Welding helmets have come a long way since the first arc welding helmet. While today&#;s helmets are feature-packed and much improved, all helmets are not created equal. There are many variables to consider when selecting a hood. In this article, the guys over at WeldGuru give us the top 7 factors to consider before pressing the &#;buy&#; button.
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what to look for in a welding helmet
First things first, your welding helmet must fit properly. While this sounds like a no-brainer, a proper fit is essential for both safety and comfort. To figure out if your helmet fits properly, ask yourself the following questions:
A proper fit provides the utmost protection against welding rays. To protect your face and neck from burns, spatter and UV rays, make sure your face, neck, and ears are covered by the helmet.
Headgear is one of the most important components of the perfect fit. The best headgear is customizable to your head and offers a snug yet comfortable fit, regardless of your head shape and size. A good example of customizable headgear is optrel&#;s
IsoFit headgear
, compatible with all optrel hoods.
Another way to ensure proper fit is to move your head up and down in the helmet. Your helmet shouldn&#;t tilt during this process. If it does, make sure you&#;re able to adjust the tension and stabilize the helmet.
When selecting a welding helmet, the viewing area is an essential component. Also called the field of vision, the viewing area is how much visibility you have from behind the lens. Welding hoods offer various viewing area sizes. What to look for depends on a few factors including your welding environment, the type of welding you do and your personal preference.
Many welders prefer a large viewing area as it offers a better view of the arc, puddle, and workpiece. If you are a hobbyist, a single viewing pane might suffice. A smaller viewing area can offer greater concentration, which may be advantageous for TIG welders. It&#;s also typically less expensive than a helmet with a large field of view. In contrast, hoods with larger viewing areas offer a bigger view of the work environment, allowing you to see mistakes and self-correct.
When fabricating or performing out-of-position work, a larger area, often called a panoramic view, provides greater visibility of your welding project and your environment. The Panoramaxx CLT gives a wide true-color view of the weld pool to help reduce eye strain and improve performance. Additionally, the high-resolution Panoramaxx lens allows you to see more clearly, making it easier to detect discoloration and imperfections. For this reason and many others, we rated the Panoramaxx CLT the best welding helmet, over at WeldGuru.
The clarity of your lens is so important. It becomes even more crucial if you&#;re welding professionally or for long hours as a clear lens is thought to prevent fatigue and increase productivity. Superior lens clarity also makes it easier to spot problems as you weld, before they get out of hand.
Lens clarity is designated by a rating system. A rating of 1/1/1/1 describes perfect optical clarity&#;an undistorted view from behind the lens.
Aside from the ranking, other factors can hinder clarity, including:
if you wear glasses to see better close up, often called &#;cheaters,&#; consider choosing a helmet that offers a magnifying lens. Optrel offers
mag lenses
for the Panoramaxx Series in strengths ranging from +1.00 to +2.00.
if you&#;re welding in a humid environment or you tend to sweat under the hood, consider a helmet with anti-fog components. The nose cut-out design of the Panormaxx offers one of the best ways to eliminate fogging of your lens.
light transmission describes how much light transmits through the lens. The industry standard welding helmet has a light transmission of 5% which isn&#;t great for setup and makes prep work difficult. The optrel CLT 2.0 set a record of 31% light transmission in bright conditions (protection level 2) for a practically unclouded and clear view of their work environment.
this refers to the ability to see untinted, real colors of the weld pool and metal. True colors allow you to see your weld in detail and offer a clear view of the welding area. The
Crystal 2.0
is a very reliable option if you&#;re looking for a lid with excellent color perception.
While auto-darkening lenses aren&#;t new, they are considerably newer than passive lenses. Optrel was one of the welding industry&#;s original inventors of auto-darkening filters (ADFs). An ADF lens does exactly as the name states; it darkens automatically when you weld or strike an arc, eliminating the need to flip the hood up and down.
Passive lenses stay fixed at a certain shade, regardless of the environment or brightness. Hobbyist welders or those who don&#;t weld often might choose a fixed shade lens as they are usually less expensive.
There are two types of ADFs. The less common is a fixed shade, that auto-darkens to a fixed shade. The more common ADF is a variable shade. This allows you to select the appropriate shade level, depending on the intensity of the arc.
