Whether you’re looking for your first welding helmet, or considering upgrading or buying a new one, Eastwood has the helmets with the features you need when you’re MIG, TIG, or ARC. Let’s take a look at these helmets from Eastwood, which range from an economy, entry level style to a full 180 degree Panoramic view.
All of these helmets are auto dimming, which means you can see through the lens when the helmet is down, and when you strike an arc, it dims to protect your eyes. This feature is nice because it allows you to precisely hold your workpieces together and the torch in the proper position, while looking through the lens.
The size of the lens increases as you move up through the helmets, with the basic helmet having 7 square inches of viewing area, the large view 10 square inches, the extra large view 14 square inches and the panoramic 15 square inches in the center lens and a total of 26 square inches when you include the side lenses. A large viewing area is nice and helps prevent strain and neck fatigue. It’s particularly useful when you’re in tight, awkward positions or welding under a car.
Let’s take a look at each helmet. The basic helmet has two arc sensors to change it from a 3 shade to an 11 shade when you strike an arc, which means it will be okay for an entry level MIG welder doing light work.
Now, let’s look at these other three helmets that have a lot more features that you want or may need in a quality welding helmet. All are made of impact resistant nylon and have an adjustable headband with replaceable sweatband, plus a 5 way adjustable tilt to allow you to get the helmet at the proper angle to your head and eyes. All adjustments are easily made with a few turns of the knobs. They all have arc-charging batteries that recharge the batteries while you’re welding. These helmets have four arc sensors for improved dimming when you’re striking an arc, which is necessary for doing low amperage tig welding. They also include the standard adjustments for delay, sensitivity and shade, including grind mode to allow you to get the exact performance you need when you’re welding. The adjustable shade and grind mode features are nice because it allows you to reshape tungsten, grind weld beads or even plasma cut without wasting time switching from your helmet to protective glasses and back to your helmet again.
These helmets all have true color technology which provides realistic color perception and clarity so you have a much clearer view of your work piece and the puddle. This is really helpful if you don’t have the best eyes, or if you’re getting older and your eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. You can really see the difference looking through the lens when compared to a standard auto dimming helmet. These helmets from Eastwood with true color technology will definitely allow you to see better, whether you’re MIG, TIG or ARC welding.
Let’s take a look at a few differences in these three helmets. If seeing better is an issue, you may want to consider the Large View or Extra Large view helmets which give you the ability to attach a magnifying lens, which may improve your welding.
The large view and extra large view have an adjustable shade range from 4 to 13, giving you the ability to do mig welding up to 500 amps and tig welding up to 300 amps. The shade range on the panoramic adjusts from a 3 shade to a 12, allowing you to mig weld up to 300 amps, and tig weld up to 175 amps. So if you need a helmet for tig welding, your best options would be the large or extra large view helmets right here.
The Panoramic Helmet features an extended throat guard for added protection as well as the 180 degree view, which is really helpful in tight spots.
Let’s do a quick review of the helmets. If you just need a basic helmet entry level helmet, this auto dimming helmet will work for light mig welding. But I definitely suggest one of these helmets that have all of the features you need to see your workpiece and get the best welds.
These three have nearly all of the same features that are available in quality helmets, including all of the controls you need to perfectly adjust the helmet for your needs, plus true color technology for the best viewing. If you’re buying based on lens size, you will probably want the extra large view or even the panoramic welding helmet, that are both significantly larger than standard helmets and will help you see better.
If you need to add a magnifying lens, you will want to check out the large or extra large view helmets which give the ability to add a lens.
If you’re buying for TIG welding, you should consider the large or extra large view helmets which can be adjusted all the way to a 13 shade.
I hope this helped you decide which helmet is best for your needs. Whether you’re buying your first helmet or looking to upgrade an old one, Eastwood has a helmet to fit your needs. View all of our Welding helmets Here: https://www.eastwood.com/welders/safety-protection.html