Just been looking for a new mask and was amazed how cheap the auto darkening ones are now, going from about £20 on ebay 
I need an adjustable one as I've been welding stainless and find it very bright and difficult to see what's happening. My old one has been
fine and cost a fair bit if I remember right but that was over 10yrs ago.
So are these cheap ones any good for the infrequent DIY welder?
BTW you can even get ones with knockers on 
AUTO DARKENING WELDING HELMET WELDERS MASK Solar Powered (500G)
I bought one about a year ago and it has been fine. They scratch up quite easily so don't expect the knockers to last long.
I've had one for a while now and while it goes dark its too dark now, can't see a thing through it!
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
I've had one for a while now and while it goes dark its too dark now, can't see a thing through it!
What's knockers??? In a bra???
I have a £300 mask at work and a £15 EBay one for home. The first cheapy one I bought was a battery powered effort and was rubbish. The current one is solar. The difference in quality is obvious as the one is better made out of better materials but it's quite a bit heavier. For prolonged use, the cheap lighter mask is good. For being more durable, the Esab wins......but you can replace a lot of cheap masks for the price of one Esab!
Quite a few reviews on amazon worth looking at.. Looking for one myself yet to decide...
Ta guys, cheapo one it is then
Some seem to have battery and solar and some purely solar, are the latter best?
look at the slightly less cheap ones i have two from swp one cost £30 and is fixed the other was £50 and is adjustable in time and darkness, thats what i would go for, you can buy the fixed ones in different darkness you specify, mig tig arc etc for colour, fine if you only weld the one thing in the garage, but even going outside was a pain with the fixed one. i now use the £50 one over my very expensive speedglass set
I had a cheap (£25) solar powered one, lasted about 18 months before it went completely dark. It's battery powered which is charged from the solar panel. Once the battery is knackered no way to replace.
I have a £40.00 auto-darkening mask from Machine Mart IIRC. It darkens instantly and I have never had an issue with it. I suspect you would need something more if using all day every day at work, but for home use MIGing mild steel it works well.
I have a cheapo auto helmet from SIP that's now useless. It started to go dark after two years, so I managed to get into the electronics and
found two small batteries. These were bypassed and a pair of AA's were fitted in a Maplins holder.
The helmet then worked OK (sort of) for another 18 months, but is now completely useless, even with new batteries.
So, it seems the cheapo helmets are good for maybe 18 months, then when it starts to go dark, give it the heave ho and get a new one.
The guy who does my ali welding has a Miller, five years now and he says it's as good as the day he bought it.
You pays your money, and get what you pay for it seems with these.
Cheers,
Nev.
The ultimate question for me a couple of years back was how much do I value my eyes? I thought nothing of spending £500 on a crash helmet and close on 2 grand on leathers to ride bikes, why would I scrimp to protect my eyes, you only get one pair....