Welding Tips and Tricks

There's been some discussion of Speedglas helmets on another thread. Let's talk about them specifically for a bit.

After a couple of good quality passive helmets and a <$100 AD from the #2 LWS, I finally bought a Miller Digital Pro Hobby. I stuffed some 1.5 cheaters in it and I love it. It's a great helmet. But I've only really used it extensively for SMAW and GMAW. I've only got about 15 minutes of GTAW time on it.

Some folks on this forum have given me the impression that Miller Digitals aren't that good for TIG and that I should upgrade. So far, it seems OK for TIG, but I certainly don't have enough time to draw any solid conclusions. And I haven't done any really low-amp starts.

What say you, my arcing friends? Is the Miller good enough to continue learning with, or will it cripple my education and doom me to fail?

And, given all the raves about Speedglas -- are they really that good? I'd love to hear from folks who are actually using them before I spend money for one that could otherwise go for a Strong Hand FixturePoint table.

All info appreciated. TIA.

LDB

With the heavy welding at work in some unpleasant locations all the guys now run speedglas with adflo. Bloody tough bits of kit, but very different to your aim. At least you know it'd last forever.

Hey, if you can see just fine thru your miller, I don't see how it can hold you back....

I used one yesterday to burn (1) 7018.....

Switched right away back to my pipeliner with arcone AD lens....

They just don't like me.

Speedglas adflo 9100fx air suits me fine. I have heard that they don't like extremely hot conditions, as the lenses stay dark, but I'm sure thats a common ad problem. There are a few things that irk me, but they are only little.

weldin mike 27 wrote:Speedglas adflo 9100fx air suits me fine. I have heard that they don't like extremely hot conditions, as the lenses stay dark, but I'm sure thats a common ad problem. There are a few things that irk me, but they are only little.

The speedglas 9100fx adflo is like $1500 btw.....http://store.cyberweld.com/3mspad91wadf2.html


More then most welding machines....

I have a Speedglas 9100XX, a Speedglas 9100FX XX Adflo, an ArcOne SS240 AD filter which I use in my leather mask, a Kemppi ADF with 1/1/1/1 rating, plus a few passive helmets some with original Schott Athermal gold lenses.
Here is an older photo (they don't look so pretty anymore )

Welding by Taz00, on Flickr

Nothing can beat a good passive lens for clarity. However I have found that good ADFs come real close, so much that you can barely tell a difference.
What makes a big difference also is the color and contrast of the ADF, I prefer green/blue tinted ones as I find they make distinguishing the puddle easier and are also less tiring after a lot of hours of welding.
The Speedglas ADF is the best for my eyes, the Kemppi and Arcone are similar but are both orange tinted and I do not like that.

Full powered air system, with flip up lens for grinding /fitup. The plain shield and lens is a lot cheaper.

We use the 9100FX adflo at work. Its a pretty badass hood, but I hear the replacement lens covers are expensive, and I use a bunch of em. Like any hood, it is hard to see through a burned up lens cover. When the adfli battery dies, it gets hot in there really fast. I love the fr cover over the back of the hood, that's really well-planned. And the fabric bit around the chin, too. It makes you feel like you're in your own welding capsule. I would love to have one, but until I find one for under $100, I'm sticking with my shade 10 Radnor.

Well, looks like it's a hell of a nice helmet that I can get along without for a while. Thanks for the info, guys. Appreciate it.

LDB

What environment are you working in that needs the ADFLO?