www.garagejournal.com
I was thinking price was about the same,$250 ish 2 yrs ago
I have a 3350 from a few years ago. I like it enough that I just spent $550 to get the newer one with the grind mode button on the side instead of on the inside. Opted not to the the rev 5 because I didn't want the extra weight of the light and batteries.
weldcote.com
Get a cheater lens
Reading glasses from the drug store.
I sold one customer 5 Millermatic 252s for 2700.00 each in about 2019......they are 4839.00 now.I went back and checked my account. I bought mine from Baker's Gas in May of 2021 for $255, they currently have it on sale for $470 so 4 years and the price is up nearly 200%.
I went back and checked my account. I bought mine from Baker's Gas in May of 2021 for $255, they currently have it on sale for $470 so 4 years and the price is up nearly 200%.
www.garagejournal.com
The lens in my old optrel was replaced under warranty 3 times because eventually it wouldn't "charge enough" to darken after a couple years. The newer model has a replaceable battery in addition to the solar. My 3350s both have replaceable batteries in addition to the solar. I think, especially with a big window, there just isn't enough solar charging available without making the solar cell much bigger you're just going to have to live with replacing batteries. Fwiw, I don't get a couple years out of them in my 3350. Not sure how long but probably a year and a half. It's just the way it is, imo. Worth it for the convenience. My only complaint is the 3350 doesn't use a 2350; it's much bigger. So I have to keep a couple on hand in case I can't find one locally.
A few years is "so quick"?
I never had to replace the battery in my old fixed shade!
That is true, and a nice gold plated fix shade lens gives phenomenal color and clarity. If I was doing heavy production welding that is what I would use all the time.
It's annoying, because I don't weld every day, and when I do need to weld, it's inevitably dead. I actually just checked the last time I ordered batteries for it, and it looks like about a little over a year ago (they're dead again). So I guess the batteries last a little over a year, not a few years.
You could remove the batteries when you aren't welding
thats what I do
I could. But it would be nice to have something with an on/off switch, or something that doesn't eat batteries sitting there doing nothing.
So on helmets I have/had turning the darkening knob lower/all the way down there is a click felt/heard that I always thought is the OFF switch.
I wouldn't because it would be a pita, but I wonder if putting one in grind mode would do that. That's similar to the old 3350.
Arc One Hawk is a solar only hood.
This is what I use and I’m a very casual user . It works good. If I started to weld more I likely would upgrade to a bigger window and higher quality but for now it works great. I test it with my cell phone. Just look at the screen and bam. I always like to make sure .I like my plain black Hobart Inventor with 9.3 inch window
