Tig helmet (?)

[oddbob]

Can anyone recommend an auto darkening helmet suitable for low amp tig (say 20 or 30amp) that won't cost the earth, or are budget helmets never going to be up to the job?

I've seen this on hebay...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160741714711?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
...it reads like it should be perfect (and I 'spose I could learn to live with the flaming skull look ) ...anybody got one?

 

[StickNtig]

Personally i never pay more than a tenner for a screen, I have several different shade lenses in my tool bag if i need a lighter or darker one.

Never used an auto darkening one so cant comment on those

 

[Paul.]

I've been using a parweld XR915H for the last couple of years, and for the money around £50 it has performed well on low amp tig, despite the specs saying 40 amps and over,
However a few weeks ago I bought an SWP from weldequip, and am very impressed with it, nice and light and at 20 amps DC not a flicker from it, not quite as hard a shell as the parweld but for tig ideal, the Parweld has been relegated to mig and stick duties now.

 

[pedrobedro]

I've used my SWP same as that down to 8 amps and no problems, well worth a look.

 

[Shox Dr]

The way I look at it is you only get one pair of eyes, is it too much to spend a bit of money looking after them.

I've used cheap lids circa 35-50quid, they have never lasted long. Had a Optrel Satellite for the last 4 yrs and it has never let me down, so it's working out cheaper in the long run

 

[oddbob]

Thanks for the input people.

I'm sure you're absolutely right Dr Shox ...but I don't know if I could justify spending that sort of money for a helmet (to she-who-must-be-at-least-considered) on top of the cost of my nice new R-Tech, and the gas, and rods etc., oh, and of course, the bits n'pieces I needed to make my nice shiny welder trolley ...I think that might just tip the balance to her picking up that chipping hammer and decorating my forehead with it.

...think I'll go with the SWP. The one thing I've learnt from this forum is that Mr Weldequip is a nice man, and is unlikely to sell me something that'll hurt my eyes!

 

[SAFC73]

SWP auto darkening helmet good for TIG down to 5 amps as supplied by Steve at Weldequip at a very competitive price. I have just taken delivery of my second one (son made off with the first)
First one I had for over 2 years with no issues and if you order from Weldequip you will have it next day

 

[langy]

I have a Miller Elite (£200 ish)& a SWP Eliminator (£60) and for the difference in cost there is not that much between them to honest, yes the Miller is better but not by much.

 

[Sparkster]

I'm a newbie to welding and bought the same helmet but with a different design. In use it doesn't flicker and also fits well. The only disadvantages I can see against a pricier one is that the shell is fairly thin plastic so may not be so long lasting. (It does make it light though) The fittings may also not be as tough but only time will tell. The bumpf says it's up to all of the correct specs so although everyone warns against a cheap helmet possibly damaging your eyes, I don't think that they could sell them if they were useless. I hope..!

 

[Ragnarok]

the one thing you have to watch out for with tig at 20-30amps is slope up, if you have a helmet that is rated for 20 amps and you set the machine for 20amps peak then have slope up on the helmet might, or rather probably won't detect the arc at the start, and maybe not at all.

my old speedglas 9002d is like that rated for 20amps and works fine as long as there is no slope up, but it doesn't deal with low amp slope up or pulse very well at all.

I wouldn't recommend any helmet with more than 5amp detection rating for low amp tig work I ended up getting the 9100xx for tig and I keep the 9002d for mig and arc

the swp mentioned by people here i think is one of the only budget helmets with low amp tig detection.

 

[oddbob]

the one thing you have to watch out for with tig at 20-30amps is slope up, if you have a helmet that is rated for 20 amps and you set the machine for 20amps peak then have slope up on the helmet might, or rather probably won't detect the arc at the start, and maybe not at all.

my old speedglas 9002d is like that rated for 20amps and works fine as long as there is no slope up, but it doesn't deal with low amp slope up or pulse very well at all.

I wouldn't recommend any helmet with more than 5amp detection rating for low amp tig work I ended up getting the 9100xx for tig and I keep the 9002d for mig and arc

the swp mentioned by people here i think is one of the only budget helmets with low amp tig detection.

Well, as luck would have it, I ordered the swp today. I hadn't thought of the effect of slope up ...but all's well that ends well, eh!

 

[Guzziclive]

Tig Helmet

I am using a Sip Meteor 2200F Auto Darkening Welding Helmet got it off Ebay for £58 works well no flashes or anything (has a seperate TIG setting).
New to TIG have been running beads on 3mm Ally and Mild Steel and have made up a few butts and fillet welds on both materials ok.
Have just been welding some 1.5mm tubular steel (55 Amps) problem I am having is I can see the pool ok but have poor vision of the job itself ie cant see where I am going with the weld.
Do you have any problems like this with the SWP helmet from Weldequip.
Any advice welcome
cheers

 

[Ragnarok]

what is your lightest shade? for low amp stuff i sometimes use shade 8, but shade 9 is usually ok, is the screen clean? makes a huge difference, if you do mig and tig welding i'd get separate cover lenses so that you can keep one totally clean, clear and spatter free for tig

 

[Guzziclive]

Tig Helmet

the helmet I have is 9/13 even on 9 find it difficult to see the job. Ok on aluminium and thicker steel. Maybe the SWP helmet shade 9 is lighter than the helmet I am usings shade 9.
Does background lighting have much of an effect did try a bright light but this triggered the autodarkening helmet before I even started welding

