Question about welding helmets

I can buy one of those automatic darkening welding helmets at Harbor Freight for from $45 to $55, or I can go to Airgas and pay them around $200 for one. I realize the Harbor Fright hat's window is only about 2" x 4" and the Airgas model has a double or triple sized window, but aside from that, is there any difference in the performance or bells and whistles between the two?

While I don't do enough welding to need an industrial helmet, I do get tired of flipping down the shield and realizing I've moved the mig handle from my starting point. And, this is, after all, my eyesight that I'm concerned about. As far as usage, I'm a handyman welder and use the machine for small jobs around the house. It is used maybe a dozen times a year.

I thought about getting one of those also, but I have a welding friend who stated to me that they take a flash of a second to darken and your eyes are absorbing the arc and damaging your eyes. So I keep using my flip down helmet.

There may be several differences between the 2. Some have a shade selector and a sensitivity adjustment. The main thing I look for is the amp rating on them. The lower amp rating the lower power at the arc it takes to darken it ( this is a good thing). I have seen guys have issues with some of the ones with a higher amp rating not turning or flickering when tig welding at low powers for thin material. The other thing you will see in addition to the window size is how many sensors are on it. Some with only 2 may have an issue if your hand is blocking 1 during welding.

970mike said:

I thought about getting one of those also, but I have a welding friend who stated to me that they take a flash of a second to darken and your eyes are absorbing the arc and damaging your eyes. So I keep using my flip down helmet.

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A good auto darkening will be fine. I have been using them for 28 years.

I just looked up my Optrel welding helmet for the switching speed.

Lens Switching Speed 1/55,555 second
Solar Assist Battery
2 Sensors
Grinding mode

Been using them for 19 years as a Welding Inspector
Just check the switching speed on the models your looking at.
The faster switching speed, the better.

Were Flux core arc welding next week at 31 volts and 650 amps for you welders out there next week.
7/64" wire.
A high number shade is mandatory, we all have to wear sun block cream when we in the area of this process.
Also, each welding machine lays down 18-20 lbs of wire per hour.

I looked at the thread title and briefly thought, "Why would you want to weld helmets together?"

Always feels good having that moment of clarity.

As Dave said a good auto darkening is fine and perfectly safe. With that said...you can get brand name (Lincoln) for as low as $100. I'd rather pay $100 for a LIncoln with even a small window than take my chances with a HF at any price. If a wrench fails you skin a knuckle. If the darkening response time is a tad slow...you'll know it after many years when the effects start to hit you.

A $50 helmet is fine for me, even the cheap ones all have darkness and response-time adjustment. I managed an large R&D department and my staff welder (40+ years welding) had converted to the cheaper helmets, he thought they were great.

Bones said:

I looked at the thread title and briefly thought, "Why would you want to weld helmets together?"

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Bones, two heads are better than one..... grin.

Thank you everyone. I'll check the switching speed but it would not surprise me if that info is not available at HF. I pass by one of their stores at least twice a month, next time I'll stop in and look at what specs they have available. Then I'll compare that to the Airgas hat.

I did know there are different levels of darkening - a switch inside the helmet lets you choose how dark you want it. All in all, I will probably trust the guys at Airgas and see what they have on sale now. They have been very helpful to me in the past (I bought my Miller from them as a rank novice). I can count on help from them and would expect nothing of the sort at HF.

I'd wondered if there was some welding associations approval (like UL for electrical stuff) but nobody mentioned this.

I bought the Miller Digital Elite and I've been very happy with it. I don't remember what I paid for it but it wasn't $50. I think it was north of $200. I'm not a great welder but I have a Hobart Handler 140 that does more than I need.

I bought a Hobart Hood XFS with my Hobart Handler 140. Two sensors, shade 3, auto darkens to shade 10. It has served well for the past 5 years.

