Thread: TIG welding helmets

Originally Posted by thesupervisor

i also bought the same helmet from weldfabulos
it has performed well its just when having a break and forgeting to turn it on again but you only do it a couple of times
i also got some magnifyed lenses i havent used them yet

weldfabulos ebay store in usa that were i got my speedglas 9100xx from very happy with it .

Originally Posted by joachim

Hi, i've been using the same Speedglas helmet for over 10 years now without so much as an issue other than the headgear. So far its the only one that hasn't failed under very high amperage, and using TIG.

Used a few different brands so far and weld for a living.

cheers.

Know what you are saying. The plastic threads failed very quickly on my 9002V when I attempted to tighten the nuts so that it wouldn't keep falling down when not required. Rather than get the same crap nuts replaced under warranty I made my own (check out the previous Speedglas helmet thread).

Apart from this, damn fine helmet.

I also did the 'import from US' exercise and yes it would be about half price to pay US dollars for instance, a big professional Husqvarna chainsaw or a Lincoln Master TIG welder including freight and import duty than to buy in Australia! I contacted Consumer Affairs regarding this rip off and the only explaination they could offer is that Australian retailers have to charge more because they move less units, because the population is smaller....

When we are constantly told that 'globalisation' is good for us, why don't we see the benefits? Sounds like BS to me....

Originally Posted by Pete F

Anyone have any experience with Esab helmets?

Expensive and not all that good I recomend Servo Glass SV4000 Good units for $300.00
Servore International. The home of Better Protection.

Another thumbs up to weldfabulous. Miller Digital Elite Helmet $330.00 delivered from the US in 5 days.

Regards,
Tote

I paid $70 more for my Miller Digital Elite helmet and was worth it, as I sent it back for a warranty claim as the LCD started to delaminate. One of the work provided helmets went back for warranty as the headband was slipping, and one of the guys I went to tech with has a plain Miller Elite that had the panel replaced a couple of times due to failure.

Besides that I am very happy with my MDE and yes they are worth every dollar more than you pay for a tecmen or other cheap helmet if you are wearing it every day. The electromagnetic sensor works well and you don't even have to look at the arc for the screen to darken.

Originally Posted by Bad Fruit

Hi Pete,
Now you've had the Miller a while, how do you rate it?
I'm looking at getting one from the same company (maybe even two and sell the spare...)
As l'm only a casual user at MIG l'm also considering the Miller Performance helmet, it's much cheaper. But may not be as useful for TIG should l ever get into that, again as a hobby welder.
Another choice is the Speedglas 9100x but the $$ is a fair bit higher.

Sorry I didn't see your post until now.

Unlike Ben, I use my welder/helmet very rarely. It just depends on whether I need to do any fabrication, when it will get used for several days, then stored until next time. However yes, every time I put it on I can feel this is a quality product and it performs absolutely superbly. As mentioned above, the only thing to remember if taking a break, so does the helmet. Don't forget to turn it back on before striking the first arc! While I use it exclusively for TIG, I believe whether MIG, TIG, or stick, I feel this helmet would be equally applicable.

As an aside, despite my rant about Australian retailers, here comes another, as I won't support the idea of importing another to on-sell. Why would you do that, to make a quick few bucks? In which case YOU are now a retailer So presumably you will supply the full Miller warranty to the buyer? You have an ABN? You will pay Australian tax on the profit? You will declare it on import and pay the GST/duty as applicable? You're already getting it cheap, yet you still want more? At the moment we have a situation in Australia where the ATO is allowing up to $1000 per shipment to enter Australia FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. As somebody who imports a LOT of goods from O/S for MY use, that's a a very nice situation; one that may be somewhat tenuous. HOWEVER if too many people abuse the system and actually import goods for the express purpose of selling for a profit, or to "cover their costs", one of two things are likely to happen. Either the ATO will simply remove this threshold and we'll ALL simply pay duty/tax on ALL imports. Indeed we recently saw a very high profile push by Australian retailers for just that to happen. Alternatively the local agents will push for the manufacturer to ban sales to foreign addresses. That already happens on many products, and is designed to "protect" the individual markets. However it then means you simply cannot easily import that product, even for personal use. I could very easily see a company like Miller implementing the latter. The bottom line of my rant is to simply ask that you don't abuse the system. If you import a product with the intent to sell and don't pay tax you are doing so illegally and will eventually screw it up for everyone. Well done!

