Thread: Welding visors

I love mine, got a cheapy & it work just great.

Only problem I have is that mine has an open back & the light coming in behind me tends to light up the inside of the helmet & that makes it a bit hard to see.

I need some sort of a burn proof curtain around the back of it, something that won't catch fire from spatter.

We use the auto ones at school. Its worth paying the extra coin to get one with adjustments for darkness and sensitivity, it will make it a lot more useable for other jobs. Ours wernt that dear, $80 bucks or so iirc.

Hi Rob, I use one of the new auto darkening welding helmets and they are terrific. The best part is you don't have to worry about the risk of getting a welding flash and as we all know they are bloody painful.
The new ones on the market today have a cutting and grinding option built into the helmet; which makes life very easy when it comes to cutting, grinding and welding you don't have to remove the helmet at all. The cost of these helmets was very high when I bought my first one ($500.00) but now they are only $100.00 to $200.00 ; I would recommend any one doing any type of welding to buy one, it's so much easier on the eyes.
Cheers Alby
Oh by the way thank you to the moderators for the birthday wishes.

Hi Rob,
Now I havent used one with a stick. Only MIG(MGAW for the politically correct)
Do yourself a favour, buy one!!!!*
I was like you. Got one for a birthday present. They are pretty damn good. Sure you dont NEED one but boy do they make life easier(like a dro on a mill)
I have a cheap one and a Miller. I had to break the cheap on apart after a couple of years to replace the batteries(there is a post on it somewhere, for $60 I guess a lot wouldnt bother). I think the cheap one is as good or better than the Miller except when doing strange out of position welding. The Miller has 4 sensors the cheap one only 2, so the Miller is less likely to have the sensors in a shadow and not fire the lens.

Stuart

*Unless all your welding is done on a bench, if you were doing a lot of high amp bench work a gold filter might still be the way to go.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

I love mine, got a cheapy & it work just great.

Only problem I have is that mine has an open back & the light coming in behind me tends to light up the inside of the helmet & that makes it a bit hard to see.

I need some sort of a burn proof curtain around the back of it, something that won't catch fire from spatter.

Get hold of some upholstery leather soft and supple and stops the burns. Use press studs for fitting. Pop rivet the base of the stud in the helmet, and the other part in the leather that way you can remove the leather shroud if you need to.

Garry

G/day Rob, I'm on my 4th auto darkening mask, the Bunnings one's are crappola, I had 2 of them.
also I had a $400 one that didn't bounce to well when it fell orf me noggen from about 10 mtrs up, now I have a $120 WIA one and it works fine.
I still use the non darkening helmet in difficult situations where the sensor can get shaded by obstacles, pain that, because at first you don't realize it hasn't darkened

I got a cheap one around 20 years ago and it's still going, but does need new protective lenses. It the variable model from shade 9-13, I would recommend you get the same not the fixed model. They are a little more expensive but are a lot better because you can change the shade to suit the job by the turn of a knob, I do it while welding to get the best view.

It changes welding for the better.

Dave

I use both types of welding helmet I have a cheap cigweld auto darkening helmet it cost $140 and is fantastic although I find I can see the puddle better with my old flip down helmet though. At work we use a speedglas Auto darkening helmet and they are great helmet but cost around $700 I believe

I vote for the auto-darkening helmets as well, I wouldn't use anything else now, I have a Speedglas 9100XX and the convenience of being able to switch from shade 5 for gas welding through to 10 for MIG and 11/12 for TIG with the one helmet is great. Mine allows me to adjust the sensitivity and delay of the screen which is handy in some circumstances as well.

It wasn't cheap but it will see me out I suspect.

Gavin has a point there, I only have mig and stick so 9-13 is fine, but if you using tig or gas you might need to look a little harder to get one that does it all.

Dave

Hi
I have a 4 sensor Miller and my old Jackson gold screen. Auto is great but sometimes is good to have a spare. Bought the miller in USA many years back and theory was only one set of eyes so buy a good one.
These days i think some of the cheap ones are very good.

James


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I bought a $50 aldi one when saw it in store. It has adjustable sensitivity and shading 9-13. The batteries are easy to replace and are just AAA rechargeables. It has 2 sensors. I love it but I agree with Andre, the old mask was a bit easier to see the pool through.
Cheers
Ew

Hi Rob,

I remember some who said just what you said, oh,thats right,it was me.

Firstly. Arc striking and tacking up is easier by a BIG margin.

Holding the fiddily rrsed bit of stuff with one hand and flicking the helmet down and bugger,the arc strikes all over exact section you expressly wanted to avoid striking on.

Probably not so hard for the blokes who have had the flip down downs for mega years and the big technical advantage for us was the gold tinted lense (real gold too)

When I tried the cheapy Techmen around ($70 when I got mine) available through Bummings I become a convert.As you get older ,its about life becoming easier.
And so it was when welding.Then I got my inverter welder. Auto helmet and inverter welder= bliss.

Yes there are mobs of crappy ones out there. Buy a known brand and you should not go too far wrong.

Yes I can go back if needs be,But with:
Miller elite -bloody ugly thing with skulls painted on it-nearly took it back.
Speedglas 9000
earlier model Speedglas
WIA adjustable model
2 techmens

Why would I?

Grahame




Main advantages

• Easier strike,
• Easier tack up
• Adjustable lens darkness in quality models

Disadvantages

• Higher purchase price
• Battery changes in some
• Too easy to buy cheap nasty model
• Care needed with electronics

Looks like I'm dealing with a bunch of converts here

I thought I might not be the ONLY bloke using the old style....sheeesh....I'm more backward than I thought !

Might have to look into this some more.

I do like the obvious advantage of being able to hold the job with one hand and the stick with the other, with the auto helmets.

Maybe get one, one day.

Rob