as possible on my head, and when I do the head nod to drop the helmet the fricken piece of **** just comes right off my head. It has that soft silicon type plastic. I like the Infinity because it has the larger window. When I welded in the oil field and shop I always used the large window because rig welding doesn't always allow you to get your head in the optimum position to see what the hell is going on.

An important point for the hobby or beginner...... the cheap auto darkening helmets may not go dark enough for much over 100 amps so beware.

 

[bucket]

I really like a large viewing window, which usually means spending money on a good one. But one feature that is very nice on the more expensive models is having multiple arc sensors. The cheap helmets usually have just one sensor above the window. Nothing sucks more than striking an arc and then being blinded by a lense that didn't darken because you didn't realize the arc sensor was blocked by something.

 

[Paladin]

I would suggest to learn the skill of flipping your hood, and use a static lense(? spelling sucks) It is not hard to do and you don't have to wonder if the shade will work or if the battery is dead. That being said static lenses come in different colors of shade, orange, green and blue have heard that eye color determins what color one needs?? Dunno just heard that, I can see nothing with orange, see good with blue. I pretty much weld for a living and have for some time and only use an auto dark if I'm TIG welding really small stuff. Get you a good, Fibre Metal, Jackson or Huntsman hood, figure out your shade and color and your set for life. For under 50 bucks if you have to go thru several lenses.

Edit. It's a passive lense, not static.....though I do not know why?

I agree 100% with this! Learn the head nod and use a single shade lens. You know for sure that way that your eyes are protected when that hood drops. I welded for a living for over 30 years and the only time I ever burned my eyes was using a shop supplied auto- darkening lens. Frying your eyes is absolutely no fun. Sometimes the new and improved fancy stuff ain't worth a crap and only works extremely well to remove more money from your wallet and to me that applies to welding hoods! You only get one set of eyes, PROTECT THEM!!!

 

[82sbshortbed]

I don't know much about welding other than you don't want to burn your eyes. My grandpa burned his once and told me I never want to do that.

 

[Vbb199]

I have the bobo auto darkening helmet from HF, just no stickers or cool decals

 

[Vbb199]

I don't know much about welding other than you don't want to burn your eyes. My grandpa burned his once and told me I never want to do that.

Feels like sand in your eyes

 

[PrairieDrifter]

I burned my eyes really bad one time. Never again... just take the word of the people who talk from experience lol. The only way to help it heal is to get sleep, trust me when I tell you I couldn't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried, and on the other hand I couldn't get anywhere near sleeping in the condition I was in, had to take some sleeping pills. Woke up after like 7-8 hours and my eyes were sore but didn't want to scratch them out of my skull, and weren't causing me real pain.

Was from an auto darkening helmet, I did A LOT of welding those couple weeks though, only happened that one night though.

 

[Ricko1966]

Never had an auto darkening helmet learned with a stick and old flip hood. Have burnt my eyes twice, my fault, not the hoods. But anyway a little trick for welding burned eyes, cut 2 potato slices and tie them over your eyes with a wet bandana and go to bed, learned it from an pipefitter that welded oil pipelines. I have no idea if there's any medical science to it or its psychological but it works. Now please nobody tell us it's B.S. because then it won't work anymore.

 

[TubeTruck]

It depends on what I am doing. I have both a passive and auto helmet. If I'm welding in an area where I have to do a crunch to keep my head tucked in somewhere I'll use the auto. Welding in an area where I have room I'll use the passive. They both have their uses. Like others said, just make sure your auto works. Mine is a Hobart and has an adjustable range from 9-13 and a sensitivity adjustment. It also has a button to test the lens.

 

[waterpirate]

I bought the 100.00 auto dark at lowes 6 years ago. No complaints.
Eric

 

[wanderinthru]

Never had an auto darkening helmet learned with a stick and old flip hood. Have burnt my eyes twice, my fault, not the hoods. But anyway a little trick for welding burned eyes, cut 2 potato slices and tie them over your eyes with a wet bandana and go to bed, learned it from an pipefitter that welded oil pipelines. I have no idea if there's any medical science to it or its psychological but it works. Now please nobody tell us it's B.S. because then it won't work anymore.

Good ole tatters!! Just to say, from experience, instead of slicing the potato, take a cheese grader to it and then you can squeeze the juice into your eyes, then get that tatter mush mashed down in your eye sockets. Info I hope no one ever needs!

Far as welding hoods go, big screen, little screen, passive or auto. Keep extra clean clear lenses for them, you cannot see therefore weld with a dirty cover/clear lens.