Auto darkening helmet problem

Here's the deal. I'm spot welding the chassis wearing an auto darkening helmet. I get a bright flash. So, thinking I had a contaminated weld I grind a new tip on the tungsten electrode (TIG). Try it again and the same thing. So I put a tip on a new electrode, try again, same thing. So I re-clean the tubes and get a new filler rod. Still get the bright flash. So I mess with the controls on the helmet. That seemed to fix the problem for a while. Then it did it again. If I mess with the helmet controls long enough I can get it to work again, but from time to time the problem persists.

Is there something I should be doing maintenance wise that I'm not doing? Anybody else run into this problem? I can be welding along fine and then for no apparent reason get an arc flash. Not a good thing for the eyes, I need to fix or replace the problem post haste.

Does the helmet your useing have a setting for TIG? I remember when I was looking for one that some of them had a special setting just for TIG but with my old age I can't remember what they told me the difference was :(

MM64 :cool:

I was just lookin at gettin 1 of these things too !! Dont tell me theres a prob , and with tackin too ,exactly what I wanted 1 for too!!

I have a 250 dollar one too with that Eagle painted on it and it does it sometimes when it's not charged. If yours is the one that you need to put it in the sun then put it out in the sun for 8 hours and it says it will last like6 or 8 months but really it doesn't, I put mine out in the sun all the time before I use it. That should take care of it. When you first buy it, put it out in the sun for 8 hours and then the next day for about 4-8 more hours. They are really great helmets if you get a good one. I have a teacher that bought some plain black one like that from Hobart and it did the same thing I think and he brought it back and got another one just like it and that one works nice. You rarely have it where it won't dark but hardly ever will that happen.

I have a shellstorm auto darking helmet that i've used for about the last 7 yrs, really only maintenance i ever do is change the batt and lens in it. You really shouldnt have to clean the sensor since its under the outer plastic lens. Check your sensitivity setting on it (if yours has one) and set it at the most sensitive setting for spot welding.

Hopefully this isnt the problem but i did have one that went bad after about 4 yrs and when the sensor goes bad it will shit itself off without warning.

BG

Well, I cleaned it up (Wasn't that dirty) put new inner and outer lens covers in it and so far so good. Maybe it's was too cold in the shop. I keep it around 45-50. We'll see if it does it again. Label said the battery should be good for 5 yrs. It's a little over a year old now.

My eyes are bad anyhow, too many years of tacking without a helmet. Tried a couple of the auto-darkening helmets, wound up with flash burn in the eyes both times. Guess I'll either have to stick with my old helmet, or get a new pair of eyeballs. Sure wish I could use one, they are great.

Mine aren't what they usta' be either. That's why I don't wanna' mess around with a helmet that doesn't work. Back in high school when asked to read an eye chart bein' the smaddas' I was i would read the printers name @ the bottom. Now I need glasses to read a paint can label. Only thing worst than gettin' old is NOT gettin' any older. :LOL: :LOL:

Let's see, bad eyes, bad hearing, bad kidneys, numerous body components suffering from race car rheumitiz, and other conditions not fit to mention on a public forum......../Tell me again why option two would be such a bad deal !!!!?????? Some people say they get up in the morning, read the obituaries and if there name is in there they ain't gonna go to work. Before I get out of bed I check to see if I have a pulse. If I ever wake up in the morning and don't have a pulse, I ain't even gonna bother getting up and reading the paper !!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Dave Severson
Before I get out of bed I check to see if I have a pulse. If I ever wake up in the morning and don't have a pulse, I ain't even gonna bother getting up and reading the paper !!!!!

---

:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Cold wont effect the speedglas lenses, actually its just the oppesite heat will effect them. Theres been a few times when i was running the Tig at 300+amps at work and had a ton of heat coming off the part and mine shut itself down on me. Had to let it sit for about 2 mins to get it to work properly again but i dont think thats what happened to you Pro because you were just tacking so there shouldnt have been any overheating problem.

You guys arent along with the bad eyes, even at 33 my eyes arent anywhere near what they were even 5 yrs ago:(

BG

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Dave Severson
Tell me again why option two would be such a bad deal !!!!??????

---

Because #2 kinda makes it hard to cruise.....i like crusin in caddys but not the ones of the long black variety with curtians in the windows:eek: ;)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by MrMopar64
Does the helmet your useing have a setting for TIG? I remember when I was looking for one that some of them had a special setting just for TIG but with my old age I can't remember what they told me the difference was :(

MM64 :cool:

---

I think it's workin' again. Wee will see. It just has a setting for sensitivity and duration of "ON' after you stop welding. Another dial on the side w/ numbers 9 thru 13 I think. Doesn't seem to be much difference in the settings.

Yeah, I know Goat. When it's my turn to ride in the big black Caddy, there probably won't be a heck of a lot of people at the funeral, but there sure will be a ton of em at the auction fighting over my toys.............