Rant over, I now return you to your regular helmet discussion

Just like to add that I too have a Digital Elite and it's a damn good helmet. Had it for about 8 months now I think and I use it a few times a week ranging from 20-130A welding current and I love the fact
that I can easily change shades with the push of a button and change to "X-Mode".
I LOVE using "X" mode when welding outdoors in the sun. Really helps with the screen darkening when you least expect it. I haven't had any issues with it at all and find the headgear quite good but perhaps not as "smooth" as the Speedglas headgear. Two thumbs up

Originally Posted by Gerbilsquasher

.

I also did the 'import from US' exercise and yes it would be about half price to pay US dollars for instance, a big professional Husqvarna chainsaw or a Lincoln Master TIG welder including freight and import duty than to buy in Australia! I contacted Consumer Affairs regarding this rip off and the only explaination they could offer is that Australian retailers have to charge more because they move less units, because the population is smaller....

When we are constantly told that 'globalisation' is good for us, why don't we see the benefits? Sounds like BS to me....

I understand your frustration fellas regarding importing from the us but do you really expect to get it for the same price in australia??? So a guy imports a welding helmet and hes expected to sell it for the same price he imports it for?? I dont get it...Of course its going to be more expensive...Pay large amounts of duty, freight , overheads to run the company, advertising etc all of this adds to the cost..Also alot of the major companies are selling to their own companies..Example Miller US sells to Miller Australia..Miller australia doesnt get the same prices as miller US because the company already makes a margin before it leaves the US..Believe me nearly all the major welding manufacturers do this.. I know it sounds strange but then all Miller Australia has to do is pay for their overheads and everyones happy....

Just because the us dollar drops as well doesnt mean your going to see an instant change in prices... some people are still holding stock at the old price and cant afford to pass on the savings instantly. Also once you drop the price of something dramatically it gets very hard to change it back later if things change. In my experience a dramatic price drop of a product has always probed questions from consumers about quality. The product could be exactly the same but if it has a huge price drop people start saying its crappier or now made in china etc.

Sorry that things arent as cheap here for the same items but there are quite a few things involved that dictates the pricing in australia. America is in a lot of trouble financially and are trying to sell volume to keep people employed...Importing products from the US can be a cheaper option but is not supported by warranty by many of the major manufacturers in australia and you could be putting people in Oz out of a job too...

Just my 2 cents

Cheers

Everlast have a couple of auto darkening welding helmets and we have a module that replaces the usual 2 and 4 element module. The TIG module will shut down from the shade 4 to whatever you have set it to with much more sensitivity. It was designed especially for TIG welding at low amps and works exceptionally well. No more getting flashed with Everlast. It costs around half the cost of the expensive welding helmets but it's not cheap either, you eyes are worth it!

Originally Posted by Rappy77

I understand your frustration fellas regarding importing from the us but do you really expect to get it for the same price in australia??? So a guy imports a welding helmet and hes expected to sell it for the same price he imports it for?? I dont get it...Of course its going to be more expensive...Pay large amounts of duty, freight , overheads to run the company, advertising etc all of this adds to the cost..Also alot of the major companies are selling to their own companies..Example Miller US sells to Miller Australia..Miller australia doesnt get the same prices as miller US because the company already makes a margin before it leaves the US..Believe me nearly all the major welding manufacturers do this.. I know it sounds strange but then all Miller Australia has to do is pay for their overheads and everyones happy....

Just because the us dollar drops as well doesnt mean your going to see an instant change in prices... some people are still holding stock at the old price and cant afford to pass on the savings instantly. Also once you drop the price of something dramatically it gets very hard to change it back later if things change. In my experience a dramatic price drop of a product has always probed questions from consumers about quality. The product could be exactly the same but if it has a huge price drop people start saying its crappier or now made in china etc.

