I almost hate to start this again..........

Goose

Well-known Member
Was using my HF auto darkening helmet to do some MIG welding yesterday when the headband broke where it attaches to the helmet itself.

This helmet is somewhere around 6 to 8 years old, and it owes me nothing. I had problems keeping the battery charged lately, anyway, maybe from disuse. I knew I was going to use it yesterday, so last week I sat it in the sun for a half day per instructions. It seemed a bit slow darkening anyway yesterday, so I'm looking for a new helmet. I won't bother to try to fix this one.

I've been cruising Amazon with interesting results. Looking at the reviews, it appears price and function aren't necessarily synonymous. A $34 helmet is as apt to get solid five star reviews as a $200 unit. And some helmets priced at several hundred dollars may have only 3 or 4 star reviews, although I would guess that anyone who shells out several hundred dollars for a helmet is a professional and apt to be more critical.

I've kinda homed in on a Northern Industrial Welders helmet as being sufficient for my purposes. Full five star reviews right down the line, and priced at $59.99 plus reasonable shipping.

Any input?
 

Thars an old saying, you get what you pay for it.
I wouldn't run the risk of injuring my eyes just to save a few dollars.
When the battery in my hood went bad I bought new hood and everything for a very few dollars more than the battery cost.
 
As you said, it will depend on how much you will use it. I've used the $50 helmets and they work ok, but once you use a good one you can tell the difference. For me, with failing eyesight the better helmets are good enough that I don't need cheaters, but the cheaper ones I need them. I think you are right in that the reviews are given by the users and pro welders are jot likely yo use a $50 auto helmet, and will expect more from one. I just bought the lincoln helmet and think it's pretty good.
 
My 2 sons bought me this for Christmas. Nice and light. And a nice big window. The only difference that I found between this one and the Lincoln was a decal about $70.00 . Good Luck.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HTP-Striker-Digital-Auto-Darkening-Welding-Helmet-Hood-Mig-Tig-Stick-Arc-Mask-/141637606782?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20fa425d7e
 
I would agree with Harvey.

I got used to it just getting dark when I welded and forgot the helmet one time, will not do that again.
 
For years i had a 250 dollar Hobart auto dark helmet that only came out for delicate tig welding, at that price not a chance was it getting banged around in the truck, dropped off an excavator boom or into the mud wherever I may be welding. I used the large window flip front type for everything else. Well my flip front ones all been getting pretty tired now so went to go buy a new one, hmm local welding shop doesn't have em ok onto the net we go....seems they are no longer available realy. I suppose the decrease in stick welding which is the main reason for flip front, ie chipping slag, and the cost coming down on the auto dark helmets has made them a poor seller. So I have started to use my auto dark more for general welding nowdays, and I must say I had the chance to use one a decade newer and they certainly have improved too in terms of sensitivity and false trip avoidance.
 
I'm too am an occasional weld. Why an auto darkening? I would get many flashes using the old school ones. I will not be without AD one. I don't care how bad others think AD's are. My eyes don't like the flashes I get from trying to use the old helmets. Besides my old eyes aren't getting any better either.
 
I bought an auto darkening helmet about 5 years ago from the local welding supply place
has worked perfectly,I'm not going to let a few $$ keep me from having good eye protection
if I only weld a few minutes a month on average.Not worth the chance.
 
The new ad helmets like mine get clear enough for grinding and chipping now. I really like not having to have an extra shield for that
 
because you can have the helment in place when you get the electrod in place and strike the arc it is still where it needs to be. With the others you get to position them approximatly in place then get your electrod in place and then tip the helmet down and try to strike the arc and you are way off of where you want to be.
 
I've had the harbor freight ad helmet for a few years now - bought it at their parking-lot sale, I think it was under 30 bucks. Just too cheap not to try it out.

It proved to be a great purchase.

I'm your typical weld-a-handful-of-times a month kinda guy so I can't tell you what these helmets lack - but I can tell you I've got zero complaints with it.

Auto darkening, and adjustable shade level - for that kinda money... Even though I am kind of a tool snob, I'll have a hard time convincing myself to buy anything more expensive when this one gives out.

The ONE argument I could see for something different is a model that has more viewing space. Not necessary, but I could see where that'd be nice to have. But I personally wouldn't pay a lot more to get it.

If you DO go with the more expensive one - please let us know how it goes. I'd like to hear a real world comparison by an average user.
 
(quoted from post at 19:42:24 05/26/15) just my point of view , but if you are only doing some occasional welding why do you need a auto darkening helmet?

An auto darkening helmet lets us old guys with shaky hands actually do a good job of welding, instead of running a nice bead somewhere other than intended. I can put the stinger right where I want it and start welding.
 
I'm beginning to mistrust the 'reviews' and 'star ratings' since I saw an ad for a company that will build a website for you. They bragged that they will also write and include 'customer reviews' for your product(s). I also read that if you write a good review for a company you hired from Angie's list, they can't get it included in the reviews unless they pay extra money to Angie. So it seems that the Supreme Court ruling that advertising does not necessarily need to be truthful is in full effect.

So much for honesty and truthfulness!
 
I bought a HF autodark hood years ago as well. It quit the auto part and now is just another flipper. I bought the one Lance was hawking a while back and love it.
 
First auto darkener I got was many years ago. It was basically a HF type I got on Ebay for less than 40 bucks. I tried out a Speed Glass at work and got flashed pretty good the day I used it. I have never had that problem with my cheapie.
Did a lot of welding with that one and it finally quit on me about 13 years after I got it.
Tried a Miller and it would flash me pretty good in certain positions.
Currently have another HF cheapie. Use it for mainly TIG welding but do some MIG as well. Has adjustable shade which is an improvement over my old one.
I won't hesitate to get another one in 10 years or so when this one craps out.
 
Never used an auto helmut yet , always relied on my large lens, long neck with a #10 lens --used to be #12 but i need more light and also use my reading glasses .

Guess i have fallen behind with hi-tech stuff . In fact i just bought a 115 volt 70 amp suitcase today . i do some store welding and just hate dragging small jobs to the farm and starting the 400 amp 2cyl detroit --guess i'm getting lazy , hope that new buzz box works

Larry --ont.
 

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