Is THIS one any good.
Any recommendations?
Steve
Well, sitting here with my face stinging and a touch of arc eye I think its time for an auto helmet...
Is
THIS one any good.
Any recommendations?
Steve
spend a bit more money on one mate....
looks good to me, mines very similar but cost me 89 quid!!
am i correct in thinking your fitting a T series in your 7 ?
i've never really trusted them, in case they decide to fail one day... therefore, don't buy cheap
That one looks very much like the one I've got and it's great.
Depends on what you're going to use it for though. MIG gives off a fair bit of light, TIG helmets need to be more sensitive IIRC.
quote:
Originally posted by t16turbotone
looks good to me, mines very similar but cost me 89 quid!!
am i correct in thinking your fitting a T series in your 7 ?
The one I've got blocks all UV, so even if it fails (which it never has) you don't get arc eye, just a white spot in front of your eye for a
few seconds (I have 'tried' it by not switching it on first, and its just a bit bright really....)
I would take advice from someone who knows, maybe MigTigArc in Portsmouth or Weldequip on the migwelding site...
Your eyes are important!
Chris
A guy (weldequipe) over on the mig-welding forum sells decent masks at a decent price
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/
[Edited on 29/9/09 by Mr G]
looks very similar to the one I ordered from the USA last year for a similar price, not great quality but have never tried a more expensive one to see
the difference.
It goes dark instantly which is pretty much all I could ask of it 
Also, about the trusting them incase they fail - my screens is a fairly dark green as standard so wouldnt blind you instantly if it failed to notice
you arc up
I bought a cheap one, and other than the hinges going its still on its first set of batteries, is fail safe and solar powered too.
Been pretty good with moderate use over the last couple of years.
David
hmm, if they're UV blocking anyway, i might consider one myself. would certainly make things easier in a cramped space. nothing worse than the torch moving when you flip the visor down, stiking an arc to find you're about 1/2" out
Try these...
http://www.diywelding.co.uk/products.asp?d=2&c=1
had the cheep parweld one for a year and seems very good.
[Edited on 29/9/09 by Paul (Notts)]
i got one of those cheepp ones but it went funny after about 6months. it still works but depending what angle you look through the screen depends on
how dark it is. i gave up in the end and got a proper £200 esab one. in a word its the muts
if i didnt have £200 and had to buy one it would be a parweld one cost around 40-60 ish
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
i've never really trusted them, in case they decide to fail one day... therefore, don't buy cheap
Also got one of the really cheap ones on eBay after getting it wrong one day with my old flip down job and suffering real badly with arc eye...I swore
it would never happen again for the sake of the £20 or whatever it was to buy the auto darkening one
Mine has been just fine and dandy, doesn't eat batteries (still on original ones 12 months on) or have any bad habits
I have done a bit of welding since and no arc eye yet and can see well enough when it "goes clear" to not be forced to to flip it up to see
what is going on ..I guess thats the whole point of them :-)
When it stops working (I suspect through abuse rather than electronic breakdown) I would buy the same make/model again
Regards
Rob
Ive got one very similar but from the states, works a treat but the headband is a bit rubbish - it broke at the adjuster so its now held tight with a
bit of gaffer tape.
Still works a treat, but its no top line helmet.
Good quality helmets from here http://www.autodarkhelmet.co.uk/ I have the SX and it's superb, had a cheap ebay one before, I didn't realise
how bad it was until I got this one.
As said above, clear safety glasses will stop arc eye.
Suspiciously cheap IMHO. Best pay more for an adjustable one. (9-gas, 11-mig, 13-Tig) using the wrong shade can cause the shield to temporarily quit.
Also need adjustable sensitivity for different light conditions. In bright sunlight welding shiny metal the mask will sometimes not react properly.
I struggled with a cheap mark until I realised I was learning the hard way
quote:
Originally posted by Paul (Notts)
Try these...
http://www.diywelding.co.uk/products.asp?d=2&c=1
had the cheep parweld one for a year and seems very good.
[Edited on 29/9/09 by Paul (Notts)]
I bought a Miller auto helmet. Its amazing. I had a cheap one before and it was totally naff....especially with TIG welding. The miller has 4
sensors so even if your hand ends up between the arc and one of the sensors it will still darken. I would save up and get a more expensive one (think
mine was about £140) the measurable difference is easily 5 times that of the cheaper £30 one I had before.
As has been said before they filter UV whether the helmet is on/dark or not. So although its bright and you wot see much for a min or two theres no
lasting damage and no chance of arc eye.
Oli.
I got one of those cheap ebay ones, and it has been the best £28 I have spent on tools in a long while - it considerably improved my welding (MIG). It is adjustable for sensitivity and to how dark it goes, plus it came with a load of spare lenses. The battery is still the original, and safety wise it is dark when switched off, so fails safe. Go for it - for less than £30 it has to be worth a punt!
Do a search for ESAB origo tech, i bought one from my local welding supplier in leeds (pennine welding) for £55+vat
Great value for money considering the name on it.
I use it for both mig and tig.
Al.
Mine cost £17 on fleabay 2 years ago. Still works fine and on same set of batteries.
The batteries tend to power the lighting rather than the darkening so you wont have any probs with arceye.
I use one of these! and it goes down to 5 (for alloy) and its mint (dear though!)
optrel
Go for the Parweld, I wanted a dearer one but DIYWELDING (Central Welding) talked me out of it. More than twice as good as the cheaper ones at less
than twice the price. I also have a cheaper one. Will TIG down to small amps if that is your thing, as well as all the normal MIG stuff.
£39.99 delivered, you wont look back.
Parweld
[Edited on 29/9/09 by Mansfield]
Thanks for all the advice chaps, looked round all the sites and went for
THIS! one because of the level 3 and
adjustable settings for the different types.
Will be mainly used for mig once I get one as being NCB trained on a MMA set and having a 140 amp SIP machine for the last 32 years I didn't
realise a mig was much better until I've just borrowed one!
Face still stinging, eyes not too bad, had worse at the pit!
Steve
That is the one I have - good job Coozer!
Ive got one of these, and it works great. Not a bad price either:
http://www.engweld.co.uk/Special/Offers/i1070/ENGWELD_Aegis_ADF_Welding_Helmet.html
Champion, anything is better than a gloved hand
Sorry to hijack the thread but this may be relevant.
I've had two auto helmets. An Optrel (Swiss made) and an ESAB 913.
Both have died, I suspect from being left in the dark.
My workshop has no windows and I seldom weld for any length of time, then it's TIG on low settings.
Does anyone use and can recommend a helmet with replaceable batteries?
I'd rather buy batteries than a complete new helmet every year. 
Cheers
Paul G
Take your helmet into the house and leave it in a window Paul. If I had an Optrel it would live in the house anyway
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
Take your helmet into the house and leave it in a window Paul. If I had an Optrel it would live in the house anyway
I think Peteff means to try to kick start the battery charge by leaving the solar panel facing daylight as long as possible
You don't have anything to lose by dismantling the battery compartment and doing a Google for the batteries
I'm assuming that there are backup batteries in the solar panel? if not,forget what I just posted, I know nothing
[Edited on 2-10-09 by 40inches]
quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
I think Peteff means to try to kick start the battery charge by leaving the solar panel facing daylight as long as possible
You don't have anything to lose by dismantling the battery compartment and doing a Google for the batteries
I'm assuming that there are backup batteries in the solar panel? if not,forget what I just posted, I know nothing
[Edited on 2-10-09 by 40inches]
