Hands down, the Harbor Freight Adjustable Auto Darkening Helmet is the VERY BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK. The Northern one is probably the same one. Don't spend it if you don't have to. Good Luck. VR&C.
I bought on of the Harbor Freight and then one of the Northern Auto Dark when i first decided to switch over. Both did not do the job for me. Sold em at the swap meet. I have a Miller Elite in my shop and It is awesome and I just bought a Miller Pro Hobby for work. Love em both. Good range on the sensitivity and darkness and they work well with the magnifiers I need to see better. My welding had started to get sloppy until I switched helmets, I just couldn't see well enough. Best money I could have spent!
how hard is it to place your torch where you want it, flick your head, helmet comes down, go to town. How did anyone weld before auto darkening helmets? they must have been pretty good.
That's not really what makes an auto-dark so useful. The times I really appreciate my auto dark are when I'm stuffed up inside the chassis of a race car, where I could never hope to swing the helmet up out of the way, or where I'm under a car and have to hold something in place while I tack, or again where there isn't room to swing up a passive helmet. Just out on the bench, there isn't that much difference, but when you're in a bind and/or out of position, you'll quickly learn to love that helmet that you don't have to swing up to see out of.
I think you miss the point. They are very useful when doing tacking, or stitch welding in particular. Also handy when you are contorted into a car and can't move around much or worse yet when you accidentally hit the trigger. There are so many times that they just save time that makes them well worth while. Maybe not for production welding of the same old thing over and over, but for car crafting - very useful
I don't do much "bench welding" ,but i know what your talking about. It can be a bear to get you helmet flipped down when your cramped inside a car. I'll still take a standard helmet any day. For me i can see a lot better out of a big window gold lens. I usually have more trouble trying to actuate the pedal with my left ass cheek than trying to get my helmet down, but to each his own. If I use a auto darkening all day, even with the shade turned to max and the delay turned down, It makes my eyes hurt the next day (slight flash burn i guess, no matter how fast it gets dark its not going to beat the speed of light.) Just my $.02.
All the comparisions are great I learned how to weld with the old flip down helmet and on the old Lincoln stick welder I still use it,but when I tried the wire welder welding got alot easier not all the stopping and changing rods,and the auto darking helmet is a great change to,sounds like you will be welding alot so invest in a descent helmet,its your eyes so protect them the best you can.$ 35 for a welding helmet is like running recaps on the front of a dragster.
I bought a Jackson when they were 359 bucks....when the batteries finally went flat [6 or 8 years] I installed new ones but it still won't darken anymore. I think I'll wander over to HF and see if I can find the guts to fit my helmet...now that I put all my coolest stickers on it.
I've been using a Harbor Freight Auto-Darkening Helmet for years, it has always been good, but cheap & flimsy, I broke the adjusters and headband a few times so it's all glued together and barely hanging in there. I bought a cheapy auto darkening helmet on eBay about a year ago to replace the HF helmet, and the side adjusters broke in the first week, so it's been patched together and never operates right either. I didn't want to spend big bucks, but figured I had to if I was going to have a good helmet that would last. So, I was about to spend the money for an Optrel, Speedglas, or Miller Elite when I came across the Accu-Strike Helmet. I kick my self every time I use it for not having purchased one a long time ago. It's not auto darkening, but has a chin-strap that operates the welding shield by moving your jaw. It's the best god damned helmet I've ever seen and it's cheap, made in the USA, and you can buy all the parts for it direct from the maker. I love it because I can move my jaw, see where my next weld is, then shut my mouth and weld. Plus you can grind with it...which for me is probably one of the best parts about it since I'm always swapping the auto-darkening helmet for the face shield back & forth while fabricating something...many of you know the frustration....well, no more frustration with the Accu-Strike! I paid $90 for the helmet, and got the "Mig-It" MIG gun attachment for quick jobs for another $20 or so. It has been a lifesaver as much as the helmet has. Check it out here, they have a demo video too, and you can order direct from the maker... www.Accustrike.com
Those 35 dollar helmets are absolutely fantastic, for making you blind, I used one for an 8 hour day, after the third day I had such a headache I thought my brain exploded. I am not sure if I have permanent vision damage or not, possibly. I bought the Miller helmet with the full view, headache gone. Still have vision troubles from the flash response on the 35 jobber. They also do not respond accurately if you are using a tig, they let a heck of a lot of light in considering you should be at 11 or 12. I'll use the 35 one again when I can go to WalMart and buy a new set of eyes and painlessly and perfectly pop them in for 20 bucks, til then keep that stuff over there.
Another thing I will mention that Jackson changed between when I bought my Shadow and when I bought the BOSS, is their headgear. The new version is a 100% improvement on the old design. Everything is adjustable, and the cinch band is a lot wider (which means you can wear it tighter without feeling like your head is being bisected with a wire saw). They are also still made in the USA. I expected all of them to be made in China, but Jackson, Miller, and I'm sure a few of the other big name brands are still made in the USA. Not Hobart or ESAB though. Obviously HF is from China. Perhaps the most significant difference between the super cheap $35 auto-dark helmets and the more expensive versions is that even when "clear", the new versions of all the USA made helmets do not transmit any UV light at all. So even if you get flashed, you're not getting the part of the arc generated light that is worst for your eyeball innards. When you get flashed with a HF or other cheapo lens, you're getting the whole spectrum.
Thanks for all the responses! Since I've never owned an auto darkening helmet and I don't even have a MIG yet, I decided to pop for the cheap HF piece. I figure it's cheap enough that I can evaluate it, see how it works, etc. then when I actually purchase a MIG (and finish my welding class) I can upgrade to a top line helmet. Typical Horrible Freight crap! Got it home, opened the box and half the parts are missing! Yeah, I'm suprised! I'll go swap it out tomorrow.
