auto-dark helmet

I'm welding two thin (22 gauge) pieces of steel together at 90 degrees, using TIG. The puddle is so small that filler rod won't melt into the puddle, so I'm attempting it without any filler. Seems to work okay, but the arc is small and low energy and as a result my helmet does not reliably darken. It tends to flick on and off. Very distracting.

Is there anything wrong with it? Any adjustment available for its sensitivity?

Ted

Reply to
Ted
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What kind of hood is it? For example, I believe this is the difference in the XLi and the XLiX Miller hoods - greater sensitivity for low amperage TIG welding...

Reply to
Emmo

Possible low battery condition, replace or recharge. Possible high ambient light, try turning off the room lights. Possible dirty/greasy sensors, clean 'em. BTW, how LOW is the energy ? (Amps and approx length).

Reply to
2regburgess

Had exactly the same problem. Needed to upgrade to a better helmet that was sensitive enough to react to low amp TIG arc.

The cheaper helmets, are very often just not sensitive enough for low amp TIG. However your helmet may be adjustable in some way, but as you have not told us what it is, then its impossible to guess on this point.

Ken

Reply to
Ken

My HF helmet has an adjustment for the delay in turning back to the "clear" shade. If you have this adjustment, I suggest setting it to the longest delay. That should make it "coast" through the short low-light flickers.

BTW, I bought this helmet (the blue one) recently because of recommendations from several members of this group, and I really like it.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

recommendations

Its unlikely that cheaper helmets, would be sensitive enough for very low amp inverter TIG work! This is the reason why helmets have been designed specifically for this type of work.

I have 2 APC helmets, and one is pretty hopeless for inverter TIG, while the other which is intended for this work, is very very good indeed!

Ken

Reply to
Ken

As unlikely as it may seem .. the Harbor Freight helmet my neighbor just bought works better than my speed glass on the HF TIG inverter at low power. The speedglass has 8 setting ranges and sensitivity but it dosen't always go dark at really low welding power. Add to that the HF helmet has an adjustment knob on the outside so you can change the setting while it is down and the fact that I could have bought 5 of them for what I paid for the speedglass and it starts to sound like a really good deal :) I had 3 of the early cheap autodark helmets and did not like them so I spent the $$ for the speedglass when I bought my MIG. It works well for me and the times that it fails to darken I can see the puddle fine without it going dark (welding at lowest setting on a coffe can) If I were going to buy one now though I would go with the HF one unless I was doing it for a living and needed the "name on the hat" for some reason. YMMV Glenn

Reply to
Glenn

I have a HF helmet seems to be ok at 25 amps. I would think 25 amps from a transformer TIG DCEN , would be the same as 25 amps TIG DCEN from an Inverter. Maybe I need to learn something new? B.G.

Reply to
MachineShop

I went out and bought a blue HF for 49.00. It works great for indoor welding. Cheaper, less grief if I drop it. It seems to work every bit as good as my NexGen, but the high/low sensitivity switch, rather than having a potentiometer, makes me wonder if it will lighten up outdoors in the sun. Low sensitivity is still pretty sensitive.

Reply to
Ben Woodward

As these $49 helmets all seem to work just fine for low amp inverter TIG work, I wonder why my $200 APC helmet, is really next to useless for the same thing?

Ken

Reply to
Ken

I'm not sure about the APC, but I have a 300.00 Jackson NexGen that's every bit as good the HF units for lo-amp tig, if not just a hair better.

Reply to
Ben Woodward

I use a dual halogen 500watt tripod shop light positioned about 5 feet from my work.

My only problem with the blue HF is if my position is in just the right (or wrong) position, the reflection of the lamps on the work will cause it to darken before I strike the arc.

--- Rich

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Reply to
Rich Lockyer

I just crank up the sensitivity on my optrel satellite. see if there is any sensitivity setting on the helmet.

Sean

Reply to
Sean C.

Low speed, high speed.

My point was that I don't think the blue HF hood would pose a problem outdoors in bright sunlight. I've had no problems with it with the floodlight either in front of me (causing the false triggering mentioned) or behind me shining into the back of the hood.

--- Rich

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Reply to
Rich Lockyer

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