Autoflash welding helmets?

[bnoon]

Old school here too with several different shades for the different types of welding I do (TIG/MIG/stick/gas-braze). Just get one with a large viewing area is the most important thing. I trimmed the bottom of my hood to be able to see going between tack welds without doing the flip up/down thing... I never could get any of my shields to do that properly without being to loose... My eyes are to sensative to even try an auto one. That .000005 darkening time is just to long...

I also do the fan thing... Fans are cheap at the end of summer into fall... $7.95 each for box fans from Target last October... I got 4 for the garage!

[sanddan]

I also use a Jackson EQC professional variable. For the part time home fabricator it's the best thing going. I also could never get the hood adjusted to stay up when I wanted and still flip down on command. I haven't noticed any eye problems but I also don't weld all day long like you pro's. Just now i am trying to learn Tig welding and it's one less thing to worry about. LOL I just wish I had gotton one sooner.
Dan

[Jim Nilsen]

I learned the old school way and have lived with some full time welding and others that didn't follow the rules.

The only people who I have encountered that have gotten flashburn are those who didn't wear there normal required saftey glasses. If you think about it logically, have you ever gotten sunburn on the other side of a window ? The sun has some damaging rays of its own that are as bad for you as welding. Most all of the damaging level of light will be brought down to a tolerable amount if you wear standard saftey glasses ( not Plastic but glass). I am not saying that it is good , rather that from my experience that the only people I have ever seen get any damage had no protection what so ever.

If you are only doing mig or stick welding and on a hobby level I totally recommend a self dimming hood. I also like my Jackson helemt for fit and the way it disapates the fumes from coming in. It will help you become a better welder a lot faster and in some places you might find that you don't have the room to flip the helmet and don't have the skill to start from feeling where you are at.

If a person welds for a living I agree with everyone that wearing the proper solid shade is probably the only insurance you have to keep your sight, but it has it's drawbacks to the new tech. The liability that the manufactures have accepted for the failure of the hoods ability to do the job without causing permanant sight threatening damage that would cause them to go out of business is a point to think about. You have to be exposed to unfiltered welding flash for more than a few minutes from my experience with the guys that have ever gotten any problems and if you add up .0000005 or less it would take quite a few spot welds to ever get to 1 minute of exposure over a pretty long period of time.

So to sum it up for me , I wouldn't give up either len's and I really like my auto dimming shade when I am in those really tight spots under a car or on my back for other reasons.

So wear normal eye protection under your helmet for the extra added saftey most of us are looking for.


Jim Nilsen