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Auto Darkening Welding Helmet - USA Made

3in1

Plastic
Joined
Dec 23, 2005
Location
IL
Hello,

It's time for me to hang up my 1979 welding helmet and upgrade to an auto-darkening helmet. I don't do much welding any more, just small projects couple times a year so I don't need a really expensive one. It's hard to give up a nice USA made helmet for one made in China. Visited Home Depot and their Lincolns ($100 & Up) were all made in China. Funny, their cheap $15 single darkness was made here. Couldn't find if Hobart or Miller were made here, their websites don't say. I'm thinking if they are made in China, everyone's helmets probably come out of the same factory, just have different shapes and configs. Why buy one for hundreds when it may be the same as the WEL-Bilt $50 one.

Anyone know if Miller or Hobart's helmets are made in the USA or some other brand and what price range they are in?

Any suggestions for a decent quality lower price auto darkening helmet? Can't justify hundreds for a new one when I only use it once or twice a year for an hour or two but I'm definetly tired of the old style.

Thanks
 
I went through this 7 or 8 months ago. I made up a pretty extensive spreadsheet. Unfortunately can't find it. Called helmet mfgr's, etc. I usually take "Avoiding Buying Chinese" a lot farther than most.

I ended up buying a Jackson helmet. It was the only one that was 100% Made in USA as best I could figure. And in my price range w/ features I wanted. I could certainly get by w/ a cheaper helmet, but I'm just leery of chinese quality standards when it comes to eye safety.

IIRC Speedglass had some domestic content along eith European content. Which I was OK with.

Miller, Hobart, Lincoln IIRC were all from China, Korea. So I crossed them off my list.

I bought a Jackson Pro EQC vari-shade. Nice helmet. It was $179 shipped from Cyberweld, still have the receipt. 100% made in USA as best I could uncover.

They are $184 now... but w/ 20% rebate:

Jackson Welding Helmet - Black Pro Variable Lens 14988
 
One thing to watch for is dead batteries if you don't use it often. I keep spare batteries in the drawer for my Miller helmet, but for a quick welding job, I still go back to my old hood - I know it will always work.
 
One thing to watch for is dead batteries if you don't use it often. I keep spare batteries in the drawer for my Miller helmet, but for a quick welding job, I still go back to my old hood - I know it will always work.
What about these AD helmets that don't require batteries or have a solar battery? Do those work ok on a dark day or inside a shop?

Thanks
 
The AD I have doesn't care how dark it is, it takes at least a spark to darken it. I've used it inside and at almost night outside and it did well. I got mine at true value cause someone stole my other one. I still use my Always Dark if I have a lot of not critical placement welds cause I know I won't get that 125,000th of a second flash. Then I can bitch when I flash myself before flipping it down.LOL

Ben
 
I have a Sperian Optrel e680 - nicest helmet I've ever used. I believe the company is Swiss, so I don't know if they're made in the USA or not, but I don't think they're from China. I used to use a Miller Elite, but a coworker had this Sperian that he never used anymore and let me try it out, and after a day with it I was sold, and he let me have it for barely half price even though it was still like new. I've also used a topend Lincoln that I borrowed from another coworker once, and the Sperian knocks both out of the park. Not super cheap, around $400, but worth every penny if you weld much, and they do have cheaper models without all the options mine has. Infinitely adjustable shade from DIN 5-13 in two ranges (5-9 and 9-13), so you can use it for very light TIG work all the way up to very heavy arc-gouging and the like. And it has a Grind mode, so with the push of a button it disables the autoshade and stays at DIN-4 for using a cutting torch or angle grinder etc.
 
I have one of the cheapest adjustable shade 3M Speed glas. Ok its not usa but is made in sweden and has a nice collection of eu + Australian testing standards on its badge. I love it, its so light and nice and small. If i can get my big head through the gap, chances are i can too with the helmet on.

You need to look into the adjustable shade thing too, it varies between makes. The 3M one i have is a constant shade level 13 protection from the nasty damaging frequencies of light, even when its not darkened. Hence for getting to switch it on (powers off after about 30 mins) may leave you dazzled for 30 seconds but totally unharmed.

As to switching times, well the arc does not reach full power instantly any rate. The Hf when tig'ing is enough to get mine to switch. And you could damn near look at those feeble lightening bolts all day! Same goes for mig, the arcs not instant grows gradually hence any switching time really is not noticeable in practice. I have also used a fair few other helmets of differing makes and have never encountered a delayed switch that's not solved by adjusting there sensitivity setting.

That's a damn use full option by the way, especially if you have a forklift with a flashing strobe not rotary beacon type light!

Personally i don't recommend the solar ones. The batteries last years in the speedglas helmets i have been around and are cheep to replace. A lot of the solar ones have moulded in batteries. They can't be replaced when there dead and the odds are good your lid will last long enough for them to die in a occasional - non heavy industrial use environment. All the more so if you keep it wrapped up in the dark! There sort of similar to digital verniers, the good ones have the electronics worked out well and just need the occasional infrequent battery change. The rest can leave a lot to be desired!

