Good afternoon guys. Chris, Ken is clever that way! Just bought myself an auto-darkening helmet also. I had a $125 gift certificate from here at work, so bought me a Hobart helmet. Should do the trick.

 

I hope you researched the shade for mig welding, or got an adjustable

Depending on personal preference, MIG welding requires something in the 9-10.5 range. Stick welding is usually 11-13.

I bought my dad a Miller helmet.
Auto Darkening
adjustable shade, reaction time, sensitivity
grinding mode, battery powered, solar powered.

Oh, if it is solar powered only, make sure you let it sit in the light for awhile before you start welding, or you will get blinded for a second when you start to weld

 

It's adjustable on Jason. I think from 9-12 or 13. I read about that, sticking it in the light for an half hour before using, but I appreciate the heads up! Now, just need to get my welding lessons! I have a buddy coming over one of these days to teach me how to use this thing. My mother-in-law has a huge scrap metal pile for me to practice with.

 

Good Afternoon BC........

 

Hey....are you following me again....

 

Auto darkening 9-13. Clear state 4. Solar powered with battery back up. 0.0001 response time

 

Sounds pretty good. I have played around with the response time, and found that the only time the adjustable response time is nice is for arc welding, but thats probably got more to do with my poor stick welding skills

 

It was only $25.00 so I don't really know how good it is. Guess I'll find out next week. The seller probably sells 5 or 6 a day probably one reason why it was cheap.

It's been a long time since I did any welding so it should be interesting for the first bit.

 

That sounds similiar to the one I bought a few years back Chris. I picked it up off ebay as well for cheap. It worked a lot better then any one at work expected. I still have it but I dont weld at all anymore.

 

The cheapest I could have gotten in town would have run pretty close to $200.00 if not over.

 

Yea, thats why people doubted the helmet I had. They all had the custom themed helmets that were a few hundred dollars. They welded almost every day though. I was learning a bit while I was apprenticing in Sheet Metal. The shop had a couple helmets that weren't auto darkening and I couldnt use them at all so I picked up the cheap one.

 

MIG welding is extremely easy!

If you have arc welded before, then MIG will be a breeze.
A few simple tips:
-If use argon gas, remember to clean your tip and nozzle often
-Be carefull with the distance between tip and weld
-Make sure that the surfaces are clean, a MIG will not "burn" through stuff like a stick welder
-Balance the wire speed with the heat so the wire melts as it hits your surface, it should make a continues sound when this happens

Also, if using flux core wire, clean every weld before allowing another weld to come near it, otherwise you will get contamination.

Oh, and flux core will leave spatter, no matter what! Solid core with Argon produces the cleanest, best looking welds of anything short of TIG welding

 

I plan to get the gas set up for mine. It's not that expensive.

 

Cheap helmets are a gamble, some will last along time, others won't.

My dad and my grandfather (75 years old and still has a hobbie shop) both bought cheap (princess auto, I think) autodarkening helmets at about the same time. My dad's is dead and my grandfather is still using his.

 

Hopefully mine will be of decent quality.