Jeffrey, I havn't seen the Harbor Freight hood, just repeating hearsay.
I have a Hobart Weld It helmet from TSC farm store [probably 9-10 years old now], it has an Arc One auto lense, shade #10. My only complaints are:
1) the lense has only 2 sensors, if both end up in a shadow You can flash Yourself.
2) The hood has small volume around the face, and seems to fog up unusually easily. I am thinking of putting the lens and headgear into an old Hobart fiberglass hood.
There are limits on restoring old rods that have gotten damp/wet. I have had to make repairs with other peoples gear and rods, I put the blame on rods that were laying in the guy's barn for a while, but the machine, a Lincoln 225 AC "Toombstone" and it's leads, all in mediocre condition, might have been responsible for some of the problems.
Drying damp Low Hy rods requires much hotter temperature than storing dry rods to keep them dry.
My carbon steel stick welding experience is mostly with 6011 & 6013. These are not critical like Low Hy, but We always kept them in a dry basement, in the old days on top of the boiler. They worked OK in spite of some being 20-30 years old. Come to think of it, some are probably 50 years old by now.
Dave,
I sent a reply but messed up and sent via outlook express when I noticed I had recieved a post from you. I have no idea where that went..probably floating around in cyber-space now!
I think your idea of switching out your Lens assembly and head-gear is a good idea if it increases the face to inside lens cover distance. That should fix the fog-up problem. My Hobart XTP ain't a low cost item, but i find it to be worth every penny. It never fails to provide 100% clear view until I strike an arc. it has multliple shade, sensitivity and delay settings, and i think this is why i don't have problems with getting flashed in shadow. I simply set the sensitivity for the conditions and it works every time. It also provides adjustment for increased under hood volume to alleviate any fog-up.
I would not even try restoring an already water logged rod. i was only comenting on the manufaturers recomendations for keeping the good ones in good condition. i store all of my rods in tubes with rubber gasket seals. And i use them pretty quikly anyway. I almost bought a Lincoln 225 at lowes last month. they had them on sale for $229, but i considered the amount of charges I'm already putting on my Lowes card and decided to pay down my card a little first.
As for the problem with having only 2 sensors on your hood...I have no answers to that one, except to up-grade to a newer auto lens. But, that means more $$ out of pocket. I just did a little homework before investing in my good hoods to make sure they would meet my need for differing situations. I hate wasting money to buy more stuff...and there's always more stuff to buy. It's a vocious circle when buying welding supplies. Talk to ya later.
Respectfully, Jeffrey Grady