Welding Helmet Eclipse Fail!

[lbperry]

A while back I bought a welding helmet in anticipation of buying a welder. Haven't bought the welder yet.
The word was for the eclipse last week that a welding lens of at least a 13 shade would work. My auto-darkening helmet is advertised to work in a range of 9 to 13.
When I tried to look at the sun prior to and during the eclipse it would just "flash darken" for a split second after looking at the sun for a second or so and then go back to clear. After a couple of tries I figured it wasn't worth possible damage to my eyes so I gave up.
My question is; did any of you guys try an auto-darkening helmet during the eclipse and did it work?; and secondly, do any of you welding gurus have any ideas why mine reacted like this.
I plan on taking mine out to a friends and watch him weld to see how it reacts under actual working conditions.
Thanks for any explanations or ideas,

 

[kwschumm]

I have a friend who used his auto-darkening helmet to view the eclipse. It worked for awhile then went clear which flashed through his head like a lightening bolt. He still is suffering some vision problems but they are abating and expects no permanent damage.

 

[toolman9w]

The sensors was effected by the shade of the moon. While there was no flash of light just a slowly dimming light.

 

[bdk1976]

You needed to set up something to trigger the auto-darkening feature as the eclipse wouldn't do it. There were tutorials on the web on how to do this - I saw one where a guy put an IR remote control on the side and used a reflector to shoot it into the sensor.

 

[skookum1]

I have a Hobart XVS hood (was ~$60) that worked great. It has a sensitivity adjustment so I turned that all the way up and set the shade to 12. When I was searching for what shade was recommended, I found some people were modding their hoods with a remote control and foil to trick the sensors with infrared so that it would stay dark. Does your hood have a sensitivity adjustment?

I am just north of "the path of totality" and the hood stayed dark with the sun more than 99% covered

 

[Musicinabottle]

I used my Swedish made Speedglass. I ramped the sensitivity all the way up, and each time you viewed the sun, you had to hit the "shade" button to initiate it, because each time you looked away from the sun, it'd cycle off again. Otherwise, it worked perfect. I did remove the inner and outer lenses to make the view a bit more crisp. Also used the hood to shoot some photos. Should have used the zoom. Rookie!

 

[Wamsutta]

I used my Huntsman 951P to look at the eclipse; worked good.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Snap-On worked perfectly. Didn't mess with the sensitivity.

 

[bcradio]

My Miller Digital Elite worked well.

 

[Ign]

Yep adjusted my Digi Elite to max sensitivity at which point it's so sensitive it almost never lightens, even just walking around the shop.

But I did look at the eclipse for about 4 seconds before pulling my head out of my *** and realizing it wasn't darkening on sensitivity 3 (of 10). So far I'm fine....

I often weld in close proximity to my wife also welding so I have to keep my sensitivity really low or it triggers a lot from her nearby arc

 

[Bruce Amacker]

My Miller helmet working fine, my 2 HF helmets acted like you stated.

 

[WhiskeyRanger]

Miller Digital Elite worked great. I turned the sensitivity all the way up, and set the shade to 13, but tried it with 11 and 12 too. I was viewing it in Detroit, so we never only hit about 80%, but it stayed dark even inside the plant and my garage. Even at about a 6 sensitivity it will trigger from bright sunlight anyway.

 

[L.Cheapo]

My Miller Digital Infinity and Digital Elite worked flawlessly. Curious what make/model the OP was using?

 

[2level]

My Miller Digital Infinity and Digital Elite worked flawlessly. Curious what make/model the OP was using?

Probably an El Cheapo model....

 

[L.Cheapo]

Probably an El Cheapo model....

I see what you did there.

 

[PMD1966]

My Hobart "Hood" worked great. Darkest setting and number 5 welding glasses.

 

[bobcatdan]

My Jackson Saftey wouldn't adjust so I went and checked out a #12 replacement lenses from the stock room and looked threw that.

 

[WILD-BILL]

My HF metal head design helmet worked just fine. The HF blue flamed model didn't. It would flash.

Both had the sensitivity set to high and on shade 13

 

[joe_padavano]

My Miller Classic series worked just fine. I turned it up to max and had no issues.

 

[kball]

HF helmet worked perfectly, this year and back in 2012 when we had the solar eclipse and when Venus passed by the sun. Even got pics through it.

 

[ssdave]

Mine wouldn't darken, but I see that as a succeed, not a fail. My Lincoln Viking is advertised with the feature that it will not trigger on sunlight, so that it can be used outside. Great when you need to weld out in the sun.

 

[tmcquinn]

I got my cheap helmet to work using the IR remote hack. Looked like hell but it worked. But I ended up not using it. As the clock ran out people started realizing that their eclipse glasses were about to become worthless (for 7 years) and started giving them away. The glasses were much easier to use.