Will effect mechanical parts for sure but but not a helmet, i've used mine many times outside in the winter doing repairs at the shop on work trucks and cold wont effect the function of the auto dark helmets. Use to effect the speed of my hands while welding though:LOL:

BG

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Dave Severson
Yeah, I know Goat. When it's my turn to ride in the big black Caddy, there probably won't be a heck of a lot of people at the funeral, but there sure will be a ton of em at the auction fighting over my toys.............

---

There's a guy with a gray caddy wagon @ the local cruises here in the summer. Complete with casket and ever thang.

Hey Pro, if ya see him next summer could ya check and make sure I ain't in there??? Still gotta get something ready so we can go help Goat cruise Woodward next fall. If I'm in the back, could ya just take the Caddy to Woodward?????



Another thread hijacked!!! we're terrible

We got a guy at the local cruise night like that as well, dosent have a casket in it but its a black hurse with a skeleton waving out the window and "the last ride" across the windshield:HMMM:

BG

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Dave Severson
Hey Pro, if ya see him next summer could ya check and make sure I ain't in there??? Still gotta get something ready so we can go help Goat cruise Woodward next fall. If I'm in the back, could ya just take the Caddy to Woodward?????



Another thread hijacked!!! we're terrible

---

Dont worry Dave if ya were in the back we'd prop ya up with a "Lite em' up" sign in your hand at the corner of 13&woodward;) ...if ya gotta go, go with a smile:3dSMILE:

Get us a date for Woodward this year, I am seriously going to try to make it. Not a clue which car I might have done by then, but hey, lots of time yet, right??????? Planning on swinging through Cornfield, Ill. and picking up Pro, too.

The cruise is saterday AUG the 20th this year, but the whole week before the cruise is IMO even better than the actual day of the cruise because you dont have all the corporate sponsers set up and taking up parking lots. I "hope" to have the goat done in time to have it there this year but losin my job awhile back has put a serious hurtin on the progress of the goat. Even if I dont have the gto there we'll still take the 66 bird up there.

Let me know if you guys make it up here and we'll get together to meet and i'll take you guys to some of the more "happenin" spots.

BG

Kewl, just put the date on the calender. Hopefully the transplanted Iwegian sees the date. Heard about it for years, hopefully things will work out this summer to get there. Thanks for the info.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BlownGoat
The cruise is saterday AUG the 20th this year,

BG

---

I'm up for that. Dave & I will have a 2 car Convoy to Michigan. Maybe we can pick up some people along the way. I won't have the "Z" done for sure but I think I can talk cheryl out of the Monte. Might have ta' bring her with to seal the deal. I think I'll be ready for a vacation right about that time too. HEHEHE:LOL:

No problem Denny i dont want to sound like i'm arguing with ya I've just never noticed it myself with my helmet;)


Pro&Dave be sure to get ahold of me before you guys come. And if ya plan on stayin a day or two let me know and i'll give you some info on motels to stay that are close to the action on woodward.

BG

I would bring my girlfriend along, but now she's mad at me. She caught me cheating on her and has threatened to tell my wife !!!! Hey come on, it's an old joke but it's not too often I get a chance to use it.

Sounds good.:)

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Dave Severson
I would bring my girlfriend along, but now she's mad at me. She caught me cheating on her and has threatened to tell my wife !!!! Hey come on, it's an old joke but it's not too often I get a chance to use it.

---

Hey look at the bright side. U've got 7 months from last Thursday to make up HEHEHE:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Just So's ya know,,,,Liquid crystal display's in Helmet's or computer screen's,,,or watch display's are Allotropic liquid crystal's<<< spelling could be off here.
Anyhow,,,,allotropic crystal's are activated by changes in minute electrical current's.

The other kind is Thermotropic,,,and they are activated by changes in temperature. ( like on a mood ring or temperature sensitive fever strip.)

The crystal's in an auto darkening helmet are allotropic,,,the voltage is controlled via a photo electric cell.,,,,,or a battery,,,or combination of both.

All crystal unit's have a finite life span,,,whether they be,allotropic
or thermotropic. They do wear out in time.

Your eyesite is a damn site more important than the cost of a new battery,,,or an occasional test of the photo electric cell.
Which also wear's out in time.
P.S. you can damage the len's on an auto darkening helmet by pressing against the len's,,,the crystal's are sandwiched between two plate's,,one is cathode,,and the other is anode.

You probably didn't need to know all of this,,,,,,but there it is anyway.:whacked:

You should do CroMo with gas and rg60 rod. That way you don't need auto dark because the goggles are a light enough shade you can see through them even in low light. Gas was the standard for chassis 30 years ago and was the standard for welding on aircraft until OSHA all but outlawed the use of various fluxes.

Another little trick I learned is you can test the helmet with an IR remote control ;)

MM64 :toocool: