Freezing & Auto Darkening Helmets

[enbloc]

I did some searching both at large on the net, and in the archives here, but didn't get an answer to this question. I'm also not sure which forum is the appropriate place to ask this, but I know all the people who could answer it will see it here anyway.

Does freezing damage autodarkening welding helmets? I bought one when it went on sale a while back, but am just now getting around to needing it. Unfortunately, it was out in the shop over winter. I have some shutter glasses (3D stereo thing) from work which are just old - never frozen, and they show a good bit of spotting and streaking, which has me a bit concerned (about the helmet. It's not a real big deal if my eyes get 5% image crosstalk with the shutter glasses.)

 

[blackd]

Bought mine @ a year ago. Used in Aug & Sept then left it out in the garage all winter. No damage that I can tell.

 

[MadReferee]

Try asking your question here

welders discussion boards

Its the Hobart/Miller forum and those guys over there should be able to answer your question.

 

[Boondox]

Ditto for me. Last winter was bitterly cold, with sustained temps in the minus 20s. The only damage was to the spray cans I forgot to bring in! The helmet continues to work just fine.

Pete

 

[dmftoy1]

Same here . . .I was worried about it too, but it survived the winter.

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[enbloc]

http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/showthread.php?s=6489f6c507ea7658d0c713accd40861e&threadid=383&highlight=autodarkening

Doesn't appear to be a huge issue. Real Cold around here is twenties, once in 10 years or so we'll see temps below 10F. Thanks for the pointer.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I took a couple welding classes last year and left my helmet in my truck all week between classes. I'm sure it froze more than once in that time and I never noticed the first problem. I think you'll be fine. Just to be on the safe side, check out the Hobart forum mentioned above. Good, helpful folks there who've forgotten more about welding than I'll ever know if I live another hundred years. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[slowzuki]

Mine lives in -30 C all winter, it's fine!

 

[gmason]

one thing I would think about would be the shape of the batteries after freezing them. They could have leaked and caused the contacts to go bad.

Another would be the contacts to the batteries going from cold to hot. Condensation could take place and cause some crud to form on the contacts.

Just a few ideas to think about. I don't know if you can get in there to take a looksee at the batteries. Mine has the solar recharging and I think the whole system is pretty sealed-up.

gary

 

[theonlybull]

if it's a battery operated one, then they might be a concern, but if it's the solar activated one, it's no big deal. we have one that stays in our cube van (mobile welding shop) year round, and i think it's 4 years old now and it works fine. the identical hood that we had in our shop died after 2 years, and was replaced under warrenty