Recommend a welding helmet

I'm very new to welding. While welding under the truck yesterday, for some reason, my lens was not going dark enough even though it was at the darkest setting. I'm thinking it had something to do with how light was in some places and not others. Or it's the shitty YesWelder helmet I got on Amazon. The other thing is that I quickly learned a painful lesson welding overhead, don't know how that motherfucking hot ember found it's way onto my ear. Seriously?! Thought my helmet covered that shit.

So anyways, I'd like some recommendations on a trust worthy helmet (lens) that covers your ears.

 

I was just going to say.. ear plugs

Looking for an auto-dim helmet too, I just picked up a little 120v welder

 

Yeah, I feel the same way about HF.
I'll check it out, thanks

 

Just ordered this on Amazon

 

3M 9002NC is awesome and affordable. Comes with a high quality Swedish sensor.

 

And if you’re welding underneath, sleeves can be a real fine thing to have, or just get a cheep jacket and call it a day.

QeeLink Leather Welding Work Jacket Flame-Resistant Heavy Duty Split Cowhide Leather Welder Jackets for Men & Women https://a.co/d/e85rjz4

This Lincoln kit comes with sleeves, and okay stick / mig gloves, and an auto-dimming hood that has shown to be surprisingly good (remember to turn it on, and off when done). The slag hammer is pretty great too.

Black Glossy Welding Helmet Kit

$123 Black Glossy Welding Helmet Kit

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SPFSK77

 

Also gonna recommend the chicago electric helmet from HF. Been so good for 10 years, i had to get another. (Head strap got loose)

 

Anyone running this from HF?

 

I have this one. It has a switch inside to adjust how fast it reacts and the darkness setting on the outside. It's worked fine for the stuff I do. Which I'd say is a little above small/hobby level, but not large, pro level stuff. If I welded often and did bigger jobs, I'd invest in top of the line stuff. But the HF stuff does the job for around the house jobs and small projects.
The darkness level works, but I don't notice much of a difference between the reaction time settings. Not sure if they still have this exact helmet, but I'm sure whatever the replacement model is, it's equivalent or maybe even a little better.
I recommend starting on a dark setting and adjust lighter as needed. If you start out too light, it only takes a few minutes to burn your eyes. You won't notice right away, but the next day you'll feel like you have sand in your eyes.
And if you can go to 13, you can watch a solar eclipse with it. You just have to do a little mod to the sensor to keep it darkened.

 

That's interesting. In 3M helmet I referenced above you just may see not that well on the lightest setting, because the picture may be oversaturated, but it does not do eyes damage. Also it senses a radio frequency and reacts to TIG high-frequency start even before there's an arc. It's price dropped also significantly over past year.

I bought it because my cheap HF helmet flashed me regularly.

 

Just a hobbyist, and nothing to compare to, but I enjoy mine: https://www.northerntool.com/produc...ith-grind-mode-solid-black-model-770890-74003

I trust Hobart more than Chinesium as it's basically rebranded Miller stuff.

 

I use a Weldcote and have bought two for friends/family and they're great. Relatively cheap, but really punch above their weight class. They also have a more blue tint vs the green/orange of other helmets and a large display area. You can buy replacement lense covers on Amazon too.

$158 Weldcote Metals Ultraview Plus True Color Digital Auto Darkening Welding Helmet Shade 9-13, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0NVWNP?ie=UTF8

I used a HF helmet for awhile and it worked, but the Weldcote blows it out of the water and makes a huge difference. I'd say it's on par with the fancy Miller helmets I've tried but costs a lot less.

 

Yeah, I knew I didn't pay a ton for it, but I just looked and mine is the $40 helmet.
I have to imagine the $200 helmet would be a bit better.
I did some work on a trailer over the summer and welded for a good 30 min before realizing the setting was a little too light. My eyes burned a little the next day, but that also could be from getting flashed from a slow reaction time.
I'd have to imagine the newer, more expensive helmet works at least a little better than the one I posted.

 

if you are infact getting flashed through your shield, throw it out and spend some $$. It may be bright through a poorly adjusted or even turned off shield but you should never, ever get “flashed”
Safety glasses are enough to prevent the majority of eye damage from UV light.

 

Just for clarity, I'm not recommending the helmet I have. Just saying that I'm a cheap bastard and the cheap stuff I have has worked well for the stuff I do with it.
So, If you have/get nicer stuff, it should be fine for the same type of work.
I'd use this helmet and weld the shit outta some shit.

 

I probably will. I was mostly doing little booger welds with a little crap flux core welder. But now I have a nicer gas setup and can do bigger jobs. So a nicer helmet is in order.

 

I like flux core better, don't need to clean the nozzle up that often or at all =) For bigger welds I prefer stick. Still need to get a TIG, to weld stainless a bit prettier and aluminum as well.

 

Aluminum is a different animal and not sure if I'll ever invest in a rig or try learning it.
I did notice the tip needs cleaning more often with the new gas setup, but I was able to get much, much better and cleaner welds with it. At my skill level, I'm happy with that, so I'm good with the extra tip cleaning.

 

For me it came down to the Speedglas 9002 @vtl mentioned and the ESAB A60. Ended up ordering the A60 because I wanted a lower profile so that I can stick my head into tighter spots. My eyes barely stopped hurting as of last night so fuck it, being able to see is easily worth more than $300 bucks.

 

I'm not a pro as well, but I noticed the wire makes a big difference. I'm using a BlueDemon flux core 0.035" for mild steel up to 10 GA and can't be happier. Their sticks are also quite good, just keep them dry. Stainless steel is different, it needs more heat control that is hard both with stick and wire.

I went to a welding class last fall, where they had all the good expensive welding rigs. TIG welding aluminum was the easiest in fact. I just don't currently have a project in hands that needs aluminum, so TIG purchase is postponed.

 

I’m a novice welder as well, but have done some neat add ins to my HF backhoe when I had it. I also have the HF Vulcan helmet, and it has worked well for me. I to double check as the cost has gone up over the years by a lot. The HF sales are good. I also have the HF 170 welder, and has worked well.