Where would you buy a welding helmet today?

[mikeylikesit]

What's odd about AD helmets is there seems to be very little emphasis on the actual performance of the lens. In other words, how quickly does it react to the arc? It would seem that a helmet which reacts twice as fast as another would have a great impact on how much arc burns your eyes before it goes dark.

if youve noticed on any of the higher end helmets ,it may have purple or blue outer glass (depending what angle you look at it ). thats the band pass which always filters the uv/ir. only visible light passes through. so even getting flashed , your not getting hit with uv/ir.
ill post a link to a good article where a represenative from baldor says the eye cant tell the difference from one reaction time to another once the speed is faster than .2milliseconds. all the name brand helmets have reaction times alot faster than .2ms. miller are about .05ms. optrel about .1ms i believe. all the various speedglas models are .1ms.
if your not good at math then ill explain. optrel and speedglas are 2x faster than the .2ms thresh hold that aparently the eye cant even tell a difference. miller is even 2x faster than optrel and speedglas.
the super high reaction times are likely for company marketing and bragging rights is what im thinking.

Welding helmets, with color

These days welders can peer through welding helmets and see the world in color.

www.thefabricator.com

 

[metalmagpie]

I bought a Speedglas XL in 1988. It was spendy at the time, something like $275. However, I am still using it! Sometimes I wonder about a new hood. But then I finish another big project and think screw it, I'm done welding. Riiight.

metalmagpie

 

[rons]

It's been six months.
Where in the South Bay Area is a good walk-in store with top quality welding helmets?

 

[dkmc]

Still searching for a USA helmet with Motorola and Texas Instruments chips on the board........LOL

 

[Richard King]

harbor freight in oakland ca - Bing

Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you.

www.bing.com

 

[Dennisrech]

And probably the answers change every 6 months.
Or stay with what a local welding supply sells. I wrote down brand/model and searched. Not one hit. But that was 10 years ago.
I need a quality auto-darkening helmet, as long as there is no dramatic art printed on it.

And newer isn't better. What helmet is considered a time test favorite.
(have had it with solid shades. always get a bad start position)

There is a certain amount of discussion concerning flash. Check the helmet specifications for Ansi certification. It is an industry standard that governs the performance of welding helmets. ANSI Z87.1 certifies that helmets offer UV and IR protection, are both thermally and electrically insulating and either self-extinguishing or noncombustible in design. Also get one that advertises "True Color Technology". It will likely be a little more clear.
I have a HF Titanium and it works just fine. If the helmet has the Ansi certification and True Color the next thing is to check the fit (not all heads are the same), the friction locks and whether the helmet holds cheater lenses and if it interferes with glasses if you wear them.
If you do TIG welding, make sure that the helmet is TIG rated. Most are now, but some helmets will not darken if you're welding at less than 20 amps or so. Get one with grinding mode if you do fine TIG work. You may need to use it if welding under 20 amps.
As far as flash goes, it is the glass lens that protects from UV, not the dark. UV does not go through glass. Dark allows for one to see the puddle.

 

[rons]

Somebody told me to just blink right when the arc begins. Then it doesn't matter what much.
I didn't know about TIG rated. My machine can dial down to 5 amps for running beads on Coke cans.

 

[Delmarvan]

The ESAB a40 is a great broad spectra ADF helmet you can get off amazon for $150.
Pretty sure you can find it for even less if you do some shopping around but bang for buck that's just about the best deal around.

 

[Trboatworks]

Cyberweld

I have been running the Optrel Panoramaxx CLT 2.0 Silver for a year now.
Great helmet.

Panoramaxx CLT (Silver)

Ranked "Best Overall Welding Helmet" by WeldGuru, the Panoramaxx CLT (silver) offers a panoramic view w/ unique Crystal Lens Technology for a true-color.

optrel.us

Want protection......................use a passive hood. Period.
AD darkens 1/ 25,000 second. It's a delay. Not much, but it's a delay- It's hard on your eyes.

I weld all day in low light, and I get eye strain that I don't get with a passive. Is what it is. AD is hard on yer eyes.

For stick, and flux core, AD is allright. I prefer a Jackson True Sight, or a regular passive hood. Can't believe HF even comes into the discussion.........but hey..........it's your eyes(shrug)

Judge a cartridge by what you see. Is it tinted? Or is the puddle the color of molten metal. True Sight gives you an accurate color, which translates in nicer welds..................or at least, better visibility.

If you don't mind the green tint, a passive shade is fine. It's all about the puddle anyways. No matter what color it is. For old eyes, like mine, the True Sight gives me an edge that I lost years ago.

“Hard on eyes”

From what exactly?
I thought the lens in an AD hood has exactly the same UV protection as a passive hood at all times which makes the AD speed immaterial?

This might be a decent tech review to lay out the question:

Benefits of autodarkening helmets come to light

Autodarkening technology has established a firm place in the welding industry not only as a piece of equipment that provides excellent protection, but also as a means to improve welding performance.

www.thefabricator.com

 

[snowman]

Bakers Gas and Welding Supplies from IOC are both good online distributors that have knowledgable people you can talk to.

If you know exactly what you want, wait for a 20% off Zoro coupon and buy it there.

You are lucky.

I needed new O Rings in my smith torch. The one that is sitting behind the counter at Baker.

"oh, we would need to order them in"

I just figured, I'm here, I'm checking out, and I see something in the checkout lane I remember needing.