I don't weld every day all year, but when project is going I weld every day. I've got one of those cheapie Harbor Freight helmets that I bought when I got a cheapie Harbor Freight MIG. The helmet has been working great for the last two years, but I hated the welder! POS, and every weld I did looked like chicken scratchings. I recently gave it away and sprung for a Miller 140 Autoselect MIG and I love it more than any welder I've ever used! It's foolproof, and makes anybody a better welder with just a little practice.
I remember when the auto-dark hoods first came out, people were afraid of that split second before they got dark, but it was a non-issue. I thought all auto-dark hoods were like that for all this time?
The main differences between cheap helmets and the real expensive ones are usually speed, shade selection, and delay control, in that order.
Not all of them. When I was researching before I bought that BOSS, I found that when the lens actually blocks 100% of UV regardless of shade, they state it as a selling point. If they don't mention it one way or another, that usually means they don't block UV until the shade switches. I wasn't looking at the HF, so I didn't ask them specifically, but I found a couple of places that sold replacement auto-dark lenses (just the lens) that were sold as their "House Brand", and when I asked them for spec sheets, they couldn't/wouldn't produce them, and would not guarantee them not to pass UV when clear. They weren't super cheapo priced either, something north of $100 a pop, so it isn't just a price range thing. Ask about UV transmission specifically if they don't call out a spec in the documentation. All the good brands that I looked at did so.
I've got a cheap auto-dark that I've really liked untill recently. Noticed that some areas of the lens are darker than others and some are getting fuzzy. Sounds like time to upgrade. Another thought on fixed vs auto -- a lot may depend upon the amperage you're running. I've never tried anything heavy using my autodark but I suspect I'd be reaching for my old fixed lens. And I like a big window when I'm working heavy stuff but I don't miss it on detail.
I have a speedglass use it every day. But somtimes at work you have to pull out the old huntsman fiberboard helmt so light its unreal. They both have advantages just personal prefernce.
I love my Speedglass too! I had a cheep HF when I first started to weld and it isn't worth it IMHO. I can see so much clearer with the Speedglass and I feel my welding improved so much since I can see the puddle more clearly. If your serious about welding do yourself a favor and spend a little more and get a decent helmet.
I have been reading with interest. I cannot justify buying one of the "better" models of auto dark. I will likely do very little welding in the near future as I lost my project recently. What I have found with my old fixed helmet is that the lens seems very dark, I almost can't seem to see what I am welding. Is there a source that has recommendations for lens type and darkness for different welding situations? Any recommendations, basically what most here are welding 1/8" and smaller steel?
I bought a Hobart auto darkening with a big window and a fixed shade at the local Tractor Supply. No fancy paint job but it works just fine for $60 bucs. The only problem is that it's solar powered and I like to do my welding in the garage...
Honestly guys, if you can't afford the nice auto darkener or can not justify it due to expense get yourself a good quality fixed lens helmet with a couple of different shades, you have to watch the fixed lens glass for scratches and use the correct ones. This is personal protective equipment for the most important person in your life, YOU. If you can't buy the best stuff to keep yourself healthy happy and functioning then who the hell are you going to work every day to support. If you buy cheap boots your knees will turn to shit, your back will ache, if you don't wear ear protection for hearing you will hear a constant ringing, a shrill ping, if you don't wear a 3 shade when soldering your eyes will go, if you get flashed you will cook your retinas. Good quality all cotton shirts nice gloves, a good high impact face shield, that's for YOU, to keep YOU safe. YOU are worth it. If I walked up to you and took 20% of your vision 20% of your hearing and gave you a limp you would send me to the maker, So why the hell are you giving it away to save 300 bucks a year? Ever see Globe Trekker? Some guy in Jakarta with a piece of flat glass, no gloves, welding throwing sparks, in his sandals, missing toes in his semi white beach clothes, most likely making a cam to send here, he looks up at the camera , one eye is dead and looks like a bulls eye candy, his teeth are all knocked out, has a piece of steel stuck in his fore head, lady goes over to talk to him, asks how old he is, he's 19, looks 105, what kind of quality of life does this poor SOB have? Dude is this you? Should it ever be? NO! Think that guy has a hotrod? NO! Do you like seeing? Do you have floaters in your vision field? Want some? Want to spend the last 40 years of your life impaired? Did I piss you off yet? GOOD, now get in the truck and go to the store and buy yourself some good old high quality gear so you can grow fat and old and be able to see the pretty smile on your granddaughters face who will be 5 in 20 years. YOU ARE WELCOME.
I got my Miller Performance Series auto darkening helmet. It was not cheap, but neither are my eyes. Slim
As with anything you get what you pay for. I got my Jackson off ebay (new) and saved about 80 bucks v the welding store. Shop around and get the best you can
I have a Miller Auto and a Lincoln Auto. They both function well and are adjustable. I would buy a Miller Elite w/ a big screen if yoy can afford it and will be using it a lot!
And how had is it to see what you are doing with an auto darking function. Its nice to see exactly where you are at all times. I use to flip my helmet but when I bought my cheap Harbor Freight Auto darkening helmet 5 years ago, I will never go back to flipping the lid method. Thats living in the dark ages and for a measly $40 bucks, its the best bang fo the buck I have ever spent.
With an old school helmet and a gold lens you can see a lot more. It makes welding easier, if you can't hold your hands still for the 1/2 sec it takes to flip your helmet, your probably not going to weld worth a shit anyway. (like someone said if your cramped up in a car its hard to flip, though) I thought this web site was devoted to living in the dark ages anyway. How many threads are there on running mechanical injection on the street? Anyway there is nothing wrong with a fixed shade lens. They are cheap, safe, and effective. Better than buying a cheap auto darkening and burnin' your eyes up.
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