 

[danski0224]

A while back I bought a welding helmet in anticipation of buying a welder. Haven't bought the welder yet.
The word was for the eclipse last week that a welding lens of at least a 13 shade would work. My auto-darkening helmet is advertised to work in a range of 9 to 13.
When I tried to look at the sun prior to and during the eclipse it would just "flash darken" for a split second after looking at the sun for a second or so and then go back to clear. After a couple of tries I figured it wasn't worth possible damage to my eyes so I gave up.
My question is; did any of you guys try an auto-darkening helmet during the eclipse and did it work?; and secondly, do any of you welding gurus have any ideas why mine reacted like this.
I plan on taking mine out to a friends and watch him weld to see how it reacts under actual working conditions.
Thanks for any explanations or ideas,

Different conditions required to make the lens darken.

Some hoods apparently need to see IR to trigger.

Some have a setting so it is always on at the desired shade.

Others add a sensor for magnetic fields so the lens is only on during welding, or switching between a "cutting/grinding" shade and welding shade function.

Sometimes, if a sensor is shaded, the lens will go "off" and I'm still welding. A hood with the electromagnetic sensor virtually eliminates this, and other hoods have 4 light sensors vs 2.

Given the possibility for failure while using an auto darkening hood while welding, I would never use one to view an eclipse. Fixed, non electronic shade only.

 

[tmcquinn]

<snip>

Given the possibility for failure while using an auto darkening hood while welding, I would never use one to view an eclipse. Fixed, non electronic shade only.

This is something I started wondering about regarding welding, not just the eclipse. I'm the world's worst welder and need every crutch I can get. The auto darkening has helped me but I wondered about the possibility of failure. I read, and my helmets manual states, that the infrared and ultraviolet protection are permanent, not switched. It's only the brightness that could fail due to the electronics. I was under the impression that the IR & UV are the real dangers to the eye. But this is a subject that interests me and I'd like to hear opinions from anyone with a better understanding than my own.

 

[metaleltr]

Miller digital pro hobby worked perfectly. I keep my sensitivity set high all the time.

 

[ovilla]

Mine wouldn't darken, but I see that as a succeed, not a fail. My Lincoln Viking is advertised with the feature that it will not trigger on sunlight, so that it can be used outside. Great when you need to weld out in the sun.

My Lincoln Viking 3350 worked just fine. I adjusted the sensitivity all the way up and set the shade on 13. I just had to look away and then look directly at the sun really quick in order to get it to activate.

 

[Lassen Forge]

My Miller as well - Sensitivity all the way up, speed to "Fast", and shade as dark as it would go. My son used it up in oregon - not only did it work flawless, but he told me he looked badass wearing it... :

 

[Zeus36]

I have a friend who used his auto-darkening helmet to view the eclipse. It worked for awhile then went clear which flashed through his head like a lightening bolt. He still is suffering some vision problems but they are abating and expects no permanent damage.

Exactly the reason I picked up a #14 lens - because I didn't trust an auto darkening helmet.

Total cost was $2.86

 

[Jack Olsen]

The OP's problem might be to a non-charged battery in the helmet. As I understand it, the solar-powered ones charge an integrated battery. But fresh out of the box, I've seen helmets that don't auto-darken for a while. It could be that the helmet I saw was defective, of course. The one I was using to weld with on the day of the eclipse auto-darkened for the eclipse without any issue at all. (But I'm in Los Angeles, where the eclipse was partial.)

 

[pi_guy]

My Miller Digital Elite worked well.

So did mine.....

 

[Blazin8556]

my hf worked. it flashed some for a co worker that wasnt looking all the way up..

 

[defektes]

I set my millers sensitivity low and it worked well.

 

[pendragon1998]

An actual pair of eclipse glasses are what...$5? I'm all for DIY, but when it's between fooling around trying to get something to do what it isn't intended to do, vs buying a cheap made-to-purpose tool, it isn't a hard decision for me.

I ended up using my 4.5" telescope with a solar filter attachment.

 

[Wyoming09]

I have some old replacement glass for welding helmets that worked great. The shade 10 worked fine but could not see anything through the shade 12.

 

[texasranger]

I didn't test ahead of time, quickly realized it wasn't triggering for more than a couple seconds when first looking up. So I downloaded a strobe light app on my phone and held it in front of the sensor while looking up. 25 hz seemed to work well, the default of 8hz didn't consistently trigger the auto dark.

 

[CoogarXR]

My plain-old black auto-darkening HF helmet worked just fine. Stayed dark the while looking at the sun, went back to green when looking down.

 

[gtabasso]

No for this reason. I got a No. 14 glass with gold plating for my shield. Worked great. Could even see the clouds.

 

[bdelmar2]

If you just wave your hand back and forth in front of the hf helmet at a medium speed it works fine to view the eclipse.

I guess it needs the flash to trigger.

We are next to a big tire shop and they don't have a welder so probably 15 people used mine to look at it.

Now you are prepared for the next one.

 

[Whiskeybadger]

My Miller Pro Hobby worked great and arc glasses under that. Sometimes with sensitivity all they way down it'll trigger off of looking at a work light

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