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  1. #1
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
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    Talking What spec for auto darkening helmets for TIG, please?

    I know that the topic of autodarkening helmets for TIG has been covered many times in this forum but some of those threads are now pretty old and technologies move on. Whilst lots of specific brands and models are suggested by members, I would really appreciate learning what are the characteristics of a TIG auto darkening helmet should I be looking for. All advice most welcomed and appreciated.

    I am a newly minted septuagenarian who has had very successful cataract surgery in both eyes a couple of years ago and who has had great fun and very productive outputs over many years with a $100 stick welder of a brand that was recommended by an authoritative person on this website. However, when it comes to welding thin materials with a stick welder, I must confess that I am in that half of the class that makes the top half possible.

    So, Youtube has well and truly sucked me in and convinced me that I just had to have a TIG welder. Accordingly, I have just taken delivery of an Unimig Razor 200 digital controlled, square wave, AC/DC, TIG Inverter welder. Any time soon, I hope to understand what all of that nomenclature means but I saw some young fella on a Youtube say that it was the "bees' knees" so that was enough of a recommendation for me! The unopened box is sitting in front of me and will be left in that state until it gets wrapped in Christmas paper and placed under our Christmas tree for opening on Christmas morning to the great surprise of younger family members who will undoubtedly wonder at the mystery of how Santa Claus thinks and works.

    So, in the meantime, I am watching copious Youtubes on TIG welding and reading what I can in readiness for the time when I start destroying small bits of metal and depleting the planet's argon resources in my quest to ultimately develop enough skill to be able to weld two razor blades together, or other similarly brilliant feats of magic.

    I have had a cheaper, non adjustable, auto darkening helmet for many years and it works fine on stick welding but, being ever conscious of eye health as I get older, I reckon that I ought to upgrade to an auto darkening helmet that will protect me as well as can be expected with TIG welding.

    What are the features or spec that I should be looking for please? Looking at what welding suppliers and tool shops sell is very confusing. eg I am never sure if the higher prices for some helmets are down to their better eye protection or the art work that they are adorned with, most of which would scare the living daylights out of my youngest grandchildren.

    I do wear reading glasses but am pleased that after having cataract surgery, I no longer need to wear distance glasses, after 49 years of so doing, to drive a car.

    All advice gratefully received, including knowledge of whether there is an Australian Standard that I should be looking for in regard to autodarkening helmets for TIG users.

  2. #2
    BobL is online now Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charleville View Post
    . . . . . for the time when I start destroying small bits of metal and depleting the planet's argon resources in my quest to ultimately develop enough skill to be able to weld . . . . .
    The Argon is not destroyed in the welding process. It is harvested from the air (air contains about 1% Ar) and the welding process returns it to the atmosphere. What is "lost" is the energy needed to extract (distilled) and compress it

    All advice gratefully received, including knowledge of whether there is an Australian Standard that I should be looking for in regard to autodarkening helmets for TIG users.
    If you buy a helmet from a reputable supplier they should supply only AS/NZS1337 & AS/NZS1337.1 standard welding helmets. If you buy online from an OS supplier then you are on your own.

    There are a couple of other AS applicable to welding helmets ie look here https://www.awsi.com.au/blog/austral...lmet-standards

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    It's a bit controversial - there are arguments about it every so often, but here is some guidance

    • A faster switching speed is usually regarded as better (so 1/20,000 is better than 1/5,000 of a second).
    • More sensor cells are better (mainly because it is harder to accidentally cover one up so the helmet does not trigger).
    • If you are going to do TIG work on very thin things, you need to make sure the helmet will trigger when welding with low amps.
    • There are some now that trigger using the EM field rather than having to 'see' the arc. These are better than those that don't, although ones that rely on light are still quite alright.


    Michael

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    Personally I use https://sydneytools.com.au/product/u...ue-colour-lens.

