Are you planning on undertaking some DIY projects using a welder and are looking for a suitable helmet to keep you protected? You’ve come to the right place. It can be very overwhelming and confusing looking at the sheer variety of welding helmets available on the market right now. Many seem the same in some ways, while differing from each other in other ways. As a newbie, you may find it hard to distinguish what is important and what isn’t when looking at these helmets.
In the following post we are going to help you find the answers and hopefully find the best welding helmet for your projects.
What to Look at
There are a lot of things that can sway you to part with your hard-earned cash for welding helmets, but you need to be careful that you are not paying for features or qualities that are not important. When choosing a helmet, therefore, the main things you should be considering are:
- The level of protection the helmet provides
- The view of the arc while wearing it
- Detection of the arc
- Helmet’s shelf life
That should, hopefully, sound simple enough. To develop this a little further and give you even more help we have taken the above and put together a list of crucial features you need to focus on when choosing the right welding helmet.
- Brand – Not always considered to be the most important factor, but it’s still worth investing your money in a product manufactured by a trusted and reputable brand
- Viewing Area – Always aim to get the welding helmet with the largest viewing area you can, including the side windows and lens.
- Optical Quality – When buying auto-darkening helmets, you should be looking for the optical quality rating for that lens. Ideally, you will want one with a 1/1/1 rating.
- Detection Sensitivity – Helmets with auto-darkening lenses are also rated for their detection sensitivity. As a general rule of thumb, you want a fairly sensitive lens for more reliable switching, so look for a 1A rating.
- Respiratory Protection – All fumes produced during welding are toxic. Think carefully about your respiratory needs and keep assessing them over the course of time as they may change. Look for a welding helmet that will adequately protect you against the toxic fumes.
- Standards Compliant – Although you are only going to use it for DIY, it is still worth looking at welding helmets that are compliant with all applicable Australian and New Zealand standards.
- Warranty – The length of time a company are willing to provide a guarantee for their product, is an indication of quality. Therefore, look for a helmet with a long warranty period.
Although it may seem like murky waters to be wading through when you are looking through so many different helmets, it doesn’t have to be. Hopefully we have been able to show that if you are looking for a welding helmet, you can cut through a lot of the confusion by sticking to the clearly defined basics above.