Auto darkening welding helmet

You brought up a good point about the quality of the helmet needing to be related to its intended use. I've had my $50 auto darkening helmet start flickering off from intense heat twice in the last few months. Once I was laying down a lot of metal with wire feed at about 200 amps and I had my face in really close to it. The other time I wasn't especially close but I was running hotter---maybe 300 to 350 amps with dual shield. I'd keep laying down metal until my gloves were smoking, then cool down for a few minutes and go after it again. When my helmet started flashing, I knew what was happening right away because of the first time, so I declared my experiment with dual shield to be finished. The helmet worked normally again after it cooled down for awhile.

I've been using the same helmet for more than a year now, maybe closer to two. I've got an arc going in front of me about 5-8 hours a week. The headgear broke about five months ago and I've had to replace the duct tape on it twice, but it darkens just like it did when I first got it.

I've got Jackson's cheapest variable shade helmet, too, but I'm saving it in case they want to remake the movie Flashdance, this time featuring a 59 year old man whose hair and memory have both vanished.

All the best, Stan

I think Radnor is the name of the town where Lincoln Electric has their business office. I suppose it means whatever it means when any company sells a line of products they don"t want to put their company name on.

I love auto-darkening helmets, can"t imagine trying to weld w/o one now. I flashed myself 20 times as much when I used a regular helmet. My eyes aren"t sensitive though, so I can"t say you won"t have the experience old had rather than the one I have.

Why don"t you try a Western Safety brand adjustable shade helmet from Harbor Freight? They"re almost always on sale for about $50. I use one all the time and I have no complaints about the optics. It"s a cheap helmet, for sure, but that keeps me from worrying about it too much.

All the best, Stan

It is adjustable for reaction time from slow to fast. I originally had it on slow and I started to get some flash. Since I put it up to fast, I haven't had any problems. From what I can tell they are fully solar, so if you keep it in a dark garage it helps to expose it to some bright lighting before you try to use it. I think that was part of my problem with the slow reaction time before. I was using it in very dark conditions.