Oh just changed the lens and my speedglas lenses have made in Taiwan on the packet :-(

Only other thing i have noticed is that some of them are a lot clearer when not dark than others. It can make a big difference when welding in a darker corner! hence is something else to look for. Im making the assumption that although you want to buy American you don't want to buy rubbish either? Supporting low quality goods manufacturers based solely on location IMHO is just as fast a way to race to the bottom.
 
Auto darkening Welding Helmet 100% made in USA or Japan

I went through this 7 or 8 months ago. I made up a pretty extensive spreadsheet. Unfortunately can't find it. Called helmet mfgr's, etc. I usually take "Avoiding Buying Chinese" a lot farther than most.

I ended up buying a Jackson helmet. It was the only one that was 100% Made in USA as best I could figure. And in my price range w/ features I wanted. I could certainly get by w/ a cheaper helmet, but I'm just leery of chinese quality standards when it comes to eye safety.

IIRC Speedglass had some domestic content along eith European content. Which I was OK with.

Miller, Hobart, Lincoln IIRC were all from China, Korea. So I crossed them off my list.

I bought a Jackson Pro EQC vari-shade. Nice helmet. It was $179 shipped from Cyberweld, still have the receipt. 100% made in USA as best I could uncover.

They are $184 now... but w/ 20% rebate:

Jackson Welding Helmet - Black Pro Variable Lens 14988

Thank you for your efforts to locate a welding helmet made 100% in the Unites States of America. It seems nearly impossible to find important items made in the USA. I clicked on your link and the selling price is up to $195.00 (if I remember correctly). One of the lens (outer I think) is made in Vietnam (this really burns me as I remember young men a few years older were shipping out to that $hit hole and they never returned, were MIA, POW or returning in body bags). The main lens that darkens is made in Slovenia. I don't know that much about Slovenia, however, I don't want to risk my eyesight on a Country not well known to me. I found a Weldsart brand that is 100% made in Japan. I would prefer 100% made in USA, however, I will trust 100% made in Japan before I will trust something with components made in Vietnam and Slovenia. Has anyone use the Weldsart brand of welding helmets? I am learning to weld and safety is my first concern. I hope to learn to weld well enough to make repairs and build small projects at home. Thank you in advance for your kind assistance. I am new to the forum and I hope I did not make a huge mistake by posting to an old thread. Administrators of this fine board: Please accept my apologies if I made a terrible mistake in correct usage. Please move my message to the more correct area/thread if necessary. Thank you in advance for your kind assistance and your suggestions!
 
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Thank you for your efforts to locate a welding helmet made 100% in the Unites States of America. It seems nearly impossible to find important items made in the USA. I clicked on your link and the selling price is up to $195.00 (if I remember correctly). One of the lens (outer I think) is made in Vietnam (this really burns me as I remember young men a few years older were shipping out to that $hit hole and they never returned, were MIA, POW or returning in body bags). The main lens that darkens is made in Slovenia. I don't know that much about Slovenia, however, I don't want to risk my eyesight on a Country not well known to me. I found a Weldsart brand that is 100% made in Japan. I would prefer 100% made in USA, however, I will trust 100% made in Japan before I will trust something with components made in Vietnam and Slovenia. Has anyone use the Weldsart brand of welding helmets? I am learning to weld and safety is my first concern. I hope to learn to weld well enough to make repairs and build small projects at home. Thank you in advance for your kind assistance. I am new to the forum and I hope I did not make a huge mistake by posting to an old thread. Administrators of this fine board: Please accept my apologies if I made a terrible mistake in correct usage. Please move my message to the more correct area/thread if necessary. Thank you in advance for your kind assistance and your suggestions!

I visited what is now Slovenia in 1974 on a vacation to see my brother-in-law in Austria. At that time, it was called Yugoslavia. It was under the control of Tito at that time and was very pretty place just over the border from Austria. Since then, much has changed due to bitter conflicts.

It wouldn't bother me a bit to have Slovenian parts in my welding hood. I sort of don't like the Vietnam part however.

Slovenia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
If the "Vietnam" lens is indeed the outer one, it is just a disposable piece of clear plastic to keep the sparks from damaging the crucial bit of real glass that surrounds the auto-darkening liquid crystal that protects your eyes from the viscous ultra-violet light from your arc. As long as it is transparent it has no bearing on the safety of your eyes.

If you still harbor hard feelings toward the laborers in Vietnam making disposable outer lenses(most of whom were not born prior to the end of the conflict you mention) think of using those cheep plastic lenses as a way of keeping their population in the sweatshops so they can't rise up and attack us again.
 
If the "Vietnam" lens is indeed the outer one, it is just a disposable piece of clear plastic to keep the sparks from damaging the crucial bit of real glass that surrounds the auto-darkening liquid crystal that protects your eyes from the viscous ultra-violet light from your arc. As long as it is transparent it has no bearing on the safety of your eyes.

If you still harbor hard feelings toward the laborers in Vietnam making disposable outer lenses(most of whom were not born prior to the end of the conflict you mention) think of using those cheep plastic lenses as a way of keeping their population in the sweatshops so they can't rise up and attack us again.

