whats the trick with these new fangled welding helmets??

i bought myself one with the little solar panel in it. if i turn it on it will go dark if i look anywhere near the well-lit work area. it has an adjustment knob but doesn't come with directions. hints?

They sence light so if you look at a light source they will go dark. Mine will do it if I am working low under a car and look upward toward the ceiling lights. Try turning some of your lights out. You must have better lighting than I do.:eyepop:

Some times with a bright background I hold my hand over the sensor until I am ready to weld. You also have to watch to make sure the sensor is not blocked when you are welding in tight spaces. It can trigger the lens shade off while you are welding. SURPRISE! "Ouch!"

I have the 50 dollar model from HF and it works great all the time, even when welding outside in bright sunshine. For the most part, it only goes dark when I weld. There is some adjustment, but I have never messed with it.

The more money you spend on a helmet, the greater the number of adjustments you get (and more accurate), like light sensitivity and shade of tint when it darkens. Keep the light at your back when you're welding, not shining in your face.

Mine has an adjustment knob on the side that allows you to adjust how dark it is when it darkens. Then a switch inside for fast or slow for when it lightens back up. It came with a sheet telling how dark it needed to be for what type of welding.
Seems like it said to leave it in the sunlight to charge for a few hours before using for the first time.

You could really damage your eyes if it isnt working right. I would look up the manufacturer for directions for your specific helmet.

x2, they're on sale for $39.00. Mine has worked great for 3 years.

whack helmet on head.

go out into bright sunshine

look at sun

flash hand up and down in front of lens.

Look in the helmet for a switch or knob labeled "sensitivity". The Northern Tool $50 helmets have a high/low switch. My Hobart helmet has a variable dial adjustment. My Speedglas high $ helmet has a digital control for sensitivity. If you set the sensitivity to its lowest setting the lens should not darken in reasonably bright ambient light. It should darken just fine with any welding process except perhaps for very low amperage TIG.

You said "if i turn it on". Does it actually have an on/off switch? What make/model is it? Most of the lower $ solar helmets come on automatically. I am curious.

Ken

Scotty...saw you quoted me. What are you saying fails in the dimmed position? I was just saying he really needs to know how to use the helmet to be safe. Not that it would fail at any setting.

They may fail in the dim setting but when they become slow to work, they are slow to go to the dim setting. I gave my HF helmet away. It seemed to work good when I got it but as I used it and as I got use to better helmets I found myself looking away while it dims. Other helmets I don't need to do that. It's good if you don't weld enough to really know the difference, but the more you use it, the more a better helmet will prevail.