I have been welding for 50 years and although I am not in the welding business,  I have made trailers, plows, automobile frames, dune buggies and many other things on my farm and for my hobbies using Lincoln stick welders, MIG welders and Oxy-acytelene.

My $200 battery powered Jackson auto darkening helmet quit recently. It was the second electronic element to fail, first time under warranty, second time not.

I bought a - - -NEW Solar Power Auto Darkening Welding Helmet ANSI - - - from an eBay Oregon tool store.

To look, click on:     New Solar Power Auto Darkening Welding Helmet

I highly recommend their helmet and almost everything I have to say about it is positive with the following exception - - -

    * There is no provision on this helmet to use a magnifying lens. I had to modify the front cover of the new helmet to install a magnifying lens.

I ran a Google search for -- ANSI helmet --and went to their site (AWS) where they answered the question --Which is better solar or battery operated?

Go read their answer. They said Solar.

For the price, if you don't use it 8 hours a day, it is a fabulous buy.