Weldcome to the forum SailorRtd97!
We share alot in common as our past experiences are along the same paths... I also have been welding on and off for over thirty years and as you mentioned in other threads I too was a HT1 USN welder. After I got out, my first civilian job was a welder for General Dynamics Electric Boat Division over in "rotten" Groton, CT. Got all the way up to Pipe welder 1st class mechanic then, left the yard to work on power plants across the USA. I learned alot in the USN, and alot more at EB!!! Guess what?
I'm still learning!!!
I also have one of those Hornell speedglass 9000's with the fresh air belt packs which has permitted me to come back into welding again after surviving a liver transplant back in 1997. As far as the fresh air system is concerned, it was and still is a lifesaver for me personally...
The only issue I personally had with the helmet was the autodarkening lens. after using it for more than 2 years, the lens substrate layer started to break apart into small floating blotches that over time grew larger, and ended up blocking my viewing in about 1/3 of the viewing area.
I called Hornell in Twinsburg, Ohio about it only to find out that the warranty for the lens expired so, my only recourse at the time was to purchase a new one or fit a customized version of a non-autodarkening lens system to replace it. Since I could'nt purchase a replacement at the time due to becoming disabled again. (necrosis of the right hip) I decided to customize the outer shield so that I could flip it up with the newer gold plated lens system that I personally designed at the same time in order to view the work for grinding etc. The process as a whole was'nt too complicated, just very tedious. A Dremel, plenty of heat resistant epoxy and some ingenuity was all I needed!!!
"Improvise, adapt and overcome" is my philosophy when it comes to making something work for me the way I want it to when I cannot find a way to do it by simply replacing the parts... Anywho, being the way my eyes work these days, I was able to convert the autodarkening frame to hold a "cheater" (magnifier) lens, and can easily change the filter lens to whatever shade I require... I only use this helmet these days when I'm welding alot of continuous welds, and I'm exposed to alot of fumes and heat that is'nt readily extracted from my welding zone. Needless to say, I have'nt required the use of it much as of late, it's in the bag it came with when I need it. Nowadays, I'm mostly using a Jackson w/flipshield and gold plated lens, shade 10, w/cheaters (1.75 diopter) for precision GTAW on 2" schedule 10 & 40 316L, occasionally we'll use some 316Ti if the customer requires it, and that has to come in from Germany because, that's where we get it from. I'm also welding different grades of CP Ti and Inconel. Most of the work is on flow control, pressure, level indicating, thermal sensing instruments which include flanges, floats, piping, sensors, sockets, tubing, valves, etc. All welding is done as per ASME section IX B31.1, B31.3 and EN 287-288.
I also got a few more Jackson and Sellstrom freebies that were given to me by a few salespeople to try out and, was never asked to give back so, I guess I'm covered... At the company I work for, we have 2 Miller autodarkening helmets that are occasionally used by upper management when they come by to see our welding... The welders that I've been training were at first using those helmets but, after viewing the welding through my helmet via the gold plated shade 10 lens w/magnifiers, they decided to use the jackson flipshield helmets that were in storage instead!!! They've duplicated what I've got in my helmet (except for their choice of diopter), and emphatically swear by them!!! The "proof of the pudding" so to speak is in the marked improvement with regards to the quality of the welds they produce nowadays, because of the fact that they can see what they're doing with better focus, and more clearly!!!
Now, do'nt get wrong about autodarkening lens helmets. I think they're great for welding!!! I myself prefer gold plated lens w/magnifiers in flipshield type helmets maybe because I'm old school, and cannot seem to break the habit of reaching for the flipshield when I'm tacking if I use an autodarkening lens but then again, that's just me!!!
I can't wait until the industry comes out with a gold plated autodarkening lens because, for myself personally, I believe I'll eventually get rid of the habit I mentioned before, if they ever come out with a set!!!
Respectfully,
SSBN727
Run Silent... Run Deep!!!
P.S. Btw, I still got my old "short" shield I used when I was working at EB!!! I heard there's a lot of work going on @ puget sound on the SSGN conversions... if you're interested check out General Dynamic's website.