260DET Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Using the cheap hand held shield that came with the MIG the glass reflects back at you when you are trying to see to weld. Maybe good quality ones are made from non reflective glass? Thinking also of getting an auto darkening helmet. Would this eliminate the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Check to see if you have to much light behind you. Might be hard to prevent but, I know if I have one of my shop lights pointed in the wrong direction it can cause this proublem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I've not noticed any such problems using my auto-helmet, and the fact you can see what's going on before you press for power and have both hands free makes them well worth the investment. Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted April 9, 2006 Author Share Posted April 9, 2006 Yeh, the shield that came with it is virtually flat, it allows back and side light in to reflect off the glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I just had my 3rd day of production MIG welding class yesterday, using a $50 Harbor Freight auto helmet with Zero problems. I have a filter range of #9 thru #13, tho we leave it on #10 for the MIG work we are currently doing. I can see good detail on my weld puddle, and it has not flashed my eyes once so far. I am a big believer in wearing a beanie now, tho.... We practiced doing some welds improperly (over-sized gap, wrong angle, dirty weld, ect) and I caught a fair number of flying spatters right on the crown of my skull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Auto darkening is the way to go IMHO. My experience is the same as tannji's and I'm using the same helmet. The only issue I have with the auto darkening helmet is that sometimes I'll use a drop light to see where I'm starting my bead, and if the light turns towards the lens it will darken. Also happens when some paint catches fire next to where I'm welding. Sometimes that tiny little flame with trigger the lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 A little welding fire story... I've got a Honda S2000 in the shop and the customer wants the front upper LCA mounts welded up (on the early S2Ks the mounts pull out of the body under heavy track use). He had some connections at American Honda and two engineers and the engineering manager were there to see what I did to fix/prevent the problem. It takes a little work to remove the undercoating and paint to get an nice surface to weld. I have a few Acetone soaked rags on the floor near where I was going to weld, so I moved them back a few feet. Well, as you've guessed, they rags caught fire. It was no big deal because I usually keep a wet towel at hand whenever I MIG weld, and the rags were just sitting in the middle of an open concrete floor. As I reached for the wet towel Mr. Engineering Manager decides he is going to play fireman, and stomps on the Acetone soaked burning rags with his size 11 wingtips. Now I've got a pile of buring rags and a buring wintip attached to a dumbfounded man. I throw the towel over his shoe and the fire goes out. He starts to make a comment about fire safety in my shop and I stop him and say, "Sir, I am required by law to ask you to turn in you're Junior Fireman badge." He shuts up and goes in the bathroom to wipe off his warm wingtip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 I lost my junior firemans badge, I think he stole it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 the big benefit of the auto darkening lids is when your in a tight spot and theres no room to flip it up or if you need to hold the pc your welding in place to tack it. On the bench I'll take a flip lid any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 i have the cherokee industries chin strap helmet and i kinda like it. it sounds weird but it works really well. basically, you adjust the strap so that when you open your mouth a smidgen, the lens pops up. then you close your mouth and the lens closes. lol. this also allows you to keep both your hands on your work. however, i think if i could do it over again, i would do the auto darkening helmet, but they are a bit pricier for a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 Cheapest I saw the chinstrap was for $80 or so... dont know if you have to order filters or such separately... the auto helmets start out at around $40 and up, and that usually comes with a select knob for filter #9 thru #13. I tried a conventional helmet just for comparison's sake, and I wont go back. Being able to see exactly what I need to as I trigger the arc vs, not being able to see it and no other advantages that I can see is a no-brainer, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vashonz Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Wearing dark clothing helps with the reflection, also you might try putting a towel over your head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 I like to wear a beanie because in addition to sparks flying on top of your head, my HF helmet will consistently and painfully rip the hair out of my temples (short buzz cut basically). I guess I should have mentioned that as a gripe before, but putting on the beanie is just second nature now. Tannji, you ever have that problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Wearing a beanie or a do rag helps keep sweat from rolling down a bald head and into my eyes. Have to be careful of reflections. My brother once got a bad case of flash burn in his eyes when he first started welding inside a stainless steel tank. The welding light went off the back of the tank, then the inside of his face sheild and into his eyes. He now wears a beekeeper looking hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 LOL, I just started welding, so I havent had the sweat problem yet, tho this week I probably will... temps are on the rise. Never had the pulled hair either, but I am sold on the beanie already as a preventer of pattern baldness from sparks and spatter. I smelled burning hair a couple of times, and was doing a jig in the booth... dont know if its my helmet in particular or helmets in general, but I got a lot of crap flying and hitting the crown of my head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 You can buy separate soft horsehide sweat bands for the head strap on your welding helmet. Highly recommended and with a little scissor work the sweat bands can fit the side and even the back straps. A welder friend swears by Optrel sweatbands, which I haven't tried yet. http://www.weldingsupply.com The site looks like crap but they have good prices and ship quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Silly question #100, in what way does an auto darkening helmet work? Is it fail safe? Which is to say if the operating mechanism fails it will be dark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I don't know how it works, but they have a solar panel on them for power, and you'll know if it's not working right. It will "flash" you which means it doesn't darken quickly enough. This happened with the first auto-darkening helmet that I had. Not every time, but enough that it bugged me. So then I got another one, the cheap HF helmet, and it has been a lot better. The lenses do not fail dark, so you will get flashed if your helmet isn't working correctly. But how stupid would you have to be to get flashed over and over and over and over until you had eye problems as a result? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 You won't get 'flashed' if a helmet fails. Even in the off position the helmet is plenty dark enough to keep you safe. Occasionally cheaper ones will fail to turn on which is annoying at worst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 All autodarkening helmets are designed to fail to a shade 5 or better so ther'es no harm from intermittent exposure. I often use my auto helmet turned off to do plasma cutting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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