Sorry that things arent as cheap here for the same items but there are quite a few things involved that dictates the pricing in australia. America is in a lot of trouble financially and are trying to sell volume to keep people employed...Importing products from the US can be a cheaper option but is not supported by warranty by many of the major manufacturers in australia and you could be putting people in Oz out of a job too...

Just my 2 cents

Cheers

With all due respect, you sound like a retailer who is trying to justify why consumers in Australia have been ripped off for all these years. I don't think too many people here expect a welding helmet to be the SAME price as the US, but how is it that we can buy from a retailer, not some wholesaler that the Australian arm would buy from, but a RETAILER in the US, with PRECISELY the same advertising and business running costs as an Australian counterpart, for typically HALF the price of an Australian retailer. That includes, not shipping in bulk as the Australian distributor would, but relatively expensive public, one-off postage!! How did you think we get the helmets here, divine intervention?

I have heard these same lame excuses as you trotted off so many times, and I can assure you times have changed. The buying public are so much better informed that the old story of "Joe Bloggs" deciding he's going to import 23 widgets per month, secure the Australian rights, and simply mark the heck up out of them to make a living? Those days are well and truly over!

As for the rationale re the Australian dollar increasing, all I can say regarding that is you have got to be joking mate! The AUS v US$ has been on the increase now for the past few years, so any story about prices not dropping as a result is plain and simple BS and nothing more!

As I stated above, I don't support anyone who participates in grey importing, buying goods in to resell, unless it's done as a genuine business. The only person who wins from that is the greed of the person doing it, everyone else is worse off in the long run. Having said that however, I'm personally sick of the sheer contempt shown towards consumers by retailers (and by that I include the chain of "distributors" who want their slice of the action, often for doing sweet FA) as they trot out absolute crap about why the product is twice the price, as if the US businesses mysteriously don't have any of the same overheads.

I don't want to see any Australian retailers go out of business, quite the opposite. But I can assure you those who think they can cling to the same BS justification as they've been relying on all these years as they rip people off are trading on borrowed time. We've already seen 2 large book retailers pay the price for fleecing customers all these years. They're now in administration and good riddance I say! You think it's difficult to put prices back up after you've dropped them (possibly one of the lamest excuses I've heard for a while), I can assure you it's nothing compared to how difficult it is to win back customers once they've adjusted to buying goods from an alternative source! Let's see; cheaper, better service, and often as fast or faster than ordering locally. Tell me again why we should pay double?

Sorry to pick on you, please understand it's nothing personal, but if Australian retailers don't stop treating the buying public as if they're absolute morons, which includes the continued reliance on BS excuses such as above, there very shortly won't BE any Australian retail sector!

Pete

BTW If you think I "don't understand" how a business runs, I will say straight off the bat that not only do I come from many generations of small business owners and managers, but I am tertiary qualified in the field!!! I don't say that as any form of boast, but it's why I get so POed about the topic.

SSSHHHHH....... Don't let the cat out of the bag. Us bourgeoisie were enjoying the huge profits due to the dim knowledge of the proletariat. Now we will have to create a whole new pricing scam. Where is Gerry when you need him? Go Harvey.

Originally Posted by Pete F

BTW If you think I "don't understand" how a business runs, I will say straight off the bat that not only do I come from many generations of small business owners and managers, but I am tertiary qualified in the field!!! I don't say that as any form of boast, but it's why I get so POed about the topic.

Originally Posted by welding

Where is Gerry when you need him? Go Harvey.

Yes, possibly not the front man to have when there's a angry mob sick of being shafted!

In keeping some semblance of balance, its often not the final retailer that's entirely to blame, at least as far a pricing, if not the typical Australian crap service. While in my experience the final retail mark-up IS much higher in Australia than is typical in the US, but more the point is the long line of "middle-men" that seems to be so typical of the distribution chain here in Australia. As mentioned, more often than not some of these people contribute sweet FA to the whole process, and in some cases don't even physically touch the goods on their way through! Nevertheless there goes another slice of the pie, all for securing the "Australian distribution" and shuffling a few pieces of paper!

