It might surprise you how much welding helmet lights can improve your welding experience.
If you frequently need to lift your hood to position the torch or have trouble making a straight weld that tracks the joint, installing a welding helmet led light kit is a real game-changer.
This quick and simple upgrade improves your productivity and weld quality, Plus you’ll enjoy welding even more.
I looked for kits that fit a wide range of helmet models versus a select few. Here are the best welding helmet lights I found.
In this article:
Best Welding Helmet Lights
Clamp-On Light Fits Most Welding Helmets
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This is a quick win that’s popular with many welders. Attachment is easy and secures using two thumbscrews. The mount opening is 5/16-in wide, so the edge of your helmet can’t be any thicker than that (most are okay).
This light rotates on one axis: parallel to the mount, so attach it to center the beam left-to-right in front of you, then you can adjust up or down as needed. Most helmets are thin enough to allow room for a shim to help with centering.
The large power switch is easy to operate without removing your welding gloves.
Undo the velcro hold-down strap to use this powerful 300-lumen light as a rugged handheld LED flashlight.
I like that it’s compact at just 3.5 inches long by 1.5 inches wide, and 2.5 inches high. Plus, it’s lightweight—only 4 ounces with an AA battery—so you’ll be able to lift and drop your hood with ease.
Pros
- Adjustable focus 300-lumen beam
- Easy to operate switch with gloves
- Lightweight – 4 oz with battery
- Uses one inexpensive AA battery
- Made in the United States
- Secure tool-free mount using two thumb screws
- Weatherproof and drop-proof
- Reasonably priced
- Removable LED flashlight
Cons
- Just one axis of adjustment once mounted
- Raising hood moves beam off the work
- Single battery reduces operating time
Miller Welding Helmet Light Kit
- Welding Helmet Light,Filter Shade 3
- Provides 140 lm
- Provides Light to The Welding Area and Workpiece
The Miller helmet light kit (#282013) fits most Miller and Hobart helmets, including the Digital Infinity™ Series and Miller Titanium, Elite, Performance, Classic, FS#10 and MP-10 helmets, plus Hobart Impact, Pro, Endeavor, and Discovery helmets.
This does not fit the T94 Series, but kit #281361 includes the same lights along with T94 mounts.
Each kit includes two lights, mounting gear, and AA batteries.
Installation is simple and takes only 1–2 minutes per side.
This two-light setup provides great coverage of the workpiece. You can independently adjust each light up and down, and they don’t move when you lift the hood.
Because the lights are lightweight (2.5 ounces each, with batteries) and mount to opposing headgear hinges, they have little effect on tilting or flipping the hood or overall balance on even the lightest helmets.
The downside of having two lights is that you have two lights. So, you have twice as many to adjust, turn off/on, replace batteries, etc.
I’ve seen enough complaints about the flashlight operation to believe they’re lower-quality units. If they fail on you beyond Miller’s 90-day warranty, other penlights with a similar barrel size, like the Streamlight Stylus Pro, should fit in the mounts for a nice upgrade.
While this kit isn’t perfect, I give Miller credit for attempting to help with an issue many of us have. I could not find a Lincoln welding helmet light kit, nor a kit from any other helmet manufacturer, that fits more than one or two models.
Pros
- Quick and easy installation
- Hinge mounted design reduces balance effect on flipping helmet
- Lights stay in place when the hood is lifted
- 5-hour run time
- Excellent range of adjustment
- Removable for handheld use
- 70 lumens each (140 lumens total)
Cons
- Only compatible with Miller hoods
- Not very sleek – long lights hang out like antenna
- Poor quality flashlights (other penlights should work)
- Dual lights means another switch to operate and twice the batteries to replace
Helmet-Mounted Welding LED Flashlight
- 140 Lumens
- See Without Lifting Helmet
- Replaceable Polycarbonate Lens
Differing from the previous lights, this one attaches to the top of a helmet using powerful magnets. This means it’s not compatible with some styles such as pancake-type hoods.
Installation is as simple as securing one magnet inside your helmet with the included 3M tape. But before you do that, leave the inside magnet loose so you can fine-tune the position. Then, once you’re happy, secure the inside magnet.
The magnets are strong enough to hold the light in place under vigorous shaking, but you can easily remove the light for use as a flashlight or magnetic work light.
