Well thanks for the detailed response. I do know the difference between $500 and $5000 electronics first hand, but now I'm just not certain what to think of my welding helmet. I'm just a hobby welder, but if I notice discomfort in my eyes after a longer session I know what I will have to do.
Slow welding helmet response time
- Thread starter orezok
- Start date
- Views: 15950
johnray13
Bronze Member
I have a top quality European helmet ($300) with all the whistles and bells and once it didn't darken right away. It was in the cold. My eyes bothered me for a month.
The delay setting is for how fast the shade undarkens after you are done welding.
The delay setting is for how fast the shade undarkens after you are done welding.
There is a very simple way to test this. Make a series of a dozen or so 3 second spot welds, without using a helmet, just close your eyes. That night, go outside and look at a street light. There will be a big halo around the light, because you have burned your eyes. It will go away in a day. Yes, I have learned this the hard way.
The answer is no, closing your eyes does not really protect them.
Dargo
Super Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
- Messages
- 5,981
- Location
- S. IN
- Tractor
- Jinma, Foton, TYM, Belarus, Yanmar, Branson, Montana, Mahindra and maybe some green and orange too.
Easygo, do you use a stick welder or a MIG? I'm assuming from being a "hobby welder" that you don't TIG. If you stick weld I would think that would give the hood more time to darken as you're actually throwing off some less intense sparks before the actual arc fires up. With a MIG or TIG you get the bright flash right away. Welding thin material with a stick welder I didn't really notice my eyes hurting too much with the cheap hood (even though I likely was still getting flashed). Any time I've used a cheap hood with a MIG or especially a TIG welder I'm blinded and have really irritated eyes.
With my hood I notice that I run the shade at about 11 when I MIG or TIG but only at about 9 when I stick. Since we've been talking about the hoods and I'm off work for the weekend I cleaned up my hood and noticed that my "low battery" light was flashing. It cost me about $4.50 and 3 minutes to fix that. My adjustments are 1) shade level 2) sensitivity and 3) delay. Mine does have an "on" and "off" button as well. And, yes, I've forgotten to turn the hood on and gotten a good flash before.
With my hood I notice that I run the shade at about 11 when I MIG or TIG but only at about 9 when I stick. Since we've been talking about the hoods and I'm off work for the weekend I cleaned up my hood and noticed that my "low battery" light was flashing. It cost me about $4.50 and 3 minutes to fix that. My adjustments are 1) shade level 2) sensitivity and 3) delay. Mine does have an "on" and "off" button as well. And, yes, I've forgotten to turn the hood on and gotten a good flash before.
J_J
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
- Messages
- 18,952
- Location
- JACKSONVILLE, FL
- Tractor
- Power-Trac 1445, KUBOTA B-9200HST
This is just another one of those products that seem to confuse or alert people, because some do not like the product. Most of the time, we don't have the funds to go and check out the good from the bad. I seriously think that if there was a severe safety problem that the helmets would be recalled, and the company would be involved in a class action suit. I have two low budget helmets and one medium grade. I have never had the problems that some of you have. I think based on the electronics, that there is not a big problem with the response time. You can test those lenses by looking at a cigarette lighter sparking, looking at the police lights flashing, looking at lighting, or whatever. I look to the side just to see of the lens is darkening. If you believe in the product, use it, and if not, trash it. I would almost bet that most of that stuff is foreign made. You don't always get what you pay for. It is sort of like looking at all the TV's in a show room and trying to make a choice with the funds you have. Sure, you will say that your eyes are most precious, and I agree. I try to protect them the best that I can.
Mercedes car owners tell their friends to buy Mercedes, but guess what, Toyota sells a whole lot more cars, why. They do essentially the same job, but cost a he** of a lot less.
To each, his own.
Mercedes car owners tell their friends to buy Mercedes, but guess what, Toyota sells a whole lot more cars, why. They do essentially the same job, but cost a he** of a lot less.
To each, his own.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
J.J.
While you may be right, I'm not taking the chance that the jury is in on the long term damage of a persons eyes is in on welding helmets. There are too many examples of companies putting out bad products that they knew were bad, but did so anyway because they calculated that they could still make more money on those products then they will lose in the lawsuit. GM and their gas tanks or Firestone and their tires.....
