Welding Tips and Tricks

Well I dropped my Miller Digital Elite from some height and broke the adf lens, since the lens is about 95% of the cost I upgraded. I decided to try the new Digital Infinity....first impressions, very nice. I'm going to put it through the ringer later tonight with some low amp welding... I have a Save Phace I also use in tight areas but my Digital Elite was my favorite so it's the reason I stuck with Miller, I always liked the head gear and this new one I even better.

It came with Millers new head hear and a headgear attachment.

Very nice.

Is that the helmet that has "x-mode"? I heard a miller rep talking about how the x-mode doesn't trip off of light, but off of the electromagnetic waves of the machine, which means if something obstructs your view, or covers the light of the arc, the hood will still stay dark.

Okay fine you FORCED me to order a Digital Infinity helmet I went with Darth Vader black. Yes it has X mode and TIG is 5 amps and below. Here's the conversation I had at my LWS...

Me: Do you have a Miller Digital Infinity in stock?
LWS: Do you mean Elite?
Me: No the Infinity.
LWS: There's no such thing.
Me: Dude!!
LWS: Do you mean the Industrial?
Me: No the Infinity the next model up from Elite, a guy on the forum just purchased one.
LWS: Its not in the 2015 catalog it must be brand new.
Me: Good, order one.
LWS: Found it on the interweb, hey this is pretty cool we'll have to check this out when it comes in.
Me: Sure feel free to look at the 'outside' of the box.

Coolidge wrote: Me: Sure feel free to look at the 'outside' of the box.

Haha!

Lol....

Well I'm impressed, the large viewing window is amazing, the lens is very clear and quick, the headgear..very comfortable. Only thing I can say is I could feel the difference is weight which according to Miller is 5oz. The difference in shape is nice as well, gained some clearance I believe

I was welding inside a part I was making and the arc sensors and new electromagnetic trigger don't disappoint.

Welded at 3amps no issues, same as my Digital Elite.

It sounds great Rick, I just got my first TIG welder so this helmet should work great for that. Plus I could not get my $99 electronic helmet to stop slipping off no matter how tight I cranked it on so I'm hoping this one fits better.

MinnesotaDave wrote:

Coolidge wrote: Me: Sure feel free to look at the 'outside' of the box.

Haha!

LOL That is Awesome

Hey Rick
I have a digital elite and don't care much for the headgear, I've heard this echoed on the Miller forum as well, still I've had it for many years. I also do a lot of low amp welding and sometimes the sensors give me a fit.
Been thinking of trying the Lincoln Viking 3350 which is their top of the line boasting the 1/1/1/1 optical clarity, however I'll take a look at the new Miller, and hope to hear more as you use it. The head gear looks funny...

I have found on low amp/arc blocked sensors by increasing my delay it stays dark instead of fluttering.
ESAB 613XL

I haven't had any low amp issues, or flashing issues with either Miller helmet with the 4 arc sensors with the way I have it set.

I used it a good bit the last 2 days at work and really like it, while the arc time counter isn't something I was thinking I would use its kinda interesting to see how long you've been welding.

The head gear is awesome, very comfortable with a lot of support, I'm on and off with my hood a good bit. As I toss it back on it fits like a glove.

Rick_H wrote:I haven't had any low amp issues, or flashing issues with either Miller helmet with the 4 arc sensors with the way I have it set.

I used it a good bit the last 2 days at work and really like it, while the arc time counter isn't something I was thinking I would use its kinda interesting to see how long you've been welding.

The head gear is awesome, very comfortable with a lot of support, I'm on and off with my hood a good bit. As I toss it back on it fits like a glove.

Did you consider the (Miller) Titanium 9400i? It seems the main diff is the grinding feature of the hood.

Any other comments about the hood?

I did not consider that series of helmet although it would work for sure...

What would you like to know?

I did have a Miller 9400 series, but found it heavy, caused neck strain. Swapped for a digital Elite.

