Self dimming welding mask

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

I don’t have much idea as to what is good , bad or indifferent. I would like a self dimming helmet as I am getting a little fed up with fixed attenuation glass. I would prefer a replaceable battery powered unit, as I don’t use my electric welding gear on a regular basis. Main use is for arc, mig and tig welding. Tried an el cheapo unit from Aldi and it wasn’t a great deal of use, internal, non replaceable battery failed quickly and the dimming was non uniform across the visor.

As to cost, well super expensive is out, thinking of a little north of £50 should give a reasonable unit for my needs, or am I being over optimistic? Any suggestions from practical users?

Andrew.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

I’ve been pleased with my R-Tech Auto Darkening Speedmaster XXL True Colour Welding Helmet. It’s the same price today as five years ago when I bought it.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

There was one in Lidl a couple of weeks ago…….

[David Millar 3Participant @davidmillar3]

I have a half memory of an auto darkening welding mask, with a rechargeable battery, that would charge via a solar cell on the mask. Exposure to sunlight would get it going, then the UV from the welding would charge the battery. Are they a real thing, or have I imagined it?

The battery in my auto mask is usually dead when I go to use it, so a rechargeable one would be handy.

[David Millar 3]

On David Millar 3 Said:

I have a half memory of an auto darkening welding mask, with a rechargeable battery, that would charge via a solar cell on the mask. Exposure to sunlight would get it going, then the UV from the welding would charge the battery. Are they a real thing, or have I imagined it?

The battery in my auto mask is usually dead when I go to use it, so a rechargeable one would be handy.

They are a real thing, mine’s like that – a Parweld XR938H. I forget how much it was, but not seriously expensive; it works well.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

I bought one of the 3M Speedglas 9000 series helmets best part of 20 years ago. £300 odd. Yikes! But I wasn’t taking chances with my eyes.

It really is very good but I’ve occasionally borrowed £50 – £100 (ish) helmets which in my hands and on my work appear to perform just as well. Even the one with the snazzy flame graphics. So you will probably do fine if you don’t cheap out too much and take a chance on “who they” brands.

Concerning the comments about LiDL offerings, LiDL do have a deserved reputation for frequently feeling equipment that, in practice punches well above its price point. I suspect any auto darkening helmet from them would be more than adequate.

My first auto-darkening one was from Machine Mart of all places. Very expensive by machine Mart standards with a 10 year warranty. Maybe mid 1990’s era. Performed well up to par for the vintage and lasted about a week short of 10 years. Negotiating the warranty was “interesting” as Machine Mart didn’t sell auto darkening ones at the time so they had to honour the money back bit of the money back or exchange thing. The branch I got it from refused to believe they’d ever sold them despite me having the receipt.

Clive

 

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Paid about £70 18 months ago, light powered, well pleased. Cant remember the name can look in the morning. great for TIG or MIG. Noel

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Andrew, get one at a modest price, not cheap or very expensive, but if you get a decent one with built in rechargeable batteries, it will probably cost less than buying replacement batteries in the long run. I still have the one I had when I was still working 6 years ago, and although the auto darkening unit gave up about 3 years after I retired, I just bought a new auto darkening unit, which was a lot less than a complete new shield. Auto darkening ones will keep being recharged as you are welding, replacement batteries will just keep draining while you are welding. I sometimes go weeks without doing any welding, and it still works straight away. There’s nothing flashy about mine, it’s just a run of the mill type.

Regards Nick.

[Joseph Noci 1Participant @josephnoci1]

Just be aware – check the info on the box or data sheet – some of the cheaper ones do NOT recommend for use with TIG, esp for sub 40-50amp TIG use.  The LCD does not darken on such small arcs, or darkens with a few 100ths of a second delay. Not good. I have an ESAB that is very good, but was not inexpensive..

[Adrian R2Participant @adrianr2]

For those that use glasses for close up work, some of the Parweld ones have the advantage that you can fit an internal magnifier lens so one less reflective surface between you and the workpiece and thus less glare.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Mine was marketed as “Yeswelder”  and had settings for shade, sensitivity and delay. It has the larger window, about 4″ square, many only have a 2″x4″ window and are cheaper. It is of rechargeable type – I not had to fit a cell in all but 2 years. It was about £70.  Noel.

PS Just checked – now available at £42.99. A bargain.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations, I will buy either the Yeswelder or Parweld masks that have been mentioned.

Andrew.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Did these work for the eclipse?

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Mine did ! Though I had to turn the sensitivity to hi ! For easy of use I used an EW 11 lens – it got passed round the pub so everybody got to see the event.  Noel.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Some of the adjustable masks have a grinder setting 9 which equals OFF for the battery. If you flash it you get max dark.

The true colour ones have a better colour UV filter.

Only the darkness is affected by the electrics, the UV is 100% all the time regardless, otherwise it would be a very unsafe helmet.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Noel, an EW 11 lens isn’t really dark enough for looking at the sun, and it’s recommended that a No. 13 should be the minimum, but darker ones would be much safer. Mine is a No. 13, and that’s always been the minimum for me from the time I first started to do any serious welding. Myself, I certainly wouldn’t trust an auto darkening one for look at the sun.

Regards Nick.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Obviously too late for the eclipse but you need to be careful about using welding filters for solar observation. Even an EW14 can pass up to 3% of infrared radiation. IR is not such an issue with with electric welding as UV and visible.

Robert.

[Robert Atkinson 2]

On Robert Atkinson 2 Said:

Obviously too late for the eclipse but you need to be careful about using welding filters for solar observation. Even an EW14 can pass up to 3% of infrared radiation. IR is not such an issue with with electric welding as UV and visible.

Robert.

Expand a little Robert. If one has to be careful of IR when viewing the sun with welding filters, why is it ok to view the IR from a welding arc? The sun emissions bulk is 700nm to 1400nm, as is that from most welding arcs so I would have thought if it’s ok to view welding arcs with welding filters, so should viewing the sun be ok?

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

There is significantly less IR relative to UV and visible in an electric arc compared to the sun. 53% of the energy in sunlight is in the infrared.

Robert.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I actually wore my permanently dark prescription sunglasses, in addiction to my welding shield, but I wasn’t watching it all the way through, just had a few short glimpses, no longer than about 30 to 40 seconds at various stages, otherwise it would have been as boring as watching paint dry, but as it happens, I didn’t see the hight of the eclipse, as it went down behind all the trees from my viewpoint by then, and so only about 75% of it was viewable for me.

Regards Nick.

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