auto darkening helmet

a friend loaned me his harbor freight auto darkening helmet for my Sweed-10 project... I got a chance to use it today and all i can say is WOW... it sure helped my horridly crappy welding skills... and I will buy one down the road.

that is all :)

Yea, my H-F auto dark helmet is some of the best money I have spent, I can't imagine welding more than a tack once a year without it, let along building a roll cage like I have been doing recently.

Yup. Best money spent on welding.

Gotta a lot of use out of mine. Replaced the headband with the one from their face shield - more comfy and better sweat band and just bought a new pack of lenses - mine get too buggered up to see through.

A required item. I won't weld without one.

Well, I will, but I'll grumble about it.

how good are the cheap HF helmets compared to the significantly more expensive name brand helmets?

novaderrik wrote: how good are the cheap HF helmets compared to the significantly more expensive name brand helmets?

I have an older name brand helmet gifted to me by a welder friend of mine. During a recent work day I grabbed Sonic's HF AD helmet and it was light night and day. The HF helmet was fantastic. It could just be because my "good" helmet is over 10 years old now but his HF helmet outperformed it in every way. Next trip to HF Im getting me one.

Agreed. It makes a big difference. I have an HF auto helmet and also a Jackson auto helmet which, oddly, my mother-in-law gave me when she was done with her metal sculpture art phase. IMHO, they work the same. Unless you melt metal for a living, the HF helmet is the way to go. The only problem I have with them, and this holds true for both brands I've got, is that with TIG, sometimes the cup shields the arc and the helmet doesn't trigger. I learned pretty quickly, though, to stop and think about that before I'd strike an arc.

^They work... but you wouldn't want to use them all the time.. They don't go dark fast enough... They make up for it by being a little darker when not dark...

Still at the end of a day of welding... your eyes will be tired... if you are going to do a lot of welding spend the money on something better..

Really I get by on a cheapo by training myself to blink when I squeeze the trigger... Works alright...

The only other problem is welding it tight places I have shaded the sensor with either my hand holding the MIG gun or part of the car... Then of course you get flashed that way.... This isn't a problem on some nicer helmets..

But these are your eyes you are talking about.. So while I can say it works... and I have done it... I am not totally sure I recommend it..

I've worn out a Miller helmet- one corner of the lens won't darken, the tension adjuster on the pivot is broken, the foam is gone from the headband......I'm getting a new one, and bringing the old one home. I hope they still make the Maple Leaf helmet.

I agree, be careful using them alot, they are too slow and they are bad for your eyes. If you weld alot get a good one.

i wouldnt use one that is slower than 1/25000 r/t for any extended period of time unless i had to as i've noticed eye fatigue without spending all that much time with a slow one. a while back i bought an HPT Striker ultra XL which is that fast and has a HUGE window. man they make a big difference, especially when making a lot of tack welds.

back when i was researching i kept running into high (for the 50 buck price) recommendations for the cheap one at northern tool, which appears to be 1/25000 speed and adjustable. sounds like its not pro-level build though, but then its only 50... i was almost tempted but went with the big window known name. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200311850_200311850

I fought the auto darkening helmets for years. Finally gave in and bought a harbor freight one on sale. Mostly because it had cool flames.

Wish I would have bought that years ago. Though with the old manual helmet, I developed superb head flipping skills. I can flip a helmet down, or up.

When they first came out they were ~$600, now they're $49. Why would you not have one?

Dan

I have a Kobalt that was $99. It has a larger eye port than the HF unit and came recco'd buy a friend who uses one every day for work. Look at the reviews - a number of pros also agree. For replacement lens covers... I buy the Miller ones as Lowes rapes you for them. In fact, this helmet looks to be identical to a Miller brand helmet right down to the auto darkening lens. The major difference seems to be the paint job and the 1/3 price.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_190724-47120-SGY-A2_4294932199+4294965883_4294933768_?catalogId=10051&productId=1054393&Ne=4294933768&identifier=Kobalt&N=4294932199+4294965883&langId=-1&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&storeId=10151&searchQueryType=1

novaderrik wrote: how good are the cheap HF helmets compared to the significantly more expensive name brand helmets?

My experience: my son has the HF helmet and I have the Jackson $200 helmet. I'll take his any day. When my helmet needs batteries, the screen does NOT go dark so I get flashed. The 'needs batteries' led doesn't really tell the truth. The HF helmet is more comfortable (hard to believe)

I'm just a hobby welder and maybe there's something wrong with my helmet but at the end of the day, I feel safer with the HF one.

HF works. 'nuff said.

I have one and it works.

gjz30075 wrote: The HF helmet is more comfortable (hard to believe)

I've got the HF helmet at home, but lately I've been welding on the Chump car at a friends house. He's got a swanky Miller helmet that was probably at least three times the money mine was. Although I really like the Miller helmet, I always forget to turn it on the first time (since the hf is automatic) and it KILLS my temples unless I wear it loose or up really high. I thought I must have a oddly shaped head to thing the hf helmet is more comfortable than the pricey ones. Now I see I'm not alone.

Jackson rocks but are big $$ and did not last in my case. Two year old $400 helmet in garbage and this is acceptable lifespan.

Miller is nice light weight and seems to hold up. True on the non-darkening until you push the "ON" button. been caught a few times. No issues with the headband.

HF keeps going dark on me if I try to introduce a light into the action; something I do a lot. Other than that, they seem to give great value for the $$$

Haven't got to use the auto darkening helmet yet, but when I took a stick welding class my technique was always a second off. I'd strike the arc, blind myself, then have the helmet go down. I wonder why my welds were ugly?

Question about auto darkening:

Does it darken because of the optics in the lens or is it battery powered?

If it is battery powered, when the battery dies, does it fail open or fail closed?

Dan

Another question:

Has anyone noticed any difference in the settings for these helmets.

I have one and I cannot tell the difference between the lowest and highest setting. I have a $100 helmet also, the seem almost identical.

Mine changes slightly but enough.

I believe the harbor freight unit is solar charging... like 99% of every calculator (outside of the big fat graphing calcs)...