That's an interesting way of looking at our present relationship with Viet Nam. Using your "logic", we will have nothing to fear from China since they are busy providing nearly everything that we buy nowadays. I feel better already.
 
I didn't say that I feel good about the consumerist mentality that has taken over our nation. I did not say that our "cheaper is better" and "lowest bidder gets the job" policies are anything but a short sighted recipe for disaster. I am a firm believer in buying USA made products when feasible and buying local goods when possible.

I did say that the piece of plastic from Vietnam would not pose and eye risk.

I did say that expressing hard feelings toward a country because 30+ we were fighting a proxy war on their soil and they played dirty to get us out is a little silly. If you don't like imports from former enemies don't buy them.

If you don't like cheep imports dominating our marketplace stop supporting the corporations that utilize the "free market" to flood us with things manufactured with subsidies and slave labor elsewhere. That means you'll have to pay top dollar for everything and it won't matter. We have a consumer driven economy. I'm fighting it.
 
I didn't say that I feel good about the consumerist mentality that has taken over our nation. I did not say that our "cheaper is better" and "lowest bidder gets the job" policies are anything but a short sighted recipe for disaster. I am a firm believer in buying USA made products when feasible and buying local goods when possible.

I did say that the piece of plastic from Vietnam would not pose and eye risk.

I did say that expressing hard feelings toward a country because 30+ we were fighting a proxy war on their soil and they played dirty to get us out is a little silly. If you don't like imports from former enemies don't buy them.

If you don't like cheep imports dominating our marketplace stop supporting the corporations that utilize the "free market" to flood us with things manufactured with subsidies and slave labor elsewhere. That means you'll have to pay top dollar for everything and it won't matter. We have a consumer driven economy. I'm fighting it.

If you think it's silly not to buy items from Viet Nam, take a trip to the Memorial sometime and read some of the names there. If they were alive, they probably wouldn't buy Vietnamese crap either.
 
fwiw I think Jackson is about the only made in usa autodark, but not all their parts and products are manufactured here. I have an Optrel e680 too, and a Miller performance helmet. The Optrel blows the Miller away in almost every category and I reach for it 9 out of ten times, but I think my next purchase is going to be either a Jackson Boss, or a Jackson W70 BHS. I need 3 helmets, and I really like the looks of the W70, even if it's not a USA made hood. I do like that Jackson supports Made in the USA products and manufacturing, so I like to support the companies as much as I can, even if it means buying an occasional quality import. Kind of like Starrett stuff...

The other thing I like about the W70 is that it has a solar cell...pros and cons to every hood it seems, nothing is really "the best" for everything. I really should get a fixed shade jackson too...
 
If you think it's silly not to buy items from Viet Nam, take a trip to the Memorial sometime and read some of the names there. If they were alive, they probably wouldn't buy Vietnamese crap either.

We as the USA fought wars with England, France, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Japan just to name a few of the top of my head. I guess you do not buy/own anything from any of these countries either?

And for the sake of the thread autodarkening lenses are available as retrofit for older fixed shade helmets, yes even the small 2x4 size.
Here is a link to a miller one, there are many others as well:
Miller Auto-Darkening Welding Lens - 2 X 4 Fixed Shade 770226

Rob
 
I went with a Jackson after my Miller had an issue with the darkening circuit.
Fortunately it defaulted to black when it failed and I did get a replacement after I sent it back under warranty.
The Mlller used the disc type batteries $$$ and would use them up if I didn't remove them when not in use.
The Jackson uses either a AA or AAA which I only have to replace once a year
For the year I had the Miller, it was an ok feeling helmet and the shielding on/off worked as I needed.
The Jackson for me is better balanced weight wise.

For any helmet purchase try and find one for fit/comfort before ordering.
Go with a wide screen if your eyes are over 40 yrs old
 
We as the USA fought wars with England, France, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Japan just to name a few of the top of my head. I guess you do not buy/own anything from any of these countries either?......................

I buy as littie as possible from those countries that you mention. In fact, I'm still pissed off about The Louisiana purchase which was necessitated by France's phony claim to some of our land. I didn't like the Alamo one bit and I hate Mexico's claim to California, which they are presently recapturing. The Revolutionary War of 1776 and the English coming back for another bite at the apple in 1812 bother me to this day. I'm extremely unhappy about WW's I, and II, especially regarding the Germans, and the way Italy switched sides on us. That wasn't fair; and don't forget Japan in Manchuria in 1937 and again 1941 to 1945. Yes, I still have an axe to grind.

But you may buy anything you wish. :D
 
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I buy as littie as possible from those countries that you mention. In fact, I'm still pissed off about The Louisiana purchase which was necessitated by France's phony claim to some of our land. I didn't like the Alamo one bit and I hate Mexico's claim to California, which they are presently recapturing. The Revolutionary War of 1776 abd the English coming back for another bite at the apple in 1812 bother me to this day. I'm extremely unhappy about WW's I, and II, especially regarding the Germans, and the way Italy switched sides on us. That wasn't fair; and don't forget Japan in Manchuria in 1937 and again 1941 to 1945. Yes, I still have an axe to grind.

But you may buy anything you wish. :D

yes, yes, but WHERE was your axe MADE!?:D
 








 
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