Welding helmet woes!

I have a customer who is learning how to weld for a hobby. He has much trouble hitting the right spot with the stick. I let him try my auto darkening hood and he loves it. I think all hobby welders would benefit greatly from auto hoods. ERS

It doesn't make any sense but I asked because I think I have noticed that before. I, personally, think I have a general tendency to keep things running just by positive expectations.

On the other hand, it is also interesting how often when, say, you car breaks, the backup vehicle also starts having problems at the same time.

I am also still using standard helmets.

Almost all the welding I do is GTAW, and a lot of it is pretty low current. About 7 years ago, I bought a Speedglass auto helmet. I was constantly getting flashed as I moved my head around to see what I was doing. The Speedglass was damned expensive ($375) and I was really dissapointed in it. I set it aside and tried it again last year. With new batteries, it switches about like it used to, but now has big spots that never get light.

In the mean time, I have been using my Huntsman big window helmet (now with reading glasses) and am very happy with it. For $50 for the horrible freight unit, I could replace something that I am not unhappy with. Why bother.

Bob

R. Zimmerman wrote:

I have one of the EQCs and love it. It is growing a grunge on the LCD (actually it seems like between the plates) but it hasn't grown where I look so it hasn't been a problem. It's about 6 years old so I can't complain (or it won't do any good).

I have a Harbor Freight blue helmet and I've had fairly good luck there. I thought it died a while back as it wouldn't switch at all when I held it towards the sun, but when I struck an arc it switched. I was looking away when I tried it. :-) Both the EQC and Miller will switch when pointed towards the sun.

I also have a Miller. I got it at a garage sale. It has an adjustable shade knob, but it doesn't get nearly dark enough. I think it probably will get to a 6 or 7 shade. It does work very well for my little plasma cutter so I'm happy with it. I wouldn't be happy using it for welding. The Miller makes reference to a battery, but says it's a sealed unit and battery replacement isn't possible. I have no idea how old it is, so this isn't good information for a purchase.

I can't tell you the replacement policy -or- time frame for the Jackson EQC, but I'll probably get another one when this one dies or the grunge takes over.

Wow! You do have a time with things breaking. I was annoyed today when one of my X-10 lighting controllers died. (luckily Radio Shack was having a clearance and I replaced it for $2.49.) If you would have been in my shop the whole light fixture probably would have fallen on us. Be careful...

John

Oh s*it....you are one of Them.

Hummm how would you like to visit some of my clients?

Gunner

"If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're around."

"Democrat. In the dictionary it's right after demobilize and right before demode` (out of fashion).

-Buddy Jordan 2001

--Yeah, yesterday I went on the prowl and checked out both the Miller and the EQC. I like the manual controls on the Miller but I thought it was a fairly heavy helmet, i.e. the kind that gives me a headache. A pal of mine who works at the local steel supplier has an EQC and he told me he's beat the crap out of it for 6 years now. A couple of things he told me about it sound interesting; i.e. there are 3 models of EQC and the one he's got has an automatic shade-1 mode for grinding sparks and another mode for plasma torch work; sounds like that's the one for me..

--Well the good news is that my shop seems to be an island of sanity, but maybe that's because I do all the maintenance myself. When it comes to other stuff breaking I'm reminded of the Zappa song about outsourcing repairs called "Flakes". Heh.

snip

It usually becomes an outright mechanical rebellion for me. When my main transportation dies, I have had my backup truck and two motorcycles go down too. Freaky.

Bob

Later Speedglas helmets have specific settings for low amp TIG, as well as delay for tack welding, and several different shades,

I also have an earlier Speedglas, which I use purely for MIG work and I would agree the older units are not a lot of use for low amp TIG work.

However as a quality auto helmet, is an expensive item, seems well worth going to a good dealer and explaining exactly what your main uses are likely to be, and following the advice given, rather than paying a lot for something thats not ideal.

When I bought it, this was what the dealer recommended. It says on the box that it is suited for TIG, and has a TIG configuration option on the helmet. It just never worked very well.

My point was that for the price of a cheap one, I can get 6 or 7 sixpacks of good beer. For the price of a good one, I can get 5 or 6 cylinders of argon. The manual hood with the large window works very well for what I do, and I really like that large window. Why replace something you are happy with.

Regards, Bob

--Yeah. Being as I'm ever so slightly broke at the moment I wound up finishing the work using a friend's manual helmet with the big window; lotsa nodding and flipping, heh. Here's a quick link to the whatchacallit; it's the yellow thing in the photo at the top of the page:

Thanks Gunner.

Gunner

"If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're around."

"Democrat. In the dictionary it's right after demobilize and right before demode` (out of fashion).

-Buddy Jordan 2001