Shade numbers are categorized on a sliding scale called a DIN rating. This German industrial standard is used worldwide to gauge the light transmission filter level. Darker filters have higher DIN numbers and block more radiation than lighter filters with lower DIN numbers.
ADFs are much easier to use overall, especially when welding in low-light conditions. If you&#;re looking for a variable shade welding helmet, check out the optrel Crystal 2.0. This welding hood automatically adapts to the welding arc and changing light conditions. The ultra-bright viewing area provides a clear view of weld puddle and reduces eye strain and fatigue.
If you&#;ve ever used an uncomfortable welding helmet, you know how frustrating it is. If the hood doesn&#;t fit right, lacks sufficient ventilation or weighs a ton, the entire welding experience hits different&#;and not in a good way.
There are many different helmets available that offer comfort and safety. One of the best examples of this is the Panoramaxx CLT, mentioned throughout this article. The Isofit headgear in the Panoramaxx is widely hailed as the most comfortable headgear on the market. Moreover, the patented nose cutout design ensures your helmet will not fog up easily. And, despite its massive viewing area, it&#;s also one of the lightest helmets available.
When the topic of overhead welding comes up, typically someone in the room advises you to avoid overhead welding at all costs. For obvious reasons, gravity is not your friend when it comes to welding. Still, there are times when overhead welding is necessary. What I&#;m about to say might surprise you&#;the majority of helmets on the market are not approved for overhead welding.
The good news? All of the helmets in optrel&#;s sphere series are approved for overhead welding, including:
One of the best features of optrel helmets is the spherical design. The spherical design of these helmets prevents slag and debris from burning a hole in your lens. Instead of filler material or metal slag sticking to your hood, the debris rolls off the lens of your helmet, protecting your eyes and face.
One of the coolest features available in many optrel helmets is the Shadetronic feature. Shadetronic is unlike anything available on the market. This built-in sensor automatically changes the shade level of your lens based on the intensity of light it detects.
Other helmets require you to adjust the shade level manually. Manual shade adjustment means you need to know the exact shade level you need. If you&#;re like most welders, you&#;ll go for a shade that feels right, based on your personal preference. This strategy works until it doesn&#;t. The problem is, you won&#;t know if your shade level provides adequate protection until it&#;s too late.
If you weld at a higher amp than your shade level protects for, you&#;re out of the range of protection. In the short term, you&#;ll experience fatigue. In the long-term, a lack of sufficient protection has been proven to damage the eyes irreversibly.
One school of thought is to always weld at a higher shade level, for instance, shade level 13. The disadvantage to this is the strain it puts on your eyes when you weld at lower amps and everything becomes dark. This can increase the risk of future eye problems.
With Shadetronic, you&#;ll always get the right shade protection and clarity. Automatic shade level adjustment helps boost productivity and reduce fatigue. This patented technology is available in the Panaromaxx range of helmets, the Crystal 2.0 and the e684.
When it comes to choosing a welding helmet, the most important factor is you. If you&#;re like most welders, you&#;ll start out with a bottom-of-the-line helmet, something you pick up at the local hardware store just to get by. As you progress in your career, you&#;ll begin to understand the challenges inherent in cheap helmets. In addition to the 7 key features of a welding helmet that we listed above, a few other things to consider include:
Type of welding: If you&#;re a MIG welder, look for a helmet with a large shade range to accommodate more amps. MIG welding also tends to generate more heat than TIG, so you might consider going with a heat reflective helmet such as the Crystal 2.0 in silver . The silver paint on the Crystal 2.0 provides more than a 30% reduction in heat than the same hood in black.
Welding helmets provide the ultimate protection for your face, skin and eyes. It&#;s not worth it to risk your eyesight and health to save a few bucks. There are many excellent welding hoods to be found, regardless of your price range.
We hope this article helps you better understand what to look for when buying a welding helmet. If you have a specific question, contact us at [ protected].
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Welding helmets are a crucial aspect of personal protective equipment for any welding operator. They protect from the intense glare and eyesight-damaging light from a welding arc, fumes from the welding operation itself, stray sparks that can burn, and so much more. They&#;re an essential part of any welder&#;s kit, and they&#;re a purchase that can last for decades if well-maintained, so it&#;s important to put some thought into which helmet you&#;re buying.
