Welding helmet advice?

Speaking of the goggles, any of you use the low cost glasses/goggles with the Auto Darkening lenses? Are they somewhat useful for quick TIG and MIG welds ..., or just plain junk
 
weo said:
Have you ever done this? I don't see an easy way to open it to access the battery.

To replace the entire lens would be about $100 if I remember correctly.
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Yes. I had one go bad.
I got another hood so there was nothing to lose.

The lens assembly is all snap together.

The battery inside was an industrial rechargeable - soldered in.
Exact replacement came from Digikey

Keep them in a bright place so the batterys get some juice.
 
I have another variable to throw into the mix....
After leaving the helmet out in the sun for a couple of days this week, I've used it a few times over the past couple of days and the first time, had no problems. In the second project, I got some blinding flashes like in the original post, then the 3rd project went fine.
I'm in the hobbyist category and my welder is an older AC stick welder/generator. I think I noticed that the times it seemed to work well correlated with my really nice, almost professional looking beads and the flashes with my ugly ones...

So I'm wondering if the bright flashes are just due to me long-arcing it or other flaws with my technique?
 
I never though about it, but my solar helmet sits in a completely dark room except when I am welding. Hmm, might be a good idea to store it on a shelf in a brighter area.


About the AD goggles/glasses - I have seen them really cheap online. I considered getting a pair or two for someone to wear when visiting so they could observe welding operations without having to wear a full helmet. They would be a reasonable distance away from the welding while observing.
 
If they are far enough away not to get their faces burned it should be fine. They may run into problems with them not flipping if they are not close enough.

The hoods use light as a secondary sensor. The main one senses that electric field that the arc generates. That's good for you Stacy unless you are tig welding where it isn't strong enough sometimes. weo weo if you are having a hard time getting a stable arc that's probably your problem. What electrodes are you using. The more common individual electrodes have a lot if arc stabilizers that really helps. The other thing that often happens when you don't weld everyday is sticking issues. Once that sticks you have a full short and nothing to sense. This is followed by pulling hard and breaking it off and your lens doesn't respond fast enough so you get popped in the eyes, swear, stick the rod again, swear yank side to side, break it free get blinded....... rather than just hope it doesn't stick I recommend planning on it sticking. You want to catch one of the sharp edges of the tip of the rod not the flat. Grab the stinger firmly in a grip that will let you rotate the rod. Than rather than tap the rod up and down use your left hand to steady the rod right in the middle. Move the rod back and forth like you are making a pool shot trying to scratch that edge of the tip to get a connection. Once it does its going to stick. Since you are set up nice and strong you just roll that rod tip with a twisting motion with the stinger hand while your other hand holds the tip in your weld zone. As soon as you roll the rod it should ignite and since you are nice and steady all you have to do is adjust your arc length and go. Give it a try and see if it works. If you are flashing in the middle of a weld its probably not the problem though a dirty lens or sensor sometimes causes problems.

Just a fyi but anything that trips the lens without intense light to charge it will drain the battery. If we had forklift drivers who left the key in and the flashing lights on in a shop I would have to shut my hood off because they drain the battery bad.
 
Thanks for the info, Storm.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it's my lack of experience/practice. As with everything, knowing how to do something isn't the same as being able to do it. In the 6-7 years since I learned how to weld and acquired the welder, when I total up the amount of time I have spent actually laying beads, I've probably only completed a few of the required 10,000 hours that will make me an expert.

Perhaps I should break down and finally get a MIG welder to eliminate the variable of moving the stinger closer to the work while laying the bead....
 
A mig is handy. I’ve ran thousands of miles of wire myself but your stick will do everything you need it to do with practice. Pound for pound and dollar for dollar a stick will weld a wider range of material than a mig will reliably.
What I mean is for $500 you can get a ac/dc unit that will burn up to a 5/32 rod and could even run a scratch start tig.. you’ll have a hard time finding a good mig to match for that price. Though some of the inverters can be had fairly cheap
 
I hear ya Kentucky Kentucky . I have no intention on getting rid of my machine, even though it is only AC, because it's got a 240V output when used as a generator.
 
Update:
Had a buddy of mine out to my shop to do his first forge weld/damascus billet, and he said the reason for the flashes are probably because my rods have absorbed some moisture into the flux, which is quite probable living here on the wet side of the Cascades....
 
weo said:
Update:
Had a buddy of mine out to my shop to do his first forge weld/damascus billet, and he said the reason for the flashes are probably because my rods have absorbed some moisture into the flux, which is quite probable living here on the wet side of the Cascades....
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The flux on those rods is basically just paper with some iron powder mixed in to stabilize the arc. They should be kept in a dry location but never put them in a oven. They should be at 3-6% moisture content. This is assuming we are talking about the 6011. If you use something like a 7018 it will run better dry and since it has a far more complex flux it has a problem with soaking up moisture. For code work they are only allowed out of the oven for 4 hours unless they have extended time for the coating but still 8 hours is about it. They can be redried one time in a 800 degree oven but are usually just thrown away. For home use they will still be less brittle than a 6010/6011 weld but they trapped hydrogen can cause brittle spots. If you think that is the problem try drying them in a oven for a few hours and see if the problem goes away.
 
As you know rods have absorbed some moisture into the flux, So, You need a soft mask with them if you don't want your face burned.
This is all about safety purpose so take care of it.
 
I know Miller, 3M and Jackson welding helmets are great, but their helmets are out of my budget. So I bought a cheaper solar auto-darkening welding helmet.
It works great now. The UV protecion is 16 levels, the Shade Range is DIN 4 / 9-13.
 
I do a ton of welding at work and bough my self a 3m 9100XX. It’s funny how something so simple can completely rock your world. I use to think HF auto hoods where good. Though all auto hoods where about the same. Then I put that on and wow everything else is junk. I could never go back to the cheep auto hoods now. If I forget my hood at home and have to use the shop hood I cringe. It’s amazing how good a good hood can be. I would probably go back to a solid shaded hood before a junk auto if I could not have my speed glass. The speed at which the speed glass responds is truly amazing. You never realize how much of the flash your getting till you use a hood that is that fast.
 
Hey it's your eyes, but I will not go cheap for a welding hood. Even medium line is cheap when it comes to my eyes. I will spend a pretty good amount to protect the. Miller, Jackson, 3M as said above is as low as I will go.
 
If all we're talking about is switching time, according to the spec sheets my Cornwell Tools MMW55VG has a 0.04ms darkening time, the 3M 9100 0.10ms, the Miller Digital Elite 0.05ms and the ESAB Savage a40 0.07ms.
 
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