TIG Auto Darkening Welding Helmets-Cheap or Expensive?

[Janderso]

I am new to TIG welding. I purchased a Miller Diversion 180. Did some practicing last night. I was using Amazon's choice auto darkening for $40.
$40 seems pretty cheap. I was reading through some thread and they mentioned the biggest difference between the cheap helmets and the more expensive is clarity.
I did have a difficult time seeing what I was doing.
Your thoughts on this subject please.
I am going to a welding supply store today to pick up the shops new MIG Welder. I plan on buying a better helmet and some welding gloves.

 

[ttabbal]

AvE on YouTube did some tests and compared cheap helmets to brand name. He found that the cheap ones start out darker, block all the same harmful stuff, and darken a bit slower.

I wouldn't mind a nicer one for the lighter starting level. It would make setup and such easier. Not enough to pay that much more though. I don't weld enough to justify it. If I did it even weekly, I would probably do it though. I didn't notice a big difference in clarity from looking at them in the store, but I haven't welded with a nicer one in a long time. Mine is just a basic HF unit.

 

[Bobby Bailey]

I have an expensive one bought through our local Miller dealer and my son has a Harbor Freight one. HF works, but not as well in all conditions. And, the HF doesn't change as fast.

 

[ACHiPo]

My local welding shop recommended a moderate priced one that I'm happy with from Weldcoat Metals. I think it was about $90. It has a place to insert cheaters, the clarity seems good, it has adjustable darkness, etc.. It is a little heavier than the expensive ones (3M Speedglas seems to be the best, but they're ~$300), but it's fine no more than I use it.

 

[Eddyde]

I have an expensive Miller and a cheap-o Kobalt They both work fine. The nice thing about Miller it's adjustable for darkness and speed, its drawback is it must be switched on (turns itself off after about 15 min of inactivity) and requires batteries (although, they last years). The Kobalt doesn't need batteries and no switch but its very dark. Great for stick welding but a little much for MIG and too dark for plasma cutting. I don't have a TIG setup yet.

 

[Janderso]

It is confusing. With a price spread of $20 - >$600 there has to be something to it. MJB Welding supply in Yuba City CA, is where I purchased my TIG. I saw on-line Miller has a few models to choose from. The range for Miller Brand is roughly $90-$450 if I recall correctly.
I think I will just talk to the guys at the store. If it's good enough for Miller, it should be good enough for me.

 

[Ken from ontario]

The good or moderately priced helmets are the best choice in my opinion, what sets cheaper VS expensive) helmets apart is :
A=how fast they react to the initial spark.
B= how comfortable/light weight they are,the lighter the helmet the longer they can be worn ,when you weld for 8-10 hours a day, both of these to factors make a huge difference.

 

[Jonno_G]

I may have the wrong end of the stick, but my impression from the little research that I did before buying mine is that if using very low current TIG welding some of the cheaper units may not be sensitive enough, and therefore may not darken quickly or may possibly lighten up prematurely.

I know that some dearer helmets have more sensors, and that can be an advantage, especially if you're welding in awkward spots as it's harder for, say, for sensors to get blocked than perhaps one or two.

Another thing to think of is the minimum shade that you can set it to. Mine goes down to shade 9, at which point I can just see what's going on if I have the welder running at 5-10 Amps. Not that I weld at 5 Amps often, but I did have to last week.

Mine has a good sized lens (but far from the biggest available), is relatively light, has replaceable batteries, and cost me about AU$120 about two years ago from memory.

The unit it replaced had a standard small lens, was fixed shade, and had built in batteries. In the end it failed completely. I did some digging and found that the rechargeable lithium button cells that it used (just because there's nowhere to put batteries in, doesn't mean that it doesn't have batteries), if they are allowed to discharge too far can have something weird happen to the chemistry of the cell and the voltage will invert. I couldn't see how that was possible, so I pulled it apart and sure enough - one cell was still reading 1.5V but the other, when tested the same way, showed -0.2V.

tldr; Get the best you can with the budget you have, but make sure it's got replaceable batteries and an adjustable shade (down to at least shade 9), a good sized lens, and as many sensors as your budget allows.

Cheers,... Jon.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[Sitting on Blocks Racing]

I bought a Kobalt on closeout from Lowes for about $100. I kept getting flashed Tig welding Aluminum with my old Craftsman which was fine with MIG. Get one with 4 sensors, 2 (on cheap helmets) is not enough.

 

[brino]

what sets cheaper VS expensive) helmets apart is :
A=how fast they react to the initial spark.
B= how comfortable/light weight they are,the lighter the helmet the longer they can be worn ,when you weld for 8-10 hours a day, both of these to factors make a huge difference.

I agree with that list, but would add:
C) the range of shade settings.

I find with TIG I want lower settings for doing very low-current stuff with thinner sheet.
I have an ancient helmet I have used for years with stick.
I bought a mid-range ($80-90) one when I got my MIG welder.
When I added TIG I just could not see the puddle for low-current/thin materials.

I went with the Lincoln Viking 3350 Welding Helmet K3034-3.
I was able to find a better price on ebay shipped from Quebec (tgsindustrial), than from the States.
Sure, it still cost me ~ $310 (CAD, delivered), but what a difference!
From 10A to 250A I can see what I'm doing....you can't really put a price on that.

-brino