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Welding helmet

lethal289

Active Member
well the time has come to upgrade my old standard fixed lens lincoln welding helmet to something better. Im looking for something auto darkening and adjustable.

Im not very fond of the cheapo harbor freight ones, as i believe their tools suck. As such, i do not want to trust the only set of eyes i have to their brand of inferior products. Im looking to be around the $150 - $200 mark. I've been searching online and reading reviews and im leaning towards the miller performance 64

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I am open to suggestions and would like to hear what you welders here are using and why. Im not sure about the narrower viewing window with the auto darkening, and figure it should just take some getting use to. Does anybody have experience with these helmets, or any where the controls are on the inside vs. the outside. I would think the outside could get bumped easy, but i wonder if inside controls could be an issue too. TIA.
 
honestly, i've had lincoln, miller & even a really high dollar speedglas & the only one that i never had issues with was the $49 harbor freight hood that i bought years ago for a backup when the miller started acting up. the speedglas cartridge has been sent back for repairs 5 times & still doesn't work right. after the fire last year when they all were lost (except the speedglas, it's at pop's as a backup to his HF), the only purchase i've made to date is another harbor freight hood. it has worked flawlessly for a year now & i do alot of welding. the one that burned was 9 yrs old & never had a problem with it either.

i like the outside adjustment as its easy to fine tune without having to stop & take it off. it very rarely gets bumped. pop tends to bump his frequently, how i don't know, but put a piece of tape on it to keep the setting where he wants it.
 
My Dad and I used the HF ones too. Had three and never a bit of trouble. Dad had his in use about 3 hours a day, 4 days a week for about 5 years with out an issue at all. There were never any issues as far as the darkening being on time or anything that effected the eyes. The controls were never an issue either.
 
The guys here at the plant use the Millers (not sure which one), but they have had issues with them - sent back for repairs, etc. They do get a lot of use. I've tried a borrowed miller against my chepo HF one, and frankly, they are the same as far as protection - I've even measured them with a light meter from work - no diff.

I will say I do not like my HF headband, which loses adjustment easy. However, the last one I saw had a different setup, so maybe they fixed it.
 
"apollard" said:
The guys here at the plant use the Millers (not sure which one), but they have had issues with them - sent back for repairs, etc. They do get a lot of use. I've tried a borrowed miller against my chepo HF one, and frankly, they are the same as far as protection - I've even measured them with a light meter from work - no diff.

I will say I do not like my HF headband, which loses adjustment easy. However, the last one I saw had a different setup, so maybe they fixed it.

yes, the new headbands are different. no issues with my new one. forgot about the issues with the old one years ago. i just swapped out the headband from an old fixed shade helmet & kept going.
 
I've been though three helmets so far. The one I'm on is a Miller Elite and it as worked for a couple of years without fail. It has the three adjustments and I'll be sticking with it for now.

I did get a chance to check out the HF unit and it did work well. Abe had one the day I went over to give him a lesson.
 
I've had the same auto-darkening helmet since 98. It's been flawless. Bought it from Daytona Mig when I got the welder and plasma cutter.
 
Thanks guys! I appreciate the input.
"silverblueBP" said:
I've had the same auto-darkening helmet since 98. It's been flawless. Bought it from Daytona Mig when I got the welder and plasma cutter.
Which one?
 
As John mentioned, I picked up a harbor freight hood. I am content with it especially when taking into consideration how much I paid for it.

I must say that you do get what you pay for. The hood that John and Craig have is freakin amazing. One of the biggest differences I noticed is the ability to see clearly before you start welding. The HF hood is a little darker before welding so it just makes it a little difficult when working in a low lit garage. I do like it though but one day wish to step up to the Miller the guys have.

Here are some pics of the HF hood.

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cf68e6fe-2abf-98e6.jpg

cf68e6fe-2bcb-7dca.jpg
 
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