Autodarken welding helmets

The Speedglas 9002X fits all of the above specs. I have one, and really like it.

Can't speak for the Jackson, but I believe it is fairly similar.

JW

I have a NexGen EQC, and like it. It is my first and only, so I have no comparisons. The Jackson hood won't hold up the weight of the EQC, so you have to go to the Huntsman 951P. But the Huntsman spring doesn't hold in the EQC very well, so you have to contact Huntsman and have them send you a spring, part # 10207.

Steve

I really don't like auto-darken helmets.

If you are welding, stop to grind, etc, and resume (oops, forgot to turn the helmet back on), you weld for a few minutes before you realize that the arc is BRIGHT.

What I would like is a helmet that would darken with a push-button ON/OFF. That way I can make sure **I** darken the lens before I start arcing.

Rich

I prefer a solar powered auto... they have some nice features for the settings... response, shade and light time.. I have the Jackson Hellraiser, and its a nice helmet.

Rich, now what if you forgot to push the button? My helmet won't shut down for 15 minutes....and I've made it a habit to push the button whenever I flip my helmet down.

I think its speedglas that has a chin activated shield...flex your jaw and the face raises up...not sure

Get one of the famous Harbor Freight blue helmets and never worry abouty turning it on or off again. Solar powered, there is NO off swtich. Put it on your head and strike an arc. Nothing simpler.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

But that's why they are called "auto"darken. Flip it over your head and weld. The very first flash darkens them. Stop welding, and one second later they "open". Mine has no switch at all. Just a solar pannel (and maybe a little battery), and a know to adjust darkness. It's a Merkle, but that's only a rebranding.

Nick

Any decent auto-dark helmet will protect your eyes from IR and UV damage in the fully light state. In other words, your eyes will not be damaged if, for some reason, the lens does not darken. The worst that will happen is that you'll see bright "spots" for a few moments (like after a flash photograph) and you'll have to wait for your eyes to readjust to the ambient light level.

The idea behind auto-dark lenses is that it allows you to see **and hold** your set-up before starting (and after stopping) the arc without having to move your head or your hands. Being forced to manually press a button to darken the helmet would defeat the purpose.

- Michael

I can't put into words how highly I reccomend the Huntsman four sensor unit, part number HUT1105VXL over at the AirGas site. It's very expensive but I've never handled anything better. I've gone through a number of auto-darkening setups and two things always bothered me: The small window and the two sensors getting blocked. When you do any out of position welding the two sensors get blocked all the time which means you get blinded for a few seconds and lose your place. This one has a very large window but more importantly four sensors, one at each corner of the unit, which makes it almost impossible to block all of them. Stick it in a nice light helmet and you're set.