Welding hood?

[tex-41]

Alright, took a welding class in college, and loved it. Mig, Tig, stick, oxy / acetalene cutting, little brazing, and some plasma. Anyway, I'm a descent welder, and looking at the Hobart 140 :thumbsup: Really excited.

So, I guess my question is....I'm looking for a good welding hood. In class we used just a simple one lens, flip up hood and I liked it.

I've been looking at the auto-darkening hoods, but I've never used one.

What's your opinion guys? What's a good hood? :shrug:

 

[Oldsalt]

Alright, took a welding class in college, and loved it. Mig, Tig, stick, oxy / acetalene cutting, little brazing, and some plasma. Anyway, I'm a descent welder, and looking at the Hobart 140 :thumbsup: Really excited.

So, I guess my question is....I'm looking for a good welding hood. In class we used just a simple one lens, flip up hood and I liked it.

I've been looking at the auto-darkening hoods, but I've never used one.

What's your opinion guys? What's a good hood? :shrug:

Years ago I broke down and bought one....but only because my youngest son needed to be taught how to MIG/TIG/ARC and I thought it would make it easier for him because the 'head shake' to drop the hood would not need to be learned. I hated it with a passion [heavy, bulky, unreliable because of battery and etc., and some other things such as vulnerable to damage]. He learned his first lessions and he refused to use it after that. They sound like a cool thing to own but they have too many drawbacks. The worst is the weight as far as I'm concerned. Give me an old pressed cardboard Huntsman any day.

 

[tex-41]

Thanks Salt :thumbsup:

My eyes are pretty sensitive to bright light (looong story, but I have less than stellar eyesight). The auto darkening hoods look pretty good, but I'm concerned about the battery dying, or electronics not working at some point, and I flash myself. Wouldn't be the first time, but of course I want to keep them at a minimum.

I really liked my first hood. Simple, reliable, just gotta watch where my rod is :laugh:

I think it comes down to whether or not seeing exactly where I start my weld is worth the investment.

Thanks for the info brother :thumbsup:

 

[metal man]

have to agree with Oldsalt on the autos never had one but my buddy does . seen the problems he had with his . like it wouldnt turn on when the arc was struck dead battery gave him some nice flash eyes :laugh: the fixed lens work are cheep and if you dont do alot of welding wont go dead in storage like autos will .

but autos have a place you can get in tight and see what your welding dont have to flip up to see . work well under cars welding frames as you dont have to move your head .
me i would get a fixed and a auto there getting cheap just get the solar one and set it in a window to keep charged

 

[tex-41]

Thanks gentlemen :thumbsup: You confirmed my gut feeling on this one... I think I'll stick with a good ol' flipper :weld:

 

[bigrob]

I have a bunch of different ones hanging upon the wall and they all have their uses.

The funny thing is I use the cheap hand held flat face shield more than any thing else.

But I do most of my welding on the steel bench with everything clamped and dogged down so I only use one hand (wire feed flux c or mig)

Now if I am doing heavy fab work like trailers ect I use my old reliable stick welder, and out comes the full drop down hoods

I allways forget about the auto darkening , and end up flipping it up too lol

But back to my original story , for me the light weight hand held lets me get a more accurate arc started and more precise welds

Now on a simlar topic , I do most of my welds sitting or leaning I must be getting shakey in my old age lol

 

[KustomKartKid]

Just for the record, ANSI welding standards requires that auto-darkening helmets provide full protection against both UV and IR even when they are in the clear (non darkened) state. Yep...that's correct.

What you will get in the clear state is uncomfortably bright light which may make you see spots for a while but will not cause eye damage...much like an old flash-bulb going off...or watching a cutting torch without shaded goggles.

Unless it is a total junk discount store helmet it should be ANSI Z87.1 compliant....check the label just to be sure.

Also the better helmets will "fail dark" when the battery runs down...

I myself still use an old flip down because that's what I've always used....but I started my son welding at 14 or 15, and like OldSalt I thought it would be easier for him to learn without the head-nod start........I wanted to make sure exactly what I was buying before putting one on him.



.

 

[Fat Boy]

I have a 49.99 autodark hood from a cheap tool sale out of the back of a semitrailer and it works great [I see no reason to replace it until it breaks] and I never use the row of old hoods I have on the wall . I have a Lincoln SP250 computerized mig welder and love it :thumbsup: also 250 amp AC/DC stick welder for the heavy iron .
I was a pipeline welder in the early 70's , have welded large farm equiptment in a factory with a AA welding certification and welded bridges and other steel structures for 17 years yes I can weld .

Buy a decent priced quality autodark hood and you will never regret it

 

[rmm727]

Do yourself a favor and buy something that is adjustable. I found my eyes are not as tolerant of a lower shade helmet as they were 5 years ago. I used to use Speedglas Utility in shade 10 but now I have an adjustable Miller Pro Hobby series and use shade 12.

 

[tex-41]

Thanks guys :thumbsup:

Fat Boy, much respect for your trade. My dad's been in the oil field for around 35 years, and I have a LOT of respect for pipeline welders.... that's a rough job :weld:

I just want to be able to trust my hood, completely :weld: and I'm not sold on auto-darks just yet :glare:


Oh... so what's a "decent priced" hood? I don't want to go to like $700, or even $350 for a Miller Elite. But, rmm, you said you had a Miller Pro Hobby? Do you like

it? I have no problem with paying $150 for a hood, as long as it's good quality. And Miller is good stuff, so. Would $150 be considered "good quality"?

Sorry I got so many dumb questions guys... never really looked at hoods.. and don't know much about them...

 

[rmm727]

So far so good. Think it was $170. Sure there are cheaper places to buy it. Feels pretty comfortable. Can't say how long the headband will last. Haven't owned it long enought to tell but it appears to be stouter than the Speedglas.

 

[steven Durham]

Well I have a great hood that was not cheap by anyones standards.
I bought it from Air-gas and from the local corporate store manager about 4 years ago for $279.00 it is a Opt rel Helios UVEX K 507 and it has 3 led lights that shine on the work area when working in low light. With a full 9 to 13 adjustment knob on the outside of the very light helmet.
Steve :anon.sml::anon.sml:

 

[trailbronc]

we got an auto darkening one from harbor freight for 50 bucks and it works pefectly, no problems at all...

 

[deejaaa]

bought an auto dark from same place i get the bottles filled. 150.00. was leery about paying so much because i weld only when i want/have to. it is a solar type so no batteries. had 2 others, both battery, and acid leaked running up the wire to the electronic board and ruined both. one was a good one but was free and the other was a HF one. this new one is lightweight, adjustable and well worth it. i learned on the flip hood 30 years ago.