At 140 lumens, this helmet light has plenty of power to light up your workpiece. It also includes a strobe function designed to get co-workers’ attention in noisy shops.
Here’s a two-minute demo of the WrightLite:
Pros
- Bright 140 lumens
- Easy installation
- Assembled in USA
- Includes batteries and 2 extra lenses
- Get 8 hours of runtime on (3) standard AAA batteries
- Easy to remove from helmet for use as a flashlight
- Fits most auto-darkening helmets on the market
- Compact: 4.25 x 2.8 x 1 inches
Cons
- Raising hood moves beam off your work
- Extra weight can change helmet balance
- No vertical adjustment once mounted
- Not for pancake-style helmets – helmet must cover top of head
LED Headlamp Lights Up Any Welding Helmet
- One-click On/Off Button
- Motion Activated LED Headlamp
- Waterproof & Shock Resistant
This is a great way to light up your helmet if you’d like to save some money, or other lights won’t work with your helmet
LED headlamps designed for walking, jogging, and other nighttime activities come in a variety of sizes, colors, brightness, and functions. Most are lightweight, bright, and inexpensive. Best of all, these are easy to adapt into an excellent led light for welding helmets.
Designed to wear on the forehead while held in place by a headband that runs through a plate on the rear. This hinged plate stays against the head while the body rotates away to aim the light. Remove the headband, and this plate makes a perfect attachment point to your helmet.
Here’s what a headlamp looks like when pivoted 45 degrees from the plate, with the headband removed.
A few dabs of silicone will hold the light in place as you test for the best position. For this type of light, I recommend the chin position like on this Speedglas G5-01 (by the way, that light is a $160 upgrade).
Mounting on top is possible as long as the slope of your helmet, combined with the light’s range of rotation, is enough to get the beam aimed down on your work.
One reason I especially like this light from Tinmiu is its 90-degree range of adjustment, compared to just 45 degrees for most others. This allows top-mounting on many helmets without using shims.
Once you’ve found the perfect spot, attach with adhesive or rivets.
Unlike other lights I’ve had, the Tinmiu will power up to your previous setting with one click. You don’t have to cycle through half a dozen modes unless you choose to. The high-power floodlight setting is perfect for welding and runs for about four hours between charges.
Even better, a hands-free setting lets you turn it on and off by waving your hand in front of your face. This is useful because the small buttons are not glove-friendly.
Pros
- 90 degrees of adjustment
- Turns on to last setting and off with one click (or wave of the hand)
- State of charge/battery level indicator
- Waterproof & shock resistant
- 4 hours max run time on high
- 6 Lighting Modes
- Charging port is accessible while mounted on welding helmet
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Small buttons are not glove friendly
- Extra installation effort needed
Choosing Welding Helmet Lights
If you’ve never struggled to see where you need to place your torch to start a weld, or never veer off course while trying to watch the bright weld puddle and follow a dimly-lit joint, you probably don’t need helmet lights.
But for the rest of us, bright welding LED light helps in setting up welds when the workpiece, our helmet, hands, or torch blocks the overhead light.
Even when filtered through a welding lens, our eyes struggle to deal with the extreme contrast in brightness between the intense welding arc and surrounding areas. As we focus on the weld pool, our eyes do their best to adjust. This causes surrounding areas to darken in our vision.
It’s been my experience that my need for extra light when doing detailed work has increased with age. Bright area work lights for welding are helpful and increase safety, but nothing beats a helmet-mounted LED for putting light where you need it most.
Flooding the work area with powerful light reduces shadows and the contrast in our field of vision. This makes joint lines and other marks really stand out while easing eye strain.
The best welding helmet lights should place at least a saucer-sized beam of steady, brilliant light on your work at arm’s length. Look for a minimum of 70 lumens.
Battery power should last four hours or more. Easy access to the charging port or battery compartment is a must.
Weight, with batteries, shouldn’t exceed six ounces to minimize balance issues—four ounces is even better.
The Bottom Line
Very easy to install on most helmets, the Life Mounts LED Light is compact, lightweight, and well built. It’s also extremely bright—twice that of both Miller lights combined. It’s the best light for most welding helmets and comes at an affordable price.
