Thread: Auto darkening helment

The in built battery after a while lose its mojo and does not want to play the game. Mine went that way too,leave it near a window and it helps ,sometimes.It

One of the mob,I think it was RC did some surgery on his and put in a replaceable battery.

In the end, the techman was a good starter helmet. As it is bottom of the range you only get what you pay for.

Leave it by the window in the sun all day and you might have a win.

Cheers
Grahame

Hi Grahame,

Is there any way of replacing the battery? Or can you replace the lense and the solar unit?

Thanks
Geoff

RC has done work towards this .

I searched and found the following:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f160/a...t-mods-115638/

There may be more.
I have seen replacement lenses for sale but they are as costly as the complete helmet.Lens and collector as all 1 piece AFAIK.

Grahame

I replaced both batteries in my CIGWELD auto darkening helmet.. I did not bother updating that thread as there did not seem to be any interest... I was originally going to install a battery pack but just went with replacement batteries of the same size.. The original connection from the battery to the circuit board was done by spotwelding lugs onto the battery, I simply just soldered the replacements on..

The batteries were a generic type available from any electronic store..

It made a huge difference to my helmet as it started working properly again...

Thanks Grahame.

How did you get it appart RC?

I am not sure why people keep buying the tecman auto welding helmetwith so many threads about the problems people have had with them. Spend a tad more and get yourselves a entry level miller helmet and they are so much better than the tecman. The tecman have not had any improvements since they were introduced a few years back. In my opinion they are not worth the drive to bunnings.

It was given to me by my uncle... Didn't think it was tto bad while it was working though.

Dobre is correct in that the Techmen mob has not done any thing in in the way of improvements. Like many other Chinese goods they are are a blatant copy of some one else's once up to date technology that is cheaply produced.

For a while they were value for money .Hey! it was cheaper,it did the job for many Diyers, but the Achilles heel was the battery.

Once this technology dates, being the type of manufacturer they are,they are not likely to spend the dollars on development.They would rather wait for another company to do that.

We can move on then,now knowing the extra element to add to the benchmark is for a Auto helmet with a replaceable battery and maybe variable lens darkening.

Alright then where's the across the counter model,widely available across the country at various chain shops , with replaceable lens covers and battery? Under $100 of course!
I have 2 old Techmans probably 5 years old now ,so I might do surgery on 1 when I can get time to scratch!.

Grahame

Originally Posted by garfield

Thanks Grahame.

How did you get it appart RC?

Screwdriver and dremel...

I pulled mine apart as well... the battery is in good condition so I can only imagine that it's just not charging.

Originally Posted by Dobre

I am not sure why people keep buying the tecman auto welding helmetwith so many threads about the problems people have had with them. Spend a tad more and get yourselves a entry level miller helmet and they are so much better than the tecman. The tecman have not had any improvements since they were introduced a few years back. In my opinion they are not worth the drive to bunnings.

I've gotta agree, i'm a boilermaker and my attitude is: you only have one pair of eyes. It's worth the extra money to look after yourself. I use a speedglas helmet and it's been going strong for 7 years now. The miller and lincon elec helmets are top notch too.

As a rule I dont have a problem with chinese made products. My view is if its made in china and therefor cheaper (lets use auto welding helmets for eg) my main issue will as long it is a good product I am happy with that. The tecman helmet is a very basic one that does not do the job that it should do and I am not expecting it to be a top of the line unit for the price but a hell of a lot better than what it is.

The helmets rection time is too slow and infact you actually get a "minor" flash before it kicks in and the head gear is useless. Miller auto helmets are a good unit and the entry level helmet is very well priced and worth the money and will serve the time to time user well. The miller auto lense is manufacxtured in Korea if i am not mistaken and not in the US as a lot of people particularly americans seem to think and miller dont openly say this either, but they are a good helmet. This is the point that I am trying to make and I am not bagging chinese made as long as it is of decent quality for the intended purpose and a good price.

I wont buy something that is cheap and crap but if it is cheap and good I am all for it. Keep in mind that good brand name welders generally cover all the bases and do make the effort to design and build quility machines and if you want that dont argue about the the price of the machine. You may be able to $50 or so dollars off the ticketed price but be prepared to part with $. Finally, as the saying goes its horses for courses and keep that in mind when buying your next welding machine.

throw it away mate, sore eyes at 3 in the morning are a f*#k. dust off the old one with the flap that everyone's got laying around, give in a custom paint job or draw a "bender" mouth on the front of it and go hard.