Does anyone know if the Infinity headgear can be "spliced" onto a elite helmet?

Gavin Melville wrote:I did have a Miller 9400 series, but found it heavy, caused neck strain. Swapped for a digital Elite.

Does anyone know if the Infinity headgear can be "spliced" onto a elite helmet?

The head gear on my Elite looks just like the picture the op posted. Mine is less than a year old, and now I'm wishing I had held out for the Infinity. Lol. I do experience flashing sometimes with my Elite because of the ultra bright work lights in my station. Sometimes it's hard to nail down the right sensitivity. Sounds like the Infinity solves that problem. Cool stuff!

I stopped by my LWS today to check on my order, my Infinity helmet will arrive tomorrow!

The Infinity helmet Rick forced me to order arrived today. Here are some more pics. In comparison to my Lincoln the helmet plastic is thinner, more flexible. The Miller would be lighter except that lens brick packs a lot of weight, overall the Miller is heavier.

Likes - Close to double the viewing areas vs the Lincoln. The Miller came with some nice accessories like a helmet bag and gobs of replacement lenses.

Dislike - For this kind of money the Miller so called sweat band is an absolute joke. Its a piece of light foam that looks like it cost about 10 cents. I paid less than half as much for my auto darken Lincoln and it came with a nice fabric sweat band attached with felcro so you can remove it and throw it in the washing machine. I guess I'll swap that over to the Miller.

I have to machine some steel tomorrow then do some welding so I'll be taking the Miller for a spin.

So how'd the welding go? Id like to see that sweat ban from your Lincolin I guess I'm just use to the Miller but that sounds nice!

I've tweaked my headgear a little as I use it more to get it to sit deeper on my head, seems to help distribute the weight a little better. But after a week now I really don't notice the weight difference anymore. I have some repair work to do later today when I go in, that large viewing window does spoil you.

Rick the back let loose on me Saturday and I'm still waiting to get back in the shop to test out the new helmet

Coolidge wrote:Rick the back let loose on me Saturday and I'm still waiting to get back in the shop to test out the new helmet

I hate to admit I know exactly what "the back let loose" means. Flexoril and TENS. Time and patience...

I hope it eases soon.

Don't discount that "cheap" sweatband. It's better than it appears.

Steve S

My Gen III headgear off the Infinity arrived today. $29 and change from Amazon. Fits right onto the Elite helmet, and after only an hour today I like it. The only difference is the bigger "back of head" pad, but it does make a difference, to me anyway.
YMMV.

Remember to check out the shifting speed of your helmet choices when buying a new one, as well. The flash might not be fast enough for your brain to actually register but you are still getting a short flash every time. And that can add up. The $300 Miller Elite shifts at 0.020 second. Cheap Hobo Freight helmets are actually faster at 0.025 and 0.030 sec. Then there is the Sellstrum SmartWeld Pro model that shifts at 0.0003 sec., which is a hundred times faster. But the Sellstrum has only two sensors which can be a problem sometimes.

SlagMan wrote:Remember to check out the shifting speed of your helmet choices when buying a new one, as well. The flash might not be fast enough for your brain to actually register but you are still getting a short flash every time. And that can add up. The $300 Miller Elite shifts at 0.020 second. Cheap Hobo Freight helmets are actually faster at 0.025 and 0.030 sec. Then there is the Sellstrum SmartWeld Pro model that shifts at 0.0003 sec., which is a hundred times faster. But the Sellstrum has only two sensors which can be a problem sometimes.

???

0.025 second is a longer time than 0.020 second... 0.030 is longer still. That's not faster!

I have always encouraged A/D owners to develop the habit of blinking while striking up, so it's the eyelid, not the retina, that sees the very brief flash of UV before the A/D kicks in.

The X-mode should eliminate this issue entirely when using HF-start.

Steve S

Reaction time of the Infinity is .00005

Ya got me. Don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't....