Eddie
While you may be right, I'm not taking the chance that the jury is in on the long term damage of a persons eyes is in on welding helmets. There are too many examples of companies putting out bad products that they knew were bad, but did so anyway because they calculated that they could still make more money on those products then they will lose in the lawsuit. GM and their gas tanks or Firestone and their tires.....
Eddie
Scooby074
Super Member
Ive not used a Harbour Freight model, but i have used a cheap helmet from Princess Auto, their canadian equivalent. At the end of a half hour or so my eyes felt like they had a bunch of sand in them and felt "tired" from being repeatably flashed.
Throw in the facts that the cheap helmets are unrepairable,dangerous and consumables for them are unavailable locally they really are a false economy.
How do you think HF and the others can make a autodarkening helmet for 20 bucks, when even a decent manual helmet costs 2 times that amount and say it will provide the same protection as a reputable name that costs 10 times as much?
Like I said before I dont put much faith in the certification stamped on the helmet. In my experience (bad welding helmets, exploding grinding wheels and grinders that last for 10 minutes before burning out), the certs on Chinese products arent worth the paper their printed on.
Throw in the facts that the cheap helmets are unrepairable,dangerous and consumables for them are unavailable locally they really are a false economy.
How do you think HF and the others can make a autodarkening helmet for 20 bucks, when even a decent manual helmet costs 2 times that amount and say it will provide the same protection as a reputable name that costs 10 times as much?
Like I said before I dont put much faith in the certification stamped on the helmet. In my experience (bad welding helmets, exploding grinding wheels and grinders that last for 10 minutes before burning out), the certs on Chinese products arent worth the paper their printed on.
Eagleview
Veteran Member
The arc from a stick welder is not as strong as a mig , this is because the smoke from the flux on a rod screens (for the want of a better word ) the glare of the arc to a degree .
Also , regarding flashes . You may burn say , 3 rods and have the screen darken only 3 times if you are welding long runs . As opposed to stich welding or doing a vertical up where you are constantly moving the rod in and out of contact with the job to cool the last weld which may see the lens darken a hundred times . I think it would depend entirely on what type of welding you are doing at the time . I also think that doing a lot of stitch welding could give you sore eyes simply because the pupils would be dilating many times and it may be this that made my eyes sore and not because i was being flashed .
Also , regarding flashes . You may burn say , 3 rods and have the screen darken only 3 times if you are welding long runs . As opposed to stich welding or doing a vertical up where you are constantly moving the rod in and out of contact with the job to cool the last weld which may see the lens darken a hundred times . I think it would depend entirely on what type of welding you are doing at the time . I also think that doing a lot of stitch welding could give you sore eyes simply because the pupils would be dilating many times and it may be this that made my eyes sore and not because i was being flashed .
wedge40
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2007
- Messages
- 2,196
Uh, I got my post deleted and reprimanded the last time I suggested a brand name product. I was told that doing so was "advertising", and that is not allowed here. There are several very good quality brands available. I really like the one I bought, but I'm confident that I would have been just as happy with most any of the other reputable brands. I think the top end most expensive ones are around $250, but it doesn't take that much to get a really good quality AD hood. As I said earlier, I can't see (no pun intended) risking your eyesight just to save a hundred bucks. I figure that if you can't afford to protect your eyes properly, you can't afford to weld. I did just fine with the regular old hoods for years. They don't cost too much and you're not risking your eyesight with them. Still, I sure do like that fancy auto-darkening hood though.
Yet we are allowed to post about HF tools that suck and those that don't. Seems a little two sided.
Wedge
Easygo, do you use a stick welder or a MIG? I'm assuming from being a "hobby welder" that you don't TIG. If you stick weld I would think that would give the hood more time to darken as you're actually throwing off some less intense sparks before the actual arc fires up.
Dargo,
It was a correct assumption that I only stick weld. If the arc does give a little more time in that case, I feel a little better. I have neither the need nor the funds to venture into TIG so it's all good for now.
My Northern Tool helmet also has Hi-Low sensitivity, delay and darkness settings. It has no batteries as it runs on solar panels. It is so sensitive that when I pick my head up from the the work a 20w compact fluorescent light bulb 7' above me makes the helmet go dark.