When I was researching this same question I found that even the cheapest helmets switch at a minimum of .00005 seconds. This is much faster than the eye's ability to detect the light flash so anything faster isn't really doing anything for you. I also read that faster response time does not equal greater protection from the ultraviolet and the infrared radiation. This is because all helmets provide permanent protection against ultraviolet and infrared light to a level of at least DIN 16 without any darkening at all. Even the cheapest of helmets. This level is beyond the minimum required. The darkening is to make it possible for the welder to see what he is doing against the bright light- it is not required to meet the minimum UV and IR protection. Because of this I bought a cheap $60.00 helmet that adjusts from DIN 9 to 13 darkness and has controllable response time as well. It provides all the protection I need for the small amount of welding that I do. What the more expensive helmets provide is a larger view window, battery powered switching (as opposed to solar powered only), exterior and easily manipulated controls ( I have take my helmet off to change any settings), a much better fit, a more comfortable fit, a superior adjustable head band (my cheap one comes loose all the time), better hinge mechanism that stays put (to get my cheapo to stay up I have to tighten it so much I can't pull it down with one hand), better protection from the UV and IR for your neck area (I button up my shirt) and the comfort level to allow you to wear it much longer. All these are extremely important if you weld a lot. For the small amount that I do they are pretty irrelevant.

Bones said:

I looked at the thread title and briefly thought, "Why would you want to weld helmets together?"

Always feels good having that moment of clarity.

Click to expand...

Maybe for a Siamese Twin?

Ditto on the auto darkening. I picked one up at Lowes that you can set the DIN with a knob to whatever is comfy for you or appropriate for what you're running. The view plate is smaller, but really with my 110V flux wire welder only the immediate area of the arc is illuminated anyway. The best addition is that I've taped a heavy cotton towel over the helmet to hang over and behind my head and block out ambient light from shining into the helmet, I always seem to be back lighted. Watch out for any part of you exposed to the flash, flash burns happen way faster than you'd expect.

Large view screen is much more forgiving when double checking the immediate work area before striking that arc . or using it in "grind " mode

Buy the Harbor Freight helmet, I have used 2 of them from Harbor Freight One bought 10 years ago in the sign shop I was working in(still in use) and one for me in the garage. An emptier pocket book in this regard does not mean more protection. Save yourself the coin. I've had my 2nd helmet for 5 years and it works great! Adjustability for darkness and speed make it great to be able to see lighter welds from gas and such. while you can darken the hell out of it for stick and mig. A product that costs you more in this regard does not net you more. Trust me it is miles better than a flipping a helmet open to see your work.

+ 1 on the Harbor Freight helmet. I am a hobbyist welder & do so infrequently. I use this helmet for TIG welding of aluminum & SS w/my Lincoln Squarewave TIG 175 Pro . I have used this helmet for 5+ years & it is highly satisfactory.

I just had a very thorough eye exam & my eye health is excellent.

All the attributes described by Andrew Shadow apply.

SMSW, I have HF welding helmet. Save your money it works great not 1 problem on any. has solar power & battery. The model bought cost around 64.00. On sale payed 47.00. Oh, fully adjustable, auto darkening. Tig, Mig, Stick.

One must not forget that the auto darkening portion of several helmets may be made in the same factory. It's the day and time we live in. A $300 helmet may share the same auto darkening lens as a harbor freight. The response time is much quicker than you eye can detect. If you weld a lot, you are more apt to get manganese poisoning than suffer eye damage. I've used both and I can say that there has been a few times in a weak moment I forgot to flip my shade down on a manual helmet and had to wait for the spots to disappear before I could see well enough to continue welding. On the other hand, as long as the batteries are good, the auto darkening helmets never let me down.

I bought a helmet. Having looked at the bewildering array of features, I made up a spreadsheet listing the brand, model, cost, website (so i could find it again), number of sensors, battery back up ?, solar powered ?, response time, darkening range, delay adjust ?, grind mode, weight, viewing window dimensions, view window area, availability of extra protective lenses, plus a few other features.

Based on what I read, I wanted more than two sensors, wanted to spend under $150*, wanted fastest response time (I found hats with times ranging from 1/10,000 to 1/25,000 second), both battery and solar powered, light weight, grind mode, and (very important) large view window. Delay to come to full brightness after welding was icing on the cake. I settled on the Eastwood large view helmet for $99 - most of the helmets had only 2 sensors, this one has 4, and all of the other features I valued, as well as light weight (yes, it seems a bit flimsy, and the head strap is not the best, but I couldn't get it all and I don't weld much at all).

Thank you all for your help here. I learned a lot from your posts.


*This mostly because of what some of you said in posts above - I would normally spend more to get a 'better' item. Thanks again! You saved me bucks!