    Probably the most meaningful thing I've discovered with welding, TIG or otherwise, is to use an LED spotlight to illuminate the weld area. I use a 1400 lumen light so when I'm setting up, it's more or less like not wearing a helmet at all. When the arc is initiated the helmet darkens as per normal. I think it's the colour of the light from the LEDs that does not set off the sensor.

  5. #5
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feckit View Post

    Gee - I would have thought that I might need to pay a whole lot more than the $157 that that one costs to get a good performance and quality. That modest cost surprises me.


    Quote Originally Posted by Feckit View Post

    Probably the most meaningful thing I've discovered with welding, TIG or otherwise, is to use an LED spotlight to illuminate the weld area. I use a 1400 lumen light so when I'm setting up, it's more or less like not wearing a helmet at all. When the arc is initiated the helmet darkens as per normal. I think it's the colour of the light from the LEDs that does not set off the sensor.
    That is interesting. I weld in the open air under a tree and have not had any problems seeing the job before the darkening happens, Nonetheless, I shall bear your practice in mind.


    Thanks also to the other guys who have responded thus far. All of that is just the sort of information that I was hoping to learn with my question.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Charleville View Post
    That is interesting. I weld in the open air under a tree and have not had any problems seeing the job before the darkening happens, Nonetheless, I shall bear your practice in mind.
    All of the welding I do is indoors. I'm sure, in time, you'll discover the negative impacts of wind and TIG. Also, it's not necessarily not being able to see the job, it's the required accuracy you need to have to adequately TIG weld. For $34 from the bunn, it's well worth it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Charleville View Post
    I weld in the open air under a tree
    Well that can be a problem. Watch out when it gets windy it can blow the shielding gas away to quickly. (well ok technically I only know this with MIG but I think its a fair bet TIG will be the same)

  8. #8
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stustoys View Post
    Well that can be a problem. Watch out when it gets windy it can blow the shielding gas away to quickly. (well ok technically I only know this with MIG but I think its a fair bet TIG will be the same)
    I never thought of that. Thanks! I still would prefer to weld outside for safety reasons rather than inside my garage so I shall have to do something to avoid the wind.

  9. #9
    BobL is online now Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feckit View Post
    Personally I use https://sydneytools.com.au/product/u...ue-colour-lens.

    Probably the most meaningful thing I've discovered with welding, TIG or otherwise, is to use an LED spotlight to illuminate the weld area. I use a 1400 lumen light so when I'm setting up, it's more or less like not wearing a helmet at all. When the arc is initiated the helmet darkens as per normal. I think it's the colour of the light from the LEDs that does not set off the sensor.
    I wondered about this especially as standard LED lights effectively produce white light ie all colours. However, there could be a difference between cool (bluer) and warmer (yellow) LEDs - see below.

    In terms of brightness what matters more than lumens (total brightness) is the "illuminance or lux" which ie measured in lumens/m^2 of light striking a surface.
    Lux takes into account the distance the light is from the surface or in this case the sensor.
    A really bright light far away might not trigger the helmet sensors while a dimmer light closer to a sensor might

    The intensity of a nominal welding arc is about 25000 lux at about 1m compared that to the sunshine on the surface of the earth with the sun OH at midday on a clear day which about 100000 lux.

    For LEDs the lux generated at a surface also depends on the shape of the beam. Typical lux values for 90º spots are around half the LEDs lumens at 1m distance from a surface so for a 1400 Lume spot at about 1m the illuminance would be about 700 lux.

    I have 4 x 2700 lumen lamps 600mm above my electronics workbench. Two lamps have cool and 2 are warm output.

    If I directly face the lights with the helmet at just one 2700 lumen (warm) lamp will trigger the helmet on the lowest helmet sensitivity (not grinder mode) at about a distance of 1m whereas one cool lamp will trigger the helmet at about 1.5m so it appears the extra blue in the cool lamp will trigger the helmet from further away.

