Just enrolled my son on a basic Tig course at night school, I am not sure if the college have auto masks so was thinking of buying him a cheap one as I don't really want him taking my Esau one incase it goes missing.
Any top tips?
Cheap ones are cheap and until you get a decent one you dont realise how bad they can be.
I have had all sorts over the years, my first was an Esab 20 plus years ago and it cost about £300, the £30 ones now are better than it was
The latest ones now have a more blue filter than the normal green and it makes a huge difference but also a lot of the cheaper ones are dark for the shade they are meant to be.
I have an Optrel now it is superb but it is expensive, I also have a Phantom XL (£70 ish) and it is nice. I tried on someone elses Parweld the last day and it to was nice for a semi budget lid, not sure the model though.
I'm like hood in the respect that I have tried them from the cheapest of the cheap to the eye watering prices of the very top spec ones.
They all serve a purpose but it's only when you get them tried out you see just how much better a triple figure lid is over a £30 one.
For tig a good lid does make all the difference especially when trying to focus on a 20 amp pool.