Anybody here ever use this welding helmet http://cgi.ebay.com/GREEN-OPTREL-SAT...3%3A1|294%3A50 . Any good feedback, complaints, etc? I like how it has a sensitivity mode for grinding and plasma cutting also.

 

it's not that much cheaper than the miller digital elite i bought. And my elite has a larger viewing area (or so it appears)

 

I have been using an Optrel Satellite exclusively just abou since I started welding. I absolutely love it, and most other owners I talk to agree. I only have one complaint, the headgear on both the one I have now and the one at the previous shop I worked at seems to loosen up rather easily. I like to flip-up and flip-down with my head alone and every 10 flips or so I find myself giving it a 1/4 turn. Otherwise, no issues, none at all with the hood. I got my current one here but I got it for 265 shipped (just checked the receipt). And yes it has a simple grinding function, you just push the center of one of the dials in and it flashes a red LED inside the hood to let you know, I use that a lot too. The best thing about it really I think is the lens, it may be a little smaller than the elite but it's so clear. I've used other helmets, but not nearly so much, and whenever I'm using the Satellite I feel like I'm welding in hi-res, it's so clear.

Here's mine when I got it (black):


and in use:

 

uh u might wanna put some gloves on and some long sleeves.

hello cancer patient.

 

^hush Nancy ;P

I have an Optrel and I absolutely love it. I agree about the headgear but I use a thin cap to cover my head so it doesn't loosen up so easily. The best part about it is the replacement outer lenses. They are DIRT CHEAP!!!

I've used the Speedglas before and its a pos compared to the Optrel

 

Gloves are on the top of the welder, long sleeves pushed up!

My helmet also came with a few of the replacement lenses, forgot about that. They hold up pretty well, I end up replacing them more because of the heat distortion than grinding debris.

 

I have a Miller Elite and an Optrel.
Elite is way better. Once you get a big window helmet you'll never go back.

 

I haven't used an Elite... what is the benefit to a bigger window? I mean, obviosuly you can see more but I never find myself thinking, damn I wish I could see that thing off to the side.

 

I have an Optrel E680 and I love it. It pee's on my old speedglas from a great height.
I looked at the Millers but they cost a fortune over here.
Sometimes the angle adjuster catches my right ear. Hurts like buggery! Anybody else find this?

 

I love my satellite!!!!!!

I bought 2 of them and got them for like $400 shipped for the pair off of Indiana oxygen on ebay

 

put some electrical tape on your existing helmet so the window if half as big and go weld with it for an hour. then take it off.

that is how it will feel when you try a big window.

 

I have used a satalite before...I use a speedglas every day. I would pick the Elite over either of them.

 

i have a digital elite and love the x-mode because it really works as described, the only thing i hate is that it doesn't have auto-on like the regular elite's.


"*X-Mode Electromagnetic Arc Sensing eliminates:

1. Sunlight interference - outdoors
2. Low-amperage lens openings - TIG
3. Lens openings - pipe/curves
4. Obstructed sensors - hidden/cavity welds"

EDIT: also... the buttons are hard to press even with my super thin Tillman gloves.

 

i have had the basic flip screen helmet and i have had the digital elite. the lense kept fukin up on me so i sold it and i hated the head gear it always squeked and could never get it right.
\so i went and got a optrel and i fukin love it best helmet. tons of ppl i go to school have it to and they all love it.

 

i got the jackson bigboss over the miller elite due to the veiwing size and i love it. this was a year ago and i havent looked or needed to find another helmet.i love being able to see the whole picture in front of me.

 

sorry for my bad english, i speak french..but here is my opinion about the optrel vs the last gen. miller welding helmet.

i had a optrel helmet a couple of years ago, i liked it a lot, a lot better than the miller helmet i have now! but i think that there is positive and negative about both. At my work we do a lot of tacking/fitting so for that i liked the optrel better because when the helmet is at "off"..or between tacks, the shade of the lens was "3" if i remember well. with my actual miller, i think that it is "5" a little too dark for me for my work environment where im often in dark areas.

also, i remember that the optrel helmet was a lot heavier than the miller.. for a guy that weld on a table most of the time, thats not a big concern, but for a guy like me who work on his knees/back most of the day, that is a BIG negative point for me.

an other BIG problem, is that the optrel helmet has a sealed battery in it.. which mean that if you dont weld all day long, the battery wont humm.. "recharge ?!?!?" by itself. So after 2-3 years.. after the battery is dead... the helmet is also dead..with the miller, the batteries doesn't last as long, but at least you can change them when needed!

other than that... i just loved it!

now my miller helmet has a lot of "bugs" sometimes when i start welding for the first time of the day, it simply doesn't come on by itself.. i have to press the "reset" button.
also, depending on the welding machine i use, when i'm tack welding, sometime it has a 1 second delay, even if the delay button is set to minimum... we are about 20-25 welders at my job with the same helmet, and 5-6 of them have these kind of problems.. that sucks!

edit: after re-reading the question.. for grinding, and plasma, the #3 shade of the "grinding mode" was simply perfect also the shade adjustement is a lot wider than with the miller for exemple

 

I have an Optrel Satellite and I love it! My only complaint is exactly what Downest said you always have to turn the headgear after pretty much every 10 times you flip the hood up and down. other than that I love it!