 

[Ragnarok]

lighting does have a big effect, have the light somewhere so that the bulb is out of view of the mask, and not too bright you don't want it glaring off the metal or anything, just so it's well lit but comfortable to work with the mask off i'd go with a couple of lights rather than one really bright one if posable you can also get helmet mounted lights, never tried them though so i can't comment on the effectiveness.

better helmets don't seem to get triggered by normal lights much, my old sealey, think it was made be optrel, used to trigger when looking at a lightbulb, but my speedglases don't, the but 9100 triggers even if arc is hidden, like behind someone else when you're watching them weld, think it picks up the HF start or something.

get some lights on your work just use desk lamps or something set up far enough away so they don't trigger the mask, see how it goes

 

[billsmowers]

can anyone recommend an auto darkening helmet suitable for low amp tig (say 20 or 30amp) that won't cost the earth, or are budget helmets never going to be up to the job?

I've seen this on hebay...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160741714711?sspagename=strk:mewax:it&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
...it reads like it should be perfect (and i 'spose i could learn to live with the flaming skull look ) ...anybody got one?

i have this helmet and find it very good it blows my esab out of the water i paid over £100 for the esab and it was crap

 

[Ragnarok]

the cheap esab helmets won't be that good for tig tbh is it the origo helmet? basically a mig helmet really, the eye-tech 2 and the new esab new-tech range would probably be very good helmets for all kinds of welding there is a huge difference between budget helmets and the good ones personally i wouldn't want to trust my eyes to a cheap helmet, and i find that the speedgas helmets last so long that the cheapo ebay/chinese ones are probably going to be a false economy, but that's just me, i guess it depends on a lot of things really.

but with a company like esab consider a £100 helmet as budget low spec and a £250-400ish (what they actually sell for not the crazy RRP) as a high end one, the origo isn't really made for tig welders, budget entry level mig helmet that

 

[billsmowers]

the cheap esab helmets won't be that good for tig tbh is it the origo helmet? Basically a mig helmet really, the eye-tech 2 and the new esab new-tech range would probably be very good helmets for all kinds of welding there is a huge difference between budget helmets and the good ones personally i wouldn't want to trust my eyes to a cheap helmet, and i find that the speedgas helmets last so long that the cheapo ebay/chinese ones are probably going to be a false economy, but that's just me, i guess it depends on a lot of things really.

But with a company like esab consider a £100 helmet as budget low spec and a £250-400ish (what they actually sell for not the crazy rrp) as a high end one, the origo isn't really made for tig welders, budget entry level mig helmet that

i used it for mig welding it lasted 14 1/2 months ESAB EYE-TECH and died just out of warenty took it back to boc was told not our problem i also had the orignal speedglas this was good but would eat batterys

if i was to spend a lot i would go for the top of the range jackson very big view area

the cheap helmet i have now gives me no flash like the esab did no problem with ramp up on low amps in tig as it has sensitvaty + 4 sensers so tiggers no problem i tryed this agenst a top of the range speedglas at a local fabrication shop and the guy has just bought one of the cheap helmets to keep in the van for mobile repairs so cant be that bad he has the speedglas in the shop as it has the air fed filter on it

 

[Ragnarok]

ah well, i don't really like the esab helmets, they usually have a good reputation, i've had a speedglas 9002d for along time now, since 2007 so about 5 years old done a lot of work with it, mig and arc mostly bit of tig when i first started doing tig but it would flash on pulse tig, and also only just pick up 20amps, though it did have a well used front lens then could have contributed to the bad 20amp detection, i then got a 9100xx which i use only for tig and keep the 9002d for mig, i've changed the 9002d batteries once and the 9100xx is on the originals, only 1 and a bit years old though, both great masks for what they're made for and what they cost, the head gear on the 9002 is it's only weak point, but the fix i found was putting blue thread lock on the hinge screws, pretty much fixes it's problem imo, the 9100 is much much better, really comfortable, and the hinges are much better.

if i was buying a new mask, i'd buy the 9100xx again any day, don't like solar cells in my masks, batteries are better imo, if a solar cell goes wrong you need a new mask if a battery goes wrong/runs out it's £2 and it's up and running again, not to mention that all the solar ones have batteries that wear out eventually and then the whole mask needs replacing again, though i think some optels have replaceable batteries even though they're basically fully solar cell powered.

 

[PTvor]

if i was buying a new mask, i'd buy the 9100xx again any day, don't like solar cells in my masks, batteries are better imo, if a solar cell goes wrong you need a new mask if a battery goes wrong/runs out it's £2 and it's up and running again, not to mention that all the solar ones have batteries that wear out eventually and then the whole mask needs replacing again, though i think some optels have replaceable batteries even though they're basically fully solar cell powered.

This question of batteries is certainly worth looking into. Most of them have a solar cell and lithium batteries. With some of them they assume the lithium batteries are going to last forever and if they go flat, it takes surgery to replace them with a good risk of damaging something.

Mine's a SIP with a solar cell and 2 AA cells in a compartment with a cover, which I think is a much better idea. The blurb reckons a pair of alkaline AA cells are good for 3000 welding hours. I've had it for a couple of years and it's been fine. I haven't had to change the batteries yet.