    If I don't face the lamps directly with the helmet ie face the helmet down towards teh work bench, helmet triggering by the reflected light from a work surface depends on the refectivity and texture of the object being illuminated and the distance from the lamps. Even with all 4 lamps (10,800 lumens) 600mm above the bench the light reflected from the bench will not trigger the helmet. Even white paper on the bench will not trigger the helmet. With the helmet facing down towards the bench a piece of A4 paper held at about 300mm from the lamps reflecting light towards teh helmet will trigger.

    So in summary - if the LEDs are bright enough they will trigger helmet sensors but the likelihood of triggering depends on a bunch of thing as mentioned above.

    Meanwhile I have ordered a 10,000 lumen LED panel for my welding booth that will be located about 1.5m above the welding bench - I hope it does not cause any unnecessary triggering.

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    My opinion, you dont need a massive viewing area for TIG because unless you have super eyes your going to be getting in close to see the puddle anyway(cheater lenses help lots).
    More sensors the better and preferably with the grinding switch on the outside.
    Try before you buy as light weight is good and the harness needs to be comfortable and pull sweat away from your eyes(absorbent head band), enquire if consumables/spare parts are readily available, ie inner and outer screen protectors and head bands... and whole harness as they do always break after a few years of use.
    Biggest thing is unless your going to spring for a PPAR system look for a helmet that will allow wearing of respirators(very few will be).
    ....................................................................

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    Default Tig helmet

    Hello to all.
    The biggest improvement to auto helmets recently has been the introduction of tru colour lens's. The LCD screen has been skinnied up and allows more light thru. Instead of cack green the screen is now light blue/grey. What you get when spending more dollars is better clarity. That is needed with old age. I would not use an expensive helmet for grinding unless necessary. Safety specs are better, cheaper and you retain the side vision.
    From $250 up you can get a great helmet.
    Regards
    BC

  12. #12
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
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    Default Thanks to all

    Many thanks to everyone who contributed a response to my question about auto darkening helmets. I now know a whole lot more about the topic than I did and now feel well equipped to make a choice from the dozens and dozens of helmets that are available.

    All responses have been very appreciated.

    I even learn some tangential stuff that I was not aware of. Many thanks to all.

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    Being of a similar age to Charleville and having recently got one "new" eye so far (I thought cataract was a section of fast flowing water, or a medium size dam south of Sydney until I had my eyes tested!). Anyway, I also have been (not always successfully) stick welding for a few years and am gingerly addressing the TIG world. simple "lift off" TIG torch to get started.
    What I discovered is that the normal screen of my S7 Samsung mobile phone will trigger my ageing auto-darkening helmet! I'm not sure why ....even when the phone screen is 'black', and I wave it in front of the helmet, the helmet vision goes 'dark'. (I did discover that the phone camera also detects the IR flashes from the TV/Aircon etc remote controls (try it!).
    Thank you to the wealth of info provided by other contributors above... very much appreciated!

  14. #14
    Charleville's Avatar
    Charleville is offline Nocturnal and primeval - I fish at night.
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    Default What I bought.

    Encouraged by steamloco1954's closing comment that, "From $250 up you can get a great helmet," which gave me a great starting benchmark, I googled such and discovered the Unimig RWX8000 helmet @ $255.
    https://unimig.com.au/product/rwx8000-welding-helmet/

    I cross-checked the spec of that hemet against the advice given by correspondents in this thread and decided that it would do me.

    So then I googled "cheapest Unimig RWX8000" and whaddya know? Sydney Tools was selling it for $199 with free delivery as a Boxing Day sale promotion. UBeaut!

    So now it is on its way to me via Aussie Post so I guess that I should get it sometime before April or May.

    The Youtube about the helmet that Sydney Tools produced was also convincing....
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxgKiq56OIo

    ....especially the part about how it fits well on a big noggin'.

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    Thank you for the tip re. Sydney Tools. I remembered that they had a Brisbane branch in Sandgate Rd, Virginia. So I ventured out today and collected one for $199. Excellent!
    Cheers

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