novacaine
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:21 PM |
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Auto Darkening welding helmets
are they worth the money?
my only concern is that they say the reaction time is 0.001s, now thats not much but does that mean that your eyes are exposed to an arc for 0.001s?
over a couple of thousand times you strike an arc on the chassis surely that time could add up to some eye damage.....
is it just easier to use one of the £15 ones out of halfrauds?
cheers
Matt
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but its sinking, Racing around to come up behind you again, the sun is the same in a relative way but
your older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death
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JoelP
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:25 PM |
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i think they are perminant x ray filters, so the 0.0001 second would only be bright light. And yes, they are a necessity IMHO, cant see how people
weld without them 
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flak monkey
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:26 PM |
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The better ones are much much quicker than that, down in the nano second range and will not lead to eye damage...
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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oliwb
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:28 PM |
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I've got a cheap one off ebay and I probably couldn't weld without it now! Its brilliant. You don't really notice a flash but
sometimes if your hand gets in between the arc and the glass it can undim itself which leads to you looking at the arc again. On the whole its pretty
good though.
Having said that I had the opportunity of using Mark's (Calvinix's) proffesional auto helmet the other week and the difference was
astonishing. It was far clearer than anything I've ever used before. Reacted instantly and was a quality bit of kit! I'd deffinately
recomend getting one though whether its the cheap one or not. In honesty I'd say if your mig welding get a cheap auto one as the splaater will
obviously stick to it etc where as this wont happen with TIG.....Good luck with whatever you decide. Oli.
If your not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room!
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gary gsx
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:29 PM |
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I wouldnt be with out mine now, cant weld with the old type now 
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big_wasa
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:38 PM |
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As above I wouldnt be with out
You will do a lot more damage to your eyes by lifting the visor to see where to start.
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meany
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 09:54 PM |
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when i got one,,i was kicking myself for not getting one sooner
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novacaine
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 10:00 PM |
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so its pretty much agreed then that auto darkening helmets are a good investment then lol
I was planning on getting a cheap one off ebay too
Matt
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but its sinking, Racing around to come up behind you again, the sun is the same in a relative way but
your older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death
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pauldm
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 10:33 PM |
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First video I've ever taken on my camera.
Heres how I do it.
Look no auto helmet & no gloves.
Welding modified towing setup on my MGB Sebring.
Bad tune on radio tho! 
<video>
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martin1973
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 10:40 PM |
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nice vid, using a real mans welder too.
i got a auto darkening helmet cheepo off fleabay. its a bit naff as its battery powered one. does the job tho
martin
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BenB
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 10:42 PM |
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Even Ebay cheapo masks are good!!! Use one all the time. No arc eye yet!!! As mentioned you have to be a little bit careful the sensor isn't
shielded from the arc (by welding clamps, hands, bits of the stuff being welded etc)... I've occasionally had the mask not darken but that must
be all of two or three times in 18 months of reasonably frequent welding and each time it hasn't taken too long for me to realise!!!!
Wouldn't even bother using a non darkening one. For beginners an auto-dark is so much easier, and the professionals I've seen welding have
only ever used them too!!!!!! Nuff said?
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ed_crouch
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 10:47 PM |
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Agreed, theyre the mutt's nuts. Leaves you with a spare hand to position stuff when youre tacking up cos you can see whats going on with the
mask down.
I bought an SIP one for about 60 quid, and its very good.
Ed.
I-iii-iii-iii-ts ME!
Hurrah.
www.wings-and-wheels.net
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907
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| posted on 7/1/07 at 11:58 PM |
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I have mixed opinions of auto shields.
I have an expensive auto jobbie, (Air Liquide) that the lens alone costs £80.
It's a fixed 11EW.
I've also used a cheapo one (fixed 10EW) and found the glare too much, like using a 7 or 8.
After an hour or so I put it back in the box.
For clarity you still can't beat a non auto with a glass filter IMHO.
I reach for that when welding round the back of something or past clamps etc.
Paul G
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Peteff
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| posted on 8/1/07 at 12:40 AM |
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cant see how people weld without them
I've managed for the last 30 odd years. My mate bought a cheap ebay one and I tried it, it was like welding in fog. It was handy for tacking up
though but I have always got by with my visor set so a nod brings it down and a piece of foam taped inside hits my chin to stop it going too far.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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macnab
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| posted on 8/1/07 at 08:04 AM |
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I got one as payment for welding up a friends landy. Love it makes such a difference especially tacking panels.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 8/1/07 at 08:23 AM |
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The best non-auto helmet I ever had was a BOC one - it had a large 6" x 4" filter that was similar to a gas welding filter. Behind this
was a darker filter about 4" x 2" that, together with the main filter, added up to a decent EW value.
