Welding Masks - Auto darkening

[ninetysix-ex-jay]

ARC EYE FTMFW

[ninetysix-ex-jay]

ARC EYE FTMFW

[SupermanIce-J]

Jon's double post's FTW

[SupermanIce-J]

Josh's double post's FTW

[VDubLuv82]

Autodark helmets are one of those things that you have to look at the specs of it not the price. If your budget is 50 bucks your most likely not going to find a decent mask.

I personally run a 100 dollar lowes helmet. I have yet to be flashed by it after a couple years of having it. I would like to upgrade to a nicer helmet, but even my 100 dollar version is a huge leap forward from a regular flip down.

Quick summary, solar recharge helmets wont shut off so you wont get accidently flashed. per this guide you want a helmet with a sub 1 millisec responce time.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowl...dinglenses.asp

I agree, the $50 ones are junk but looks at the specs

[hippie metal]

why spend around $200 for a auto darkening when you could spend half that and just flip the mask up and down by yourself

A. Completely False

B. How are you gonna flip it up and down if your TIG welding and need to hold the rod and the tungsten? Being blind for that .5 second could give you time to touch rod to tungsten and BAM destroyed rod and start from square one.



Personally, I like my auto darkening helmet. Ease of use is never a bad thing. Just make sure the lens is removable so you can keep up with new shades of shayftah as time goes on

[Hydra]

Id have to say i have a cheaper auto darkening helmet, and even so i love it. Its never failed me and i treat it like crap.

The fixed shades are ok when you have the ability to flip the lid but when your under neath, or have to really get to an odd angle the auto-darkenign is mint

[Wide-J]

I used to use one at the body shop I worked at and it was the difference between night and day. I have a fixed one that was always a pain in the ass. But I just got an auto darkening in December and hope to test test it out soon.

[HitItWithSomeSpeed]

A. Completely False

B. How are you gonna flip it up and down if your TIG welding and need to hold the rod and the tungsten? Being blind for that .5 second could give you time to touch rod to tungsten and BAM destroyed rod and start from square one.



Personally, I like my auto darkening helmet. Ease of use is never a bad thing. Just make sure the lens is removable so you can keep up with new shades of shayftah as time goes on

I still like Chewy...

If only he could be modded to auto-darken...

[doubleuj17]

I have a snap on auto darkening and it works great,i still find myself constanly flipping it up and down, but the plus side of the auto darkening is when your welding in a tight place or under a vehicle thats on the ground and you have little room to flip up the mask.

[Zullock Holmes]

use a lincoln electric home depot special auto darkener at home... $100

and at work i use a miller elite... $400

They both work, but there is a noticable difference between the two. for one the miller is a much better quality, the thing actually stays up when its on my head and i flip it up.
The field of vision is larger with the miller, i can change the lens/filter when it gets all crudded up and its like brand new, also it has adjustable settings so i use it when plasma cutting too. It's more versatile and overall works better.

But to me, both work for their application. The amount of welding i do at home doesn't really warrant a $400 helmet and the home depot one works for now.

At work though, when i use the thing all the time, esp going back and forth doing things like tack welding 40 arms together, i'm damn glad i have that miller instead of the piece of junkterd that i use at home.

[Trailer Ray]

use a lincoln electric home depot special auto darkener at home... $100

and at work i use a miller elite... $400

They both work, but there is a noticable difference between the two. for one the miller is a much better quality, the thing actually stays up when its on my head and i flip it up.
The field of vision is larger with the miller, i can change the lens/filter when it gets all crudded up and its like brand new, also it has adjustable settings so i use it when plasma cutting too. It's more versatile and overall works better.

But to me, both work for their application. The amount of welding i do at home doesn't really warrant a $400 helmet and the home depot one works for now.

At work though, when i use the thing all the time, esp going back and forth doing things like tack welding 40 arms together, i'm damn glad i have that miller instead of the piece of junkterd that i use at home.

i have the same $100 lincoln auto darkening mask for home use as well. it works perfectly fine for the mig welding i do, havent had any problems with it yet. the mask itself is cheap plastic, but its the lens youre paying for. perfectly fine in my opinion, for my application, especially for a c-note. im sure if i was doing the type of stuff pasta was doing, id probably shell out the 4-500, i mean after all, its only our eyes...

[OWEN]

For all of you guys that are getting flash burn from your faulty auto darkeners (and everyone else for that matter), it is a good idea to always wear U/V resistant safety glasses under your mask (whether is is auto darkening or not) to prevent getting burned if your lense has a crack or small imperfection that is letting U/V light through. If you read the safety warnings on any welding mask I am sure this is in there!

[DizzDizz]

i bought mine from northern tool i have welded for 6 hours on end at work with it and never had an issue with flash burn. when i would use a non autoi would get flash burn cause i would keep forgetting to flip it down at times. will its a good investment trust me.