Thread: auto-darkening masks from ebay/Bunnings

Originally Posted by jabell

Anyone used one of those lurid auto-darkening welding masks that sell on ebay for about $60 and Bunnings for a bit more?

Ones like a Halloween mask?
Not quite! I also have the Miller Elite with bells and whistles and welding wise it is ok. BUT! I do absolutely hate the skull and crossbones paint job-
I would be ashamed to wear it in a commercial workshop YUK crass! maybe thats why i got it $100 cheaper than normal.

Can they be painted. an old fashioned coat of matt black paint is all i want - no statement to make.

Grahame

After a bit of mucking around and not paying the outrageous US$57 for the document from the ANSI website I tracked down the relevant ANSI document that covers eye protection for welders and welding helmets. (Z87.1-2003: Practice for Occupational andEducational Eye and Face Protection)
https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/002/ansi.z87.1.2003.pdf

The ANSI standard for the darkest shade on a welding helmet (shade 14) only requires a 0.3ms switching time and for all other shades the switching time is allowed to be greater than this. e.g. at shade 13 the switching time can be 0.8 ms Gritty eye from using cheep helmets is most likely to do with factors other than switching times alike poor sensor placement or lack of sufficient wrap around.

The issue of light entering from behind is very relevant, particularly when working in reflective areas such as zincalume sheds and stainless or aluminium enclosures.
Many is the welder who has burned the back of their ears and neck in this way.

I thought I would do some looking around and compare specs of the different auto helmets.


All I have done is googled up the brand and the specifications of the particular shield listing a name or part number if I could find it.
None of these were cherry picked but were just as googled threw them up.

I had a go in attaching an Excel sheet but it would not display so I have transposed the data. Check out the link.
The comparisons are interesting.

I put Tecman in there as it was mentioned in discussion and the brand dates back as 1988 .

Miller – Elite - 4 sensors – 1/20,000 sec – grind mode – 4528g
Lincoln 1740- 4 sensors - 1/25.000 sec – grind mode – 567g
Unimig Graphic 2 Sensors- 1/10,000 sec – grind mode tried all over the place cant find weight - suspect it may be very heavy
Cigweld 45305- 2 Sensors 1/30,000 sec - grind mode 539g
Wia 235620 - 2 sensors - 1/10,000 sec - grind mode - 567g
Tecmen ADF8155 2 sensor 1/16,000 sec - 449g there is an an Oz model with grind mode but can't find it at the moment

If you care to look the switch speeds and the weights compare reasonably with the big boys.

-TM5+ADF815S/ADF820S/ADF830S-iMux series-TECMEN ELECTRONICS CO., LTD


Interesting reading- lots of different levels of helmets -These fellas look fair dinkum.

Hope it helps

That Miller comes in pretty heavy. Mine doesn't feel that bad.

One thing the Miller has is the x-mode that picks up on electromagnetic radiation or something so you get less false positives from the sun. I weld outdoors exclusively so that was my primary decision maker. I'm not sure how good the regular weld-mode is since I only use x-mode. It has grinding and cutting modes too but I rarely use them now, opting for a face shield over my safety glasses to hopefully get a bit more life out of the expensive helmet instead.

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Lincoln 1740- 4 sensors - 1/25.000 sec – grind mode – 567g

I'm homing in on the Lincoln 3350 with the 97x85mm screen and the specs as per the 1740 above.
Are there any good reasons not to go for one of these mega-screens??
Anyone tried one?

I don't really consider there to be any reason to not go for a mega-screen.
Personally, I'd prefer an initially lighter view over a larger one, once past that I'd say a large one would be lovely for those times I don't want to flip the lid up to look around for something.

If you weld only occasionally and then not for long periods you may not notice the weight.

Some professionals who wear their welding rig day in ,day out become acutely aware of the weight of the helmet.

The weight is even more obvious when you are out of position, or perhaps your body is not straight up and down and head is to the side.

The neck and shoulders become very strained and indirectly and fatigue can affect the quality of the welding produced.

A 10 grams or so does not seem a lot until you weld in a crap position for days on end.

Basically ,your welding shield needs to be matched to what you will do with it


Grahame

My experience with auto darkening lens was a job of welding up a balustrade using 20 X 20mm RHS @ 100 centres. We set up for one set of balustrades at a time (there were 3 of them) The mate I was doing the job for took the opportunity to buy a new helmet so his wife wouldn't ask too many questions. Anyway I was going to use my flip up mask with magnifiers so I don't have to be trying to weld with the prescription glasses. The mate said here use this. So I did and wore the prescription glasses under them. He bought the mask from a steel supplier and paid around $90. Right from the word go they worked great. With so many short welds to do the not having to flip up every time you finished a weld to move to the next welding position a lot of time was saved. It was strange at first to get used to not having to be waiting in darkness for the arc to be struck. During the job I never experienced a flash at all. Yes I found the mask good except for condensation forming between the lenses making seeing clearly very difficult. I found I had to keep opening up the screens to wipe away the condensation. I breathe through my mouth more than my nose hence the source of the condensation.

