Auto darkening helmet question

[Buford T. Justice]

So as not to hijack the other welding helmet thread, I just have one simple question for the welding gurus on here. I'm no pro and would consider myself an absolute beginner, hence the dumb question: I inherited a free Hobart auto darkening helmet some time ago from a friend. It worked well at first but has since stopped "auto darkening," so is there a small battery, etc or where should I look. I have not looked any further into the small box inside but the other thread prompted me to ask...anyone?

 

[bgarrett]

Why dont you look?
Mine quit getting dark so I looked for batteries. None. Got on Amazon.com and got a new solar lense in the mail today. Less than $20

 

[Buford T. Justice]

did you look?

Not yet. It's at home in my shop and I'm not there. Hoping to get answers and go look tomorrow.

 

[justanengineer]

You might consider googling the model ##. IIRC, some of the Hobarts have a one-time use battery built inside - non-rechargeable.

 

[Buford T. Justice]

You might consider googling the model ##. IIRC, some of the Hobarts have a one-time use battery built inside - non-rechargeable.

****, I was hoping someone wouldn't say that. I wondered if that was a possibility.

 

[dadsEH]

mine is solar....i.e I leave it out in the sun for a few minutes to get it up to speed if its been in the box for a while.. The welding arc does the rest.
have a look and see if it has small square panels above or below the actual lens.
if not just pop in to your favorite box store and buy a new lens

 

[brianpgriset]

****, I was hoping someone wouldn't say that. I wondered if that was a possibility.

My old Hobart is like that. Like bgarrett I bought a cheap AD replacement lense and all is well again.

 

[AndyA]

Mine have lithium coin batteries. CR2450 iirc. There should be an obvious place to open the battery compartment if it has a replaceable one.

Even the "non-replacable" one is probably replacablable to a determined individual with a soldering iron.

 

[Buford T. Justice]

okay, thank you very much for the help guys. I just got home and couldn't wait to take a look so I took these pictures. There with a cell phone so hopefully you can see:

looking at the front, it does look like it has a small solar pane above the windowl:

and the inside:

I'll dig into that little box inside the helmet tomorrow but looks fairly difficult to get into.

 

[AndyA]

Take the lens out of the helmet. I don't know that the battery comparments are visable on mine with the lens in the helmet.

 

[AndyA]

All the info on hobart hood I could find shows that they have a 'low battery indicator'. The lack of a low battery indicator on yours and the "otos" marked on the inside makes me think yours is solar powered with no battery.

Look at some pictures of the "otos chameleon" and see if your lens is the same

 

[SaddleBronc]

Mine is similar, and lives in a box on my welding rig. Just a few minutes in full sun (as dadsEH suggested) brings it to quick switching and full darkening.

If I don't set it out, I get the symptoms you described.

 

[Buford T. Justice]

Mine is similar, and lives in a box on my welding rig. Just a few minutes in full sun (as dadsEH suggested) brings it to quick switching and full darkening.

If I don't set it out, I get the symptoms you described.

That did it!, thanks for all the input!