So I had a cheap auto darkening setup that worked fine with my wire feed welder but after the second flash with my new TIG machine, I chucked it out the door. I had laser eye surgery a few years back and my eyes are still sensitive to light flashes, so I need one that responds quickly. The issue I had with the last one was I couldn't adjust it to work with my new inverter TIG welder.
Any suggestions?
My Lincoln Viking works very well, some others I know swear by a Speedglass.
All the welders here at work swear by Speedglass, but they're certainly not the budget option. My el cheapo HF helmet at home works fine for my limited use, but has a just barely noticeable delay that leaves you seeing stars at the end of a long session of welding.
If I'm doing a lot of stops and starts (like tacking), I'll close my eyes before I pull the trigger. If I don't after a while my eyes are not happy with the flash that they are still seeing even if my brain isn't registering it.
NOHOME
PowerDork
6/6/17 11:04 a.m.
Anything sold at an actual welding supply place should work. HF or Canadian tire or Princess Auto? Maybe not so much
My Miller one has worked fine for about 6 years. I think the Lincoln ones are the exact same helmet as the Miller only $100 more. Same with gloves Miller TIG gloves are $15 cheaper than Lincoln for the same thing different brand.
Very happy with my Miller Digital Elite. I was between whatever the higher end Viking is and the Miller Digital Elite. Viking has a little bigger window, but the Digital Elite has X-Mode. X-Mode won me over, and is the only mode I use. X-Mode triggers the shade by "electromagnetically sensing" the arc, instead of triggering when "seeing" the flash.
I got mine through Air Gas, drop shipped to my door, cheaper than any of the online places (once you figured in shipping), even with tax.
I went with plain black. I was tempted to go Vintage Roadster, but it cost more, and figured I'd eventually scratch up the pretty "paint" job anyway.
Little known fact. A lot of auto darkenening hoods do not work for TIG. My snapon guy ordered four separate blue point and mid grade snapon units and I handed each one back to him after pulling out the manuals and scouring them for the small hidden print that said "not for use with low amperage TIG welding"
The cheap single and dual sensor HF and farm store hoods do not work well for TIG. By the time you get in to a decent size viewing area with 4 sensors they tend to fare well.
Check the manual and do not trust the sales droids.
My Weldcote hood is still doing well for under $100.
In reply to Jumper K. Balls:
Thanks for that. I'm new to TIG, and was having some problems.
My $120ish hobart helmet works great with my tig machine. I chucked the Hf helmet long ago because the delay (with wire feed machine) was giving me headaches.
Your eyes are not something to trust to harbor freight.
Another vote for the Weldcote.
So I went with a Weldcote.
This one link.
Did some low amp dc TIG today and so far its working great. My only issue is that while its down I keep flipping my head like an idiot trying to bring down the helmet.