gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

hello..
has anyone got one of the auto dimming masks with only solar powered.. i cant seem to find battery powered ones on ebay.. dont want to pay a fortune so wondered if the solar only are any good..?
thanks..

SMILER258

solar will be crap, i have a machine mart battery one and its brilliant, and very strong

dingla rs

iTrader: (2)

there wank so dont waste ur money 3m speedglas is only way to go bout 130+quid swear by my two

focusv8

I've had a solar one for at least 5 years, never realised there were battery ones till I saw someone with one recently.

I never use mine outside and TIG with it.
Never had a problem.

dingla rs

iTrader: (2)

id never use one daily or for long periods

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

i only wondered as all i seem to see are solar ones for sale especially on ebay hardly any battery ones.. ive always borrowed my mates and is battery powered but might as well get one myself.. its only for small jobs but wondered as welding indoors will i need to leave it in the window to charge or something... bit of a pain if i do..

focusv8

Why not?

fraser9764

iTrader: (3)

i have a sealy solar powered one, never had an issue.

fraser9764

iTrader: (3)

most masks have a battery in them anyway, just some are not replaceable.
the battery is only there to do the initial darkening then the solar cell takes over as you weld.

Iain Mac

Mig welding produces UV light so that itself should be enough to keep the solar panel charged - mine even worked straight out of the box when I used a camera flash to test it.

markk

iTrader: (2)

Ive had the same lid for over 15 years now, bought it from america when they starte to come out cheap, iirc i paid something like £40 - now they are available for that price and less in the Uk, I have done more welding than i care to remember both mig & Tig AC&DC and its never given me a problem, and more to the point, since I bought it ive never had arc eye (not a claim I can make with non - auto darkenings)

and mines solar - never had to open it up, only thing ive had to do is replace the glass protector a few times (consumable item)

So, my opinion, buy a cheapo off ebay.

m1ke

Had my speedglas for years, used everyday and I cant fault it.

scoooby slayer

iTrader: (4)

ive got 2 both solar afaik and never had a problem and i do alot of welding, and i mean ALLLLLOOOOOOTTTTTTTT, mores the pitty lol

just dont get an old hand held plain glass mask they are useless you literally have to remember what ur looking at and guess where to weld, thats what i had as a young un it was fookin shit

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

thanks for the help... ill order one in the morning.....

slammed106

theres only 1 brand i trust with welding..

MILLER!





speedglass is good.. 1 of the lads @ work has 1, my only issue with it is if you leave it 10minutes or so and then arc up without remembering to turn the fecker on it doesn`t darken!!


my ol chap recently bought a BOC screen and thats nice, the controls are on the outside so tweaking it is easier than miller/speedglass which are on the inside...


there also a coupl of PARWELD screens floating about and tbh for the money there perfectly adequete.. HOWEVER!! when i used 1 for ally work (TIG, but on this occassion a lot of thick MIG.. 8 - 10mm) even on its darkest i found i had a headache at the end of the day.. i dont think the shade was the issue more the reaction time.. its like there was a small delay between arcing up and it going dark... for thin mild tig+mig it was fine though...

there only £50 at the minute in our local welding suppliers...


many many many moons ago i used to have an ESAB eye-tech 1, that was pretty good.. from memory they`ve revamped it and it now looks like a yellow and black fishbowl and carries the eye-tech2 moniker.. seemed quite heavy when i tried it...

LINCOLN do a nice screen with a bigger than average windoe similar to my miller, but nowhere near me is an agent so getting replacement lenses would be an arse so i avoided it,, there a good brand though




the above probably doesn`t help so to sum up:




if your minted, MILLER elite... if your on a budget PARWELD

Turbosimpsons

iTrader: (3)

i bought a parweld about a yr ago. never had any problems with it and it was £45 delivered.

daz1968

Depends how much you use it, I bought a £30 cheap solar powered one, not of eBay. I have used it loads of times sometimes almost all day and have never had an issue, but then if welding was my day job I would happily spend a lot more on a reputable one.

slammed106

a lot of it does come down to what your welding and how often your gonna use it..

if its ally mig or tig the light levels are a lot higher so is it worth risking your eyes with a cheapy??? the same goes for if your using it all day every day...

i`m a welder/fabricator by trade and have tried most screens.. for sure the miller elite and the speedglass are probably the best 2 on the market imo...

xr2wishy

iTrader: (2)

for budget, parweld is a good unit, depends on budget as said the speedglass and miller elite are two i'd look at.
sadly i only have a parweld as it has done well since i needed one in a hurry after a break in, not felt the need to get another miller yet, one day when i weld more though.

stevieturbo

How important are your eyes ?

Speedglass here too