The effect was that your eyes were protected by the inner filter, but you had a tremendous spacial awareness because of what could be seen in
periferal vision. Also, when you wanted to tack up, all you had to do was shift your head a little to aim through the lighter filter, then dip back
to weld.
Unfortunately the helmet was literally let down by a poor headband that wouldn't let the visor stay where it was put, so I ended up getting a
refund from BOC. Sad, as it was very nice to use.
David
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balidey
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| posted on 8/1/07 at 09:20 AM |
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I am a 'novice' welder and my Speedglas one i would not want to be without it. Never tried a cheap one, only expensive ones so i
can't comment on the cheaper ones.
Message to Big_Wasa: the helmet you gave to me does work, just needed a very odd (expensive) battery, new screen covers and it works a treat, Thanks
very much.
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caber
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| posted on 8/1/07 at 11:35 PM |
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Mark,
What like are the ones you are bringing in from China?
Caber
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Jebus
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| posted on 9/1/07 at 08:12 PM |
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thats a bonnie looking weld, stainless is meant to be a pain to weld since it dont conduct heat as well as normal steel so distorts more, that a
finished weld the pic dont look like its been capped yet? not getting picky, might just be the way stainless looks, they dont let us do that at
college.
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sgraber
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| posted on 18/1/07 at 11:35 PM |
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I have a pricey one and a fleabay one. I agree that the difference is noticeable. The expensive one being much nicer to make good welds with. You can
actually see the area in front of the weld. Amortize the cost of the helmet over your lifetime of welding and it's an inexpensive upgrade.
However.... I had the good one FAIL on me this past weekend... my eyes physically hurt for hours, and I saw a purple spot in the center of my vision
for days afterwards. Not fun. So the newfangled ones (expensive and cheap) CAN and Do fail and that's the benefit of the old style. 0% failure
rate on the electronics.
Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/
"Quickness through lightness"
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gazza285
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| posted on 18/1/07 at 11:54 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
It was handy for tacking up.
Lad I used to work with had a glass filter that was a n10 with a half inch n5 strip at the top, you looked where you wanted, nodded down, and then
could still have a peak at where you were going. Can't find where to buy them from though.
I personally use an old fiberglass bucket lid that I've had for years, although I do have an auto, but if I light my workpiece with a halogen
light it activates when I don't want it to.
As for Pauldm using a mans welder, its nice to see he's using man gloves as well . Says the man with the arc burnt ear...............
DO NOT PUT ON KNOB OR BOLLOCKS!
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NS Dev
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| posted on 19/1/07 at 09:43 AM |
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burnt myself too often not to use gloves.
learnt at school when i was 12 that it hurts to pick up what you have just welded, especially when it sticks to your hand and pulls the skin off with
it.
The UV protection then becomes a useful side-effect!!!
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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NS Dev
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| posted on 19/1/07 at 09:45 AM |
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another aside - my automatic helmet doesn't react when my tig is on AC, dunno why, but I use the old grp lid again then!
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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rebelrider
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| posted on 19/1/07 at 11:34 PM |
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quote:
thats a bonnie looking weld, stainless is meant to be a pain to weld since it dont conduct heat as well as normal steel so distorts more, that a
finished weld the pic dont look like its been capped yet? not getting picky, might just be the way stainless looks, they dont let us do that at
college.
The reason the weld looks like that is because it has over heated and oxydised its very hard to weld stainless "butt welds" but a little
advice if you block one end of the pipe and fill the pipe with argon your weld will look a lot better but being you havent purged it, it doesnt
look to bad but... a thin wire brush or a peice of scotch bright will rub the black off and make her look loverly again
ps i have the same welding helmet and i love it as you know you have to turn this helmet on before using it so it will switch to dark. i lent it to a
mate he did not turn it on used it all day not turned on and did not get arc eye when i asked about it the sales man told me that the harmful uv rays
can not penatrate even normal glass. if this is true or not im not sure?
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Gav
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| posted on 20/1/07 at 10:52 AM |
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Yep thats true, when i was an apprentice plater i just used to use clear plastic wrap around glasses when tacking up, not that you would look directly
at the tack, more to just save your eyes from other people tacking up around you.
IIRC the ultravilot wavelength given off from welding cannot pass through solid matter.
The UV rating of sunglasses is a different type of UV(A or B?) which CAN pass through solid matter and damage your eyes.
[Edited on 20/1/07 by Gav]
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