my auto darkening helmet from hf works great but i weld less than 100 hours per year...i can never weld in the right place with a regular helmet but i get in neighborhood with the auto...
only one eye? seems wierd..wouldnt they both be looking thru the same lense? and be both affected the same? somethin aint adding up right, are you closing one eye as you weld?
Have a Miller and use the magnifier lenses. Because I'm an old guy I use prescription reading glasses instead of my trifocals. For anyone that is having trouble "seeing the puddle" this is the answer......and a good quality helmet.
Good chance that your vision problems are from after you gave up on the helmet, and went closed eye style. I've been using the cheap-o self darkening helmets since before they were all that cheap. I've had one of them crap out over the years, and had one fall, and get broken. I took the lens set up out of it, and made a hand held for doing exhaust. It's still working fine today. Welding helmets, and shades are like any other tool, special situations call for special tools. I have about 6 different helmets all set up for different things. Different shades handle different arcs better, and believe it or not, we all have different eyes. People who blanket bad mouth the cheap self darkening need to realize that what works for them may not work for everyone. I guess I'm just fortunate that they work for me, but honestly, I actually prefer them over my expensive Huntsman and Miller, and Speedglas rigs I've been assigned for certain situations, and reasons. Cheap self darkening helmets are typically lighter. Some of the Millers and Huntsmans are pretty darn heavy. You notice that on anything that hangs from your head for awhile. Cheap self darkening helmets require no changing of batteries. That's one thing that makes no sense to me. I've been in numerous situations where my co-workers were SOL because their fancy helmets had dead batteries, and they had forgot to pick up more AAAs. Guess who came to rescue when he pulled his "stupid POS" $35 helmet out of the tool box. Unless you find that these helmets just don't work with your eyes, financially the more expensive helmets don't make much sense. Most of the high end self darkening helmets run $350 and up. At $35 a piece the cheap Harbor Freight and other helmets make way more sense. Even if you get 2 years out of a cheap-o helmet, you'd need to get 20 years out of a high end helmet to compete. This is also barring any unfortunate accidents. I've seen $500 Speedglas helmets get crunched a week out of the box..... ouch. I wouldn't be so heartbroken over a $35. I'm all for buying the best equipment available, but, I've had both, and honestly don't see much advantage in this situation. That being said, you need to find what works best for you. There are countless options available. As said before, you may want to consider an Accu-Strike. http://accustrike.com/ They are super slick. Also, there's nothing wrong with the ol' light weight big window Huntsman formed cardboard unit, a variety of lenses, and a neck flick. This setup is one of my personal favorites. I have a couple of them with different gold lenses, and the lense is the most expensive part of the set up. I could go on about this forever, as you can read, but basically: Welding helmets are like pistol holsters, there's a million options, not everyone likes what eachother likes, and it takes awhile to find what best fits each situation.
Don't take chances on your eyesight. I find if I use a dark glass, it helps to shine a bright light on the work (500 watt shop light). I can't weld any good anymore because I can't see the bead even with the light trick. So don't take chances and don't end up like me.
. Gave up on the helmet and did the OCC closed eyes method. OK now mig ==eye damage ? Or welding without a hood & trying to close your eyes faster than the speed of light == eye damage. Turning your head to the right while closing your eyes exposes your left eye to the arc while your nose blocks the light from your right eye
Yep,,spend a couple hundred dollars on a good helmut..been using my ProStar by Praxair for 10 years,,,no problems. I would not trust my eyes to one of those cheapo helmets ever.
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