What tint for TIG welding

P

Protactical

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Aug 24, 2003
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Local place has a good deal on solar panel auto tint welding helmets. One model is 10-11, or for 50% more I could get 9-13 adjustable. Right now I only do light stick welding. Later I might buy a TIG that does heavier stick also. For that would I need to go to higher tints like 13. At the store they said probably only if I did TIG on magnesium, etc... not for normal welding. I weld only steel, aluminum, and stainless, and it's occasional jobs only. I just make stuff like shop fixtures, farm repairs, and sailboat repairs, so something more or less needs to break before I swing into action.
 
Get the better one ,it's not worth risking your eyes.My Audel's Welding Guide gives a good explaination of the whole subject. Some of the problems you can't feel and are cumulative so play it safe !!
 
Back when I was about 20 I worked as a welder and ran both stick and TIG and welded indoors and outside. I would see spots if I used lower than a 13 but now 50 years later I use stick and MIG and have found I need more light so I use an 11 indoors and a 9 in bright sun out doors. I would say get the best you can buy -- one that has the widest range of shades. I never new how easie it was to weld in cramped places untill I used a helmet that I didn't need to flip down.
Good luck
 
I spent over 40 yrs. at this occupation, and during that time I observed that the tint that people used depended on the person. Not everyone can see or is comfortable with the same tint. With a Tig I would never go below a 10 whether it was day or night. I preferred a 12 for Tig. and Mig. For stick welding, I used a 10. Later years, I had a tendency to stay with the 10 mirror lens all the time.
 
I'm going to refer to the above experts for the tint but will tell you that darker is not necessarily better.

If you go too dark and can't see the weld, you will tend to peek under the shade. (ask me how I know that) This is worse for your eyes than using a lighter shade to start with.

My wife buys me these things that are damn near black and hides my good helmet. I come out of the shop blind as a bat every time because I look under the thing too long to get my bead started :grumpy:
 
Protactical, what shade do you currently use and is it a fixed filter plate or a electronic auto darkening, everyones eyes are not the same,with reference to senstivity.
Tig welding generally gives off less light requiring more sensitivity than mig or stick.
So if you plan on tig welding in the future make sure that the electronic helmet you buy has sensitivity adjustment for the shade(s) you currently use!

My 2 cents KCC
 
Peter, you are playing with a potentialy serious thing when you start looking at an arc without protection regardless of the amount of time. A welding arc, whether it be stick, tig or mig will damage the retina and can be cumulative. The damage is permanant.
 
I do both stick and tig welding. I use a Jackson Next Generation auto change hood and really like it. It can be changed with the push of a button from welding, burning or grinding. The welding shades range from 9-13. I tried the solar powered lenses and didn't care for them, they don't have any adjustments or change fast enough for my old eyes.
 
Octihunter,

I just use the handheld shield that came with my welder, it's useless, so dark you really can't see the weld outdoors even under the full light of the arc. I'm planing on taking a big step up. bocgases.ca has their own brand of helmet that uses the Optrel brand of solar autodarkening lenses. Apparently these are absolutely top of line, the only thing they are doing is droping them in a standard helmet with their name on it, rather than Optrel's prettier model.

In Can. dollars an optrel helmet is 500, a boc with optrel lense is 370 if 9-13, and 230 if 10-11. I'm choosing between the two helmets at 230, and 370. My helmet will have cost me more than my welder, but as with many such things it will not probably have to be replaced for a fairly long cycle, and I will have a good helmet regardles of where the welding takes me.

I'm self taught, and that's my only local option with a few tips from other local welders. I feel that if I buy a good helmet where I can see what I am doing, I can do a better job and avoid peeking, which currently is a problem. I'd be surprised if I welded 6 hours a year, so anything I get that is over my eyes will probably be good enough. But I want to have the upgrade path covered also.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Let's say I had the 9-13, how would I know I was at the reight setting if it is possible to be getting too much flash without being aware of it? Obviously I could start dark and peel it back, but if I can't easily tell what's right...
 
Sign in my cousins motorcycle shop.

If you have a $10.00 head wear a $10.00 helmet.

10 or 11 covers most everbody some like a 12

Personally I use a 11 most of the time and a 10 on tig, a 14 when useing a carbon arc.

Don't stare at the light!!!

I was taught that very early on, don't look at the light look at the puddle.

Winker's or automatic hoods were just starting to become practical when I retired from welding. Never had one. Got along just fine, with my Huntsman.
 
I've got the cheesy solar-powered winker. Its okay, but there's hell to pay when too much crap collects on the lens and it don't shutter like it should. Usually I clean it before every welding session. I do lots of welding and I really should step up to a better helmet. Boc, eh? I'll give em a try.
 
I have a ten dollar head, but it still costs a fortune to repair.

JHIGGINS:

Here is the sales brochure: http://www.bocgases.ca/newsite_eng/images/Promotion_Avril_ang.pdf

I imagine you could find something just as good localy for less.

When the Optrel OS Satelite where on sale they were so popular I couldn't get one. I could have ordered one, but they never hung around long enough for me to try one. Supposed to be same or similar lense in the BOC.

http://www.optrel.com/index2.htm
 
arc welding 10-12 filter depending on aperage. high amperage gass shielded mig welding, 12-14. tig welding 9-10. all around home useage. 10 filter should do it.
 
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