Skylinerd1 Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Miller Elite is just about the goto helmet everybody in trade seems to use these days and I liked the one I used at my last job with air pack. Speedglas is overpriced. Other than that they are generally pretty good. When I look at a helmet I look for three things. 4 sensors. (4 tig its the most important thing end of story) colour of the shade and if I like it or not as every autodark seems a bit different from the next. comfort of the headgear. My only gripe about the miller Elite is the colour of the shade I never liked the green but its acceptable. I have a top of the line Balder that I imported from the UK and imo this has the best clearest display and the bluish tint when active is nice (they use a slightly different tech to most for the autodark). I reckon this is the best Mig helmet money can buy. The issue with this helmet is it only has two sensors and unless its on the highest sensitivity setting I find myself getting flashed in TIG sometimes. But I like the colour of the shade and the headgear so much I live with it. When they bring out a 4 sensor version im going to be all over it. The real balder version is better as you can get it with shade switch on the outside of the helmet and shades 6 to 13 with grinding modes etc. The Jackson versions tend to be more basic. This is the Kimberly Clark / Jackson version. Not as good as the top shelf Balder that you can get from the UK but its the same helmet with less options for all intensive purposes. http://store.cyberweld.com/jababh3audaw.html The Balder version: http://www.balder.si/index.php?sv_path=4546,5985,6968 The noticeable difference with this balder to any other helmet that I know of is you can see colour when the shade isnt on. You can read the red displays most welders tend to have with the helmet down! Try that with other brands... You cant see shit with those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Very cool stuff. Hate how my helmets grind switch is on the inside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sentra Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 pull my hair out and that would make me angry! .this-hair pullers and ear biters are by far my biggest "concern" i havent even seen a low power flashy in recent years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Thread dredge. I bought a cheap-ish CIGWeld helmet a couple of years ago which works fine on MIG and TIG. The issue I have is that I have trouble seeing what I'm doing when welding. Since I usually am just working at low amps/power I have it set on the minimum shade of 9, but can really just see the arc, not the metal around it. I note that some auto- models adjust down to shade 8, but I'm not sure if that would make an actual difference or not? Or would I be better off getting some portable lighting onto the weld area? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris r Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 ^ sums up my issues as well so I'm interested to hear peoples recommendations 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kicker Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 I had a similar problem till I noticed a plastic film on the lens that I was supposed to remove 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, kicker said: I had a similar problem till I noticed a plastic film on the lens that I was supposed to remove Was that a mechpro one from repco/appco? I had the exact same issue. My welding is still yuck, but at least I can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transom Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Had a spewpercheap auto darken helmet didn't last was crap bought a 99$ one from a welding supplies guy on trademe in Nelson works good for price has grind setting and was in faux carbon cos it's hard to find one without some horrendous graphics these days 10/10 would trade again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachlander Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 They have some decent looking ones from machinery house, top range one is 250 I think from memory, does 5-8, 9-13 plus grinding function. Thinking of getting one myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Shade definitely makes a huge difference especially when you are (example) under a vehicle and there is fuck all light. The Optrel Vegaview goes down to something like a 2.5 shade and is supposed to be a delight to use (but $$) You definitely want multiple sensors above and below the screen- especially on cheaper helmets (more expensive ones have other ways of sensing the arc and can make do with less) External switches are GREAT- you will discover this as soon as you need to get ur hand up in there to flick into grind mode) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Slightly on topic, but how do you know how dark to go? Arc eye is balls. So I gravitate towards the max. But seeing more sounds nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transom Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 All the reading I have done about arc eye and auto darken helmets suggests that you won't get arc eye thru the lens even if the auto darken is not working not that keen to test it out too much myself but I did google the hell out of the subject when my cheapy helmet was cutting in and out any welding professionals wanna enlighten or endarken us more about that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrstar Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I threw away my shithouse auto darken helmet http://www.weldingsupplies.co.nz/shop/Welding+Accessories/Safety+Equipment/Welding+Helmets/Automatic/Lincoln+Powercraft+Welding+Helmet.html suspect it was a battery issue but it was a soldered in battery and CBF messing about with it. was probably 4yrs old though. maybe not a bad run for the price. and new helmet is of similar questionable quality but at least has a replaceable battery. I tend to go superdark for MIG 12-14, and dial it brighter maybe 8-9-10 for tig depending on amps and ambient light. darker for AC tig as mostly i need more amps. someone should invent some bluetooth thing that works off welder amps signal to auto darken helmet to correct level based on amperage and not need light sensor and have delay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 My old helmet had the battery die. It was okay during the day. But at night the lack of solar power made it too slow to go dark. Didn't get full on arc eye. But my eyes did feel a bit shit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoKer Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 @Gasser has this issue at the moment I think (dead Batt) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 My old helmet (about 18 years old actually) had the internal batteries die. I replaced them with a couple of C-cells inside the helmet in a holder. Currently has a couple of AA's stuck in there. Still works OK. Harbour Freight makes some quality gear! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I had a closer look at the Cigweld helmet, turns out it has a grinding switch and delay hidden inside. That didn't help with the visual issue (actually made it worse when I accidentally welded on the grinding setting). Not sure that I'm ready to drop $$$ without being able to try one out to see if it is better. Will do some more research. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 4 hours ago, mjrstar said: I threw away my shithouse auto darken helmet http://www.weldingsupplies.co.nz/shop/Welding+Accessories/Safety+Equipment/Welding+Helmets/Automatic/Lincoln+Powercraft+Welding+Helmet.html suspect it was a battery issue but it was a soldered in battery and CBF messing about with it. was probably 4yrs old though. maybe not a bad run for the price. and new helmet is of similar questionable quality but at least has a replaceable battery. I tend to go superdark for MIG 12-14, and dial it brighter maybe 8-9-10 for tig depending on amps and ambient light. darker for AC tig as mostly i need more amps. someone should invent some bluetooth thing that works off welder amps signal to auto darken helmet to correct level based on amperage and not need light sensor and have delay. The latest optrel helmet has (I forget what they call it) automatic shade variation based on arc brightness. My current helmet senses some voodoo and doesn't even need a visible arc to darken...hold handpiece in the air Infront of helmet..click the HF start button and the helmet will darken.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I used a mig at someones place and I used his cheep china auto darken helmet and I reckon it didn't darken fast enough, has anyone come across this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 6 hours ago, Transom said: All the reading I have done about arc eye and auto darken helmets suggests that you won't get arc eye thru the lens even if the auto darken is not working not that keen to test it out too much myself but I did google the hell out of the subject when my cheapy helmet was cutting in and out any welding professionals wanna enlighten or endarken us more about that? Not sure on the brand but I used a nice autodarken helmet that the battery had gone flat, was in a rush so not keen to leave it in the sun to charge up, did ~5min of painful squinting and somehow no arc-eye. 6 hours ago, Transom said: All the reading I have done about arc eye and auto darken helmets suggests that you won't get arc eye thru the lens even if the auto darken is not working not that keen to test it out too much myself but I did google the hell out of the subject when my cheapy helmet was cutting in and out any welding professionals wanna enlighten or endarken us more about that? Not sure on the brand but I used a nice autodarken helmet that the battery had gone flat, was in a rush so not keen to leave it in the sun to charge up, did ~5min of painful squinting and somehow no arc-eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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