So, what should you look for? What factors should you evaluate when you&#;re exploring welding helmets? Here&#;s our guide. While there&#;s a lot to consider, one thing is certain: you need a helmet whenever you&#;re welding. The only possible exception is if you&#;re using CNC welding machines, and they&#;re enclosed in their own darkening shades. Even then, it can be beneficial to keep a helmet on hand.
Comfort and Security: The Helmet&#;s Fit
The first thing you should pay attention to is the fit of the helmet. A good welding helmet should be fitted to your head and adjustable enough to be both comfortable and secure. The more aggravating it is to wear the helmet, the more likely you are to make mistakes when you&#;re welding, get distracted, or even choose not to wear it because it&#;s uncomfortable. The fit of the helmet can be evaluated in a few different ways.
Does it completely cover your head? A good welding helmet is a full-head helmet, and it&#;s generally large enough that it can protect not just your head but your neck as well. You want it to protect you from UV rays, which can cause sunburn-like burns even if nothing else reaches your exposed skin. You also want it to protect your skin and hair from spatter and sparks that leave painful burns. A lot of welding helmets are too small for what they&#;re meant to cover, and some welding masks leave your ears, the top and back of your head, or your neck exposed.
Is it adjustable? There&#;s a 100% guarantee that your head won&#;t fit in any helmet you try the first time you try it. All too often, helmets end up one-size-fits-all in design, which unfortunately means that one size fits no one. An adjustable helmet will have various tension and position adjustments to make sure the helmet fits comfortably and snugly enough to not move around but not so tight that it becomes painful or distracting. It should also be adjustable up and down to adjust your view.
Some welding helmets come with inner liners and headgear that can be adjusted more than the built-in adjustments the helmet itself has. The most advanced helmets have completely replaceable webbing that is both elastic and adjustable; these stretch out over time but can be replaced with a newer iteration, so you don&#;t have to replace an entire helmet because a little bit of strapping wears out.
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At the very high end, you can find welding helmets that take measurements of your head and are custom-made just for you. Truthfully, these are more expensive gimmicks than they are useful; you don&#;t need that added expense when an adjustable helmet is just fine.
How much does it weigh? The heavier a helmet is, the harder it is to wear for longer periods without causing yourself problems, including neck strain, headaches, muscle tension, and more. A lighter helmet is better, but lighter helmets tend to have fewer features and less protection. The ones with the most features that are still lightweight tend to be more expensive. Generally, go for the lightest weight that still has the features you want at a price point you can afford.
Environmental Isolation
Some welding helmets have a lot more in common with PAPR medical masks or SCUBA gear than they do with a traditional welding mask. They have various powered features, including the ability to pump in their own air supply.
These are not necessary for everyday shop welding, especially if you have fume extraction set up in your shop. They&#;re more for cases where you need to weld in an otherwise enclosed space with no fume ventilation, like the inside of a ship or even underwater. They do a great job of protecting you from welding fumes and particles, but they&#;re overkill for most basic welding uses.
(Not) Seeing the Light: View Screens and Darkening Shades
There are two aspects of a welding mask that are related to the viewport, which is the actual part of the helmet you look through.
The first is the size, shape, and position of this viewport. Some welding masks have relatively small viewing ports, while others are much larger, like what you would see on a motorcycle or snowmobile helmet.
A larger viewing area gives you a better view of the whole of a weld, along with details of the welding pool, the arc itself, and the workpiece. These are better for larger projects and projects where you need to adapt on the fly.
Other welding helmets have much smaller viewports. These smaller ports are more restrictive to your vision, which means things outside the direct line of sight can be excluded. In particular, if you have a dangerous environment, and a spark sets off a fire nearby, you might not notice right away. Ideally, you have a proper environment and other PPE set up so you don&#;t encounter this kind of problem, though.
In general, the larger the viewport, the less likely it is to have advanced technology like auto-darkening because that tech is more expensive the larger it gets.
So what about darkening? A huge part of the purpose of a welding helmet is to be a nearly opaque viewscreen through which you can watch a weld without staring directly at the eyesight-destroying arc of your welding.
Cheaper welding helmets have a fixed level of darkening. These are fine if you have a specific kind of welding you do all the time and can tailor your helmet to that kind of welding. If you do a variety of different welding operations, though, you&#;ll find that different materials and different processes generate arcs of different brightnesses. Your screen might be too dark for some and not dark enough for others.
