I did a bunch of welding on the 914 Saturday and had no inkling of the impending disaster, no seeing spots etc. I've used my Harbor Freight helmet for a lot of welding before and don't know if the battery was weak, the adjustment changed or what, but I suffered some flash injury to my eyes. For anybody who has never had this, it sucks: red eyes, burning, extreme light sensitivity, blurriness, excessive watering, and an overall unpleasantness. I should be fine in a few days, but in the meantime, do yourself a favor and buy a good helmet.

Anybody have suggestions for a new auto-darkening helmet? And any suggestions on keeping them working perfectly?

I was a welder for > 15 years and have personally never trusted the auto-darkening helmets enough to actually buy one.
For TIG it has become the defacto standard, but for MIG & Stick, startup is not as critical. (I used to stick weld bar joist to beams without even looking, I could weld by feel alone)

But if I did buy a auto hood, HF would be the last place I would trust.

FWIW - for flash burns, put potato slices on your eyes.
It isn't as good as the drops they give you in the ER, but definitely better than suffering.

I got mine from Miller. My first one was from Lowes never had a problem with it. Make sure your settings are correct. I had my hands on a HF helmet kept walking around with it until my wife said no get a better one. Just my .02

Andy

I'm old school, just a nod of the head and you're welding. Never trusted the self darkening.

Get a good name brand, I have a Miller that works well.
YOu might want to replace the battery on some schedule...

I have a Miller Pro-Hobby (which I think is now their Classic Series). I have been using it for a few years and never had a problem with it and like it. I only use it for welding on my cars or other small projects. I am not a professional welder. I think it has a safety feature on it that even if the auto darkening isn't working it provides some protection or at least a minimum safe darkness. I think I remember reading something like in the manual. That way if your battery goes dead or it doesn't auto darken for you you don't get flashed. I doubt the crap at HF has much in the way of any safety features nor would I trust it with anything to do with my safety. When I buy something from HF it always involves two trips, one to buy and a second to return it after it breaks.

invest in a quality helmet.
I can reccommend Speedglass 9100XX you can see the melt pool clearly something which is not so easy with a cheap helmet and it provides protection even if batteri goes flat

Certified Welder, former fab shop worker, former ship yard worker. As a ship yard worker I ended up with flash burns several times from catching flash from others welding around me. Often working in close quarters next to other guys welding.

I don't own an auto darkening helmet and have no use for one. I use gloves and protective clothing. Even when tacking.

Actually I am about to launch an Alien product line for welding. The web page is in the works.

This is personal for me. I had a friend who lost his brother to a welding injury. He worked for the mines and used to tack without gloves. He received a small burn on his finger that wouldn't heal. Turned out it was cancer. They took the finger, then his arm to the elbow, then to the shoulder. shortly after it took his life. I cringe when I see those hot rod and custom bike shows and guys are welding without gear.

Most likely it was not the helmet, even if a cheapo.
All autodarkening lenses provide protection against flash burns.
The lower quality ones don't switch fast enough which may lead to sore eyes from the brightness but not from excess UV.

Invest in a quality helmet.
I have a Miller. I always hit the reset button before starting. And always look up at the sky or LED flashlight to make sure it darkens prior to starting.
Received some sunburn from stick welding in the 70's while wearing a t- shirt.
It's serious stuff.

Have taught welding for the last 16 years full time at a college. And industry before that. When it comes to welding supplies you get what you pay for.

I used to use a Jackson nextgen auto darkening helmet for tig. I found that even when the batteries were still 'good' that I would have difficulty seeing a weld sometimes, like unless the batteries are brand new, there is some compromise in what you are able to see.

I made the switch to using a standard, non-darkening helmet, a Miller with a #10 shade, and I find I am able to see better. jackson was ~$300, miller was ~$30.

It took some getting used to starting blind, but being able to see optimally during the weld always, and not to keep needing to buy lithium batteries, has been worth it for the amount of welding I do (not that much).

I've always been pretty diligent about wearing PPE and always tell my Soldiers to wear and remember theirs, I guess now I'm going to add the adjective "quality" to my speech. This incident has me out of work for 3 days (not even allowed in the garage), leaving my team shorthanded on one of the busiest weeks of the quarter.

I have had a Jackson Auto for 20 years. . other than changing batteries, it has worked fine till I got my MIller Syncrowave Tig welder. . For some strange reason, the Jackson hat would not turn on with the tig spark. . something about frequency I'm guessing. .
I then got a Lincoln Auto Helmet that is battery-less, powered off of the spark which has worked flawlessly with both my Mig and the Tig. .

That sucks.

I have a Speedglass auto-dimming helmet and often use a friend's Miller or Jackson helmets. All have been quite good.

A long time ago I read somewhere once that leaving your helmet outside in the cold can decrease battery life and slow darkening switching times. I'm not sure if that is true or not, but I always bring my helmet inside and haven't had any issues.

About 8 years ago, I bought an HF auto darkening helmet because it had a response time 2 - 3 times FASTER than the name brand helmets of the time. Been using it ever since without issue. Before that, I used an old school helmet.

Andys

Maybe the helmet but most likely not, As others have said it should have uv protection even when turned off.

Make sure you are not getting any reflections inside the helmet. If you were wearing a light colored shirt it can reflect & give you flash burn. Also it could be reflecting off of something else & then into your helmet,

+1 for Miller Pro Hobby

Ditto the Speedglass.

Speedglas as well. I do think that any of the major brands like Speedglas, Miller, Lincoln, etc. will provide the speed of darkening that is required to keep from getting flash burns. Auto darkening speed is the key and "Wang-Chung" helmets are slow.

It also helps to change your battery on a regular basis. A piece of tape with the date installed inside the helmet works great as a reminder. Then change it every 9 months or so whether or not you have a low battery indication. $3 worth of preventive maint. can save a medical deductible at the ER. . .

http://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Welding-He...l/dp/B002B8M6SS

learn something every time you post....

Thanks

rich

Here's the crazy part, it turns out it was not flash (I still plan to buy a new helmet).

I actually had a piece of metal embedded in my eye. After it wasn't getting better they looked closer and found the metal-it was camouflaged in the color of my eye. The metal was in a place of my eye where I couldn't/didn't feel it and all of the irritation/problems were actually caused by the metal rusting.

This is way more confusing than flash from a cheap mask because I wear goggles when grinding... Doctor has ordered me to stay out of the garage this weekend and I have followups next week because the eye isn't reacting properly to light. The hole where they dug the metal out has healed well, but the rust has had an effect. Damn rust.

And don't forget proper ventilation as well. Or wear a respirator. It won't hurt you now but it will later. I work in the clean air industry so I know all about the hazards of welding fumes.