I'm stil trying to work out why there are so many billion ( rich pr%%ks) and they have the gall to say pay through the nose because I need more money.

Originally Posted by Pete F

With all due respect, you sound like a retailer who is trying to justify why consumers in Australia have been ripped off for all these years. I don't think too many people here expect a welding helmet to be the SAME price as the US, but how is it that we can buy from a retailer, not some wholesaler that the Australian arm would buy from, but a RETAILER in the US, with PRECISELY the same advertising and business running costs as an Australian counterpart, for typically HALF the price of an Australian retailer. That includes, not shipping in bulk as the Australian distributor would, but relatively expensive public, one-off postage!! How did you think we get the helmets here, divine intervention?

I have heard these same lame excuses as you trotted off so many times, and I can assure you times have changed. The buying public are so much better informed that the old story of "Joe Bloggs" deciding he's going to import 23 widgets per month, secure the Australian rights, and simply mark the heck up out of them to make a living? Those days are well and truly over!

As for the rationale re the Australian dollar increasing, all I can say regarding that is you have got to be joking mate! The AUS v US$ has been on the increase now for the past few years, so any story about prices not dropping as a result is plain and simple BS and nothing more!

As I stated above, I don't support anyone who participates in grey importing, buying goods in to resell, unless it's done as a genuine business. The only person who wins from that is the greed of the person doing it, everyone else is worse off in the long run. Having said that however, I'm personally sick of the sheer contempt shown towards consumers by retailers (and by that I include the chain of "distributors" who want their slice of the action, often for doing sweet FA) as they trot out absolute crap about why the product is twice the price, as if the US businesses mysteriously don't have any of the same overheads.

I don't want to see any Australian retailers go out of business, quite the opposite. But I can assure you those who think they can cling to the same BS justification as they've been relying on all these years as they rip people off are trading on borrowed time. We've already seen 2 large book retailers pay the price for fleecing customers all these years. They're now in administration and good riddance I say! You think it's difficult to put prices back up after you've dropped them (possibly one of the lamest excuses I've heard for a while), I can assure you it's nothing compared to how difficult it is to win back customers once they've adjusted to buying goods from an alternative source! Let's see; cheaper, better service, and often as fast or faster than ordering locally. Tell me again why we should pay double?

Sorry to pick on you, please understand it's nothing personal, but if Australian retailers don't stop treating the buying public as if they're absolute morons, which includes the continued reliance on BS excuses such as above, there very shortly won't BE any Australian retail sector!

Pete

BTW If you think I "don't understand" how a business runs, I will say straight off the bat that not only do I come from many generations of small business owners and managers, but I am tertiary qualified in the field!!! I don't say that as any form of boast, but it's why I get so POed about the topic.

Fair enough..... but i can assure you I have worked in many of these major manufacturers and can tell you that what you are saying, 20+ years ago is pretty accurrate. Now, its is complete BS. Yes companies have a distribution chain simply because the manufacturer can't look after the sheer amount of customers they have. Im not a retailer mate but have been in the past and yes there are times where people have been making "good money/ripping people off" with the public but as youve said those days are well and truly over. As for my experience in the field i have been to the head offices of some of the major manufacturers germany, america and the like. Australia just doesnt get the support and prices that the same company does overseas, period..... theres no fn argument there mate and if you think im BSing then go join one of these companies and find out for yourself. Jesus half of the major manufacturers are bankrupt so how you think they are "taking the " is beyond me??? They are nearly all owned by groups now ie ITW for miller, Thermadyne group for cigweld, nearly all of them have had financial trouble and sell more machines a year than any chinese hobby machines.

Look mate I dont wish to start a war on this but you may understand how businesses operated and i dont want to discredit that in anyway but you dont have any understanding of whats happening inside these companies. I can tell you they are not making anywhere near the amount of money you think they are..... Tell me they dont have bigger overheads than a chinese hobby machine importer and you just kidding yourself..... Advertise in BOC, Blackwoods oe any other industrial bible and see how much money it cost you a page....

As i say pete you seem like good helpful bloke but your information on this is just not right, no offence either....

Thanks Rappy