The other drawback to a fixed level of darkening in the shade is that you can&#;t see through it when there&#;s no bright spark in front of you. So, to check the state of your weld, you need to raise or lower the helmet so you can see it, then put it back in place to keep welding. This can be stressful, tedious, and even painful in rare cases. The alternative is to use an auto-darkening screen.
Auto-darkening screens use a combination of light-sensing technology and auto-darkening LCD screens that modulate based on the light coming in. They can react nearly instantly to an arc and clear up almost as quickly when the arc is over, so they&#;re very reactive to your operations. The downside, of course, is that these are much more expensive (and tend to have smaller viewports) than fixed-darkening shades.
Auto-darkening helmets have a &#;reaction time&#; measurement as well. This can be measured in fractions of a second, 1/th to 1/th of a second; the faster the reaction, the better. The longer it takes to transition, the more harmful light makes it to your eyes, and the more damage can build up over time.
Note that some of the less expensive auto-darkening shades don&#;t adapt to the level of brightness of an arc. Called fixed-darkening shades, these simply darken to a specified level, which may or may not be enough, just like a fixed-darkness shade. Generally, if you&#;re going for an adaptive shade, you want one with full adaptivity.
Bear in mind, too, that many auto-darkening systems can wear out over time, and they require a power source, so you need to replace or recharge batteries or make sure any solar integration is clean and functional. It&#;s an additional potential area of failure that can prematurely end the life of an otherwise good helmet.
Special Features for Lenses and Shades
Some welding helmets have special additional features that can make them more convenient to use, particularly if you have particular proclivities or issues.
For example, if you wear glasses, wearing a welding helmet might be less comfortable. Some welding helmets have the option to have a magnifying shade, simulating being up close to the object you&#;re welding so you can see better. Some more advanced helmets even have built-in lenses that can be set to your prescription, so you don&#;t need to wear your glasses while welding.
Another common issue is fogging. Anyone who has worn a helmet before, particularly in hot and humid areas, knows that any viewscreen can fog up with humidity, making it inconvenient to see. Some helmets have anti-fog designs, which can range from vent slits to allow air circulation to anti-fog treatments over the shades.
A Note on Standards
When you&#;re looking over different welding helmet options, you might come across the phrase &#;ANSI Approved.&#; ANSI is the regulating body that makes standards governing the performance of welding helmet shades, among many other things. The most recent standard comes from and is called ANSI Z87.1-. It specifies various tests a shade needs to pass to be certified.
The key here is that many welding helmets were formerly ANSI-approved, but that was before the increased standards that came about in . Make sure any helmet you choose meets the more modern version of helmet standards.
The Role of Basic Welding Masks
There are a lot of basic welding masks on the market. These are simple frame-mounted masks that tilt up and down, have the most basic level of fixed-darkness shading, and have basically no additional protection for things like your neck, ears, or top of your head.
While you would normally want to discount these entirely, they do have a role. They&#;re generally very cheap and effective enough that they&#;re fine to use if you only weld very rarely and don&#;t need comprehensive, robust protection. If you&#;re the kind of operator who pulls out a welding torch once a month and does a few minutes of work, a basic, cheap welding mask is all you really need. On the other hand, if you&#;re doing a lot more welding, a better helmet is a good idea.
Masks can also be useful if you have people who do welding for you and need some kind of protection, and they forget or don&#;t bring their own. Having a mask as a backup helps prevent downtime and is a &#;better than nothing&#; tool to keep on hand.
Picking the Right Helmet for You
At the end of the day, the best helmet is the one that matches your needs and fits within your budget. If you weld once a week or less, you don&#;t need an expensive helmet with all the bells and whistles. On the other hand, if you&#;re welding all the time, you want something with features that can help keep you safe and operating at peak efficiency. The last thing you need is to damage your eyesight over time or burn your skin from exposure to UV radiation.
Every welding operator will have different needs and requirements out of their helmet. If you can, it&#;s usually a good idea to find a local supplier you can use to try out the fit and feel of various helmets, so you aren&#;t ordering them sight-unseen from the internet and hoping they work. Once you have some idea of the range of features you need, you can shop more intently for specific helmets and buy the one that matches your requirements.
Every welding operator needs some kind of protection. It&#;s just a matter of what kind of protection works best for you. It will take some evaluation and shopping to find that ideal helmet, but with thousands of options out there across every possible iteration of the factors listed above, there&#;s guaranteed to be something for you. You just need to find it.
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