I don't weld regularly enough (this is my excuse) to warrant the purchase of one. But If I did, would the batteries?(solar) last when not being used regularly?

Heres the basic specs for all the current Tecmen models.
The prices are from H&F
I have the 730S

Originally Posted by chambezio

My experience with auto darkening lens was a job of welding up a balustrade using 20 X 20mm RHS @ 100 centres. We set up for one set of balustrades at a time (there were 3 of them) The mate I was doing the job for took the opportunity to buy a new helmet so his wife wouldn't ask too many questions. Anyway I was going to use my flip up mask with magnifiers so I don't have to be trying to weld with the prescription glasses. The mate said here use this. So I did and wore the prescription glasses under them. He bought the mask from a steel supplier and paid around $90. Right from the word go they worked great. With so many short welds to do the not having to flip up every time you finished a weld to move to the next welding position a lot of time was saved. It was strange at first to get used to not having to be waiting in darkness for the arc to be struck. During the job I never experienced a flash at all. Yes I found the mask good except for condensation forming between the lenses making seeing clearly very difficult. I found I had to keep opening up the screens to wipe away the condensation. I breathe through my mouth more than my nose hence the source of the condensation.

I don't weld regularly enough (this is my excuse) to warrant the purchase of one. But If I did, would the batteries?(solar) last when not being used regularly?

I have a four auto darkening helmets,two with batteries/solarand 2 with fixed internal batteries solar. My WIA uses a 2032 coin battery and lasts 18 months or so. The garishly painted miller elite also takes the same battery.For $6 or so its easy to keep a spare one in my toolbox. The old Tecmen with the non changeable internal battery justs need an hour in the sun to fire the solar side up, if the battery is flat.

For new welders the easier electrode placement to strike your electrode is is accurate and immediate. Takes most of the frustration away.No stabbing all over the place to make a strike. You can use your (now spare)hand to hold something for tacking.

Also when you need to place that tack weld, just so, in the absolute spot on location. No wucking furries with an electronic helmet.
.

Grahame

Totally agree. I wouldn't have been able to do half as much stick welding on small tube etc without one. But I can see that I could easily do without it and just use a $20 fixed helmet tigging with high frequency or even lift arc start.

Originally Posted by Michael G

I'm at a loss then to explain that gritty sore eye feeling that I got when using a cheap 1/4,000th second helmet and that didn't occur with my Miller 1/20,000th helmet. Everyone tells me it doesn't happen but no one explained that either to the cheap helmet or my eyes so they went ahead and did what ever they were doing anyway. I didn't end up flashed (that I noticed), just with the sore eyes.
(Stick on blue tube, well ventilated - if anyone knows what happened I'd like to know)

Michael

Mick it could be the rising fumes from what ever you are welding, or one helmet may funnel the fumes in to your eyes.

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

I just had another rush of excrement to the brain.

For those with some shields that have larger, more expensive and easy to scratch lenses. When you need to replace them take the old one to a plastics supply business.

I was able to purchase a whole sheet of a suitable replacement material and chop it up into the correct size pieces. For me the worked out at .80c a piece. ( edit here) disclaimer here if your dumb enough to use the former on a dual purpose welding & grinding-I don't believe it is impact resistant -leastways not from broken grinder wheel pieces at velocity.I saw it once or twice with the old hiderok helmets -luckily no serous injuries as we all wore S / glasses under helmet.

Those of you with migs will notice the build up on the clear lenses.

What is it? I am not sure ,probably a heavy metal or silica deposit . It does not polish off well, so external clear insert lenses must be binned on a regular basis other wise it interferes with vision of the arc.

Don't forget, if you tend to have problems seeing the arc , to pull the entire assembly down and clean it regularly with the recommended cleaner.You will be surprised at the difference

Grahame

Grahame, when you go to your " plastics" shop, ask for lexan as it is tougher and more impact resistant, but what a great idea.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Originally Posted by Old Croc

.
.
Grahame, when you go to your " plastics" shop, ask for lexan as it is tougher and more impact resistant, but what a great idea.

There's nothing special about Lexan. It's just a trade name for a brand of common polycarbonate which is what almost all welding helmet lenses are made out of.