Helmet filter colour

[rohart]

I'm new to the forum, and TIG welding, both ally and steel. I've been using a cheap SWP auto-dark solar-powered helmet for a couple of years. The other week it started flashing me, probably suffered because I kept the blinds down in my workshop during a couple of weeks of hot weather, and then disappeared for a week on holiday.

Anyway, I went back to my supplier who thought it might recover, but who lent me a Translight auto-dark solar-powered equally cheap, and three years old, helmet for a few days.

Now I can weld ! It's a revelation. I'm now seeing the puddle properly, in a sort of amber colour, I'm seeing the workpiece in the background, I can study the electrode like it's a photo of the surface of the sun - it's great. And if I remember, with the old helmet I was seeing a penetrating white puddle that was so intense that it prevented me from seeing anything else.

So I'd like to know what's going on. Why was my SWP so useless ? Why has no one told me I should try several different helmets, because the picture they provide is so different ? Or was my SWP just a one-off failure ? Needless to say my supplier isn't getting the Translight back !

I do admit to having colour issues - I'm somewhat red-green colour-blind, a fairly common condition. So common that I would have thought that any producer of optical equipment would at least be able to tell me their product isn't suitable for me if that was the case.

What colour do welders see their puddle ? And does anyone recognise my problem ?

 

[shenion]

SOme masks have a slightly green tint on the protective lenses, some don't I'm not sure how much a difference it makes.

How clean are the filters on yours? They get dull fairly quick as the UV from the weld breaks down the surface..

Your helmet probably has the battery going dead.

The quality of the optics matters. My two cheap helmets vary. One is fairly good ($0.99 ebay special.) The other seems to have less contrast and a bit of waviness in the view.

An expensive helmet will have better optics.

 

[chunkolini]

Going from a cheapo one to a decent was impressive, like going from cheap sunglasses to oakleys.
Also remember to polish your screen occasionally it can make a hell of a difference to the quality of vision.

 

[hotrodder]

Somewhere on the lens body there'll be a bunch of seemingly random numbers that describe optical class and other properties 1/1/2/3 /379 for example. Class 1 is best. Explained in more detail here... http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?66666UuZjcFSLXTtNXMtNxf2EVuQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--

There are several different lens tints used with green being the most common. Obviously it's more complicated than saying only green light is passed by the lens but that's the nub of it. Green lenses are great for blocking red light (inc IR), i've no idea if that's why welding lenses are traditionally green but presumably modern coatings/materials and auto lenses make tint less of a deal in that regard. I've never thought about it before but i guess they aren't so great if you're red/green colour blind. Amber/yellow lenses are great for improving contrast and definition especially in low light (snowboarding on an overcast day etc). Amber view of the weldpool here through a gold coated lens... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPYKjsa6AXs for anyone that's never experienced anything other than greenish. In the old days blue lenses used to be the ticket for oxyfuel with flux as they helped block the yellow sodium glare when say welding ally. Some people still swear by blue lenses but i don't really get that as light at the blue end of the spectrum scatters more easily... not great for details etc and also one of the reasons idiots with blue tinted headlights dazzle people coming the other way

 

[rohart]

Thanks for they replies, guys. Like Oakleys, eh ? Well I did get a set of copy gold reflective Raybans on my hols for a fiver, but they're too dark to wear back home.

Good point HR. I wear yellow/amber shades when I'm on the bike - no, for the better view in the dusk, not for cool ! So maybe I'm getting the same effect. I'll go into those numbers. When I first posted I'd been on ally, but I've used the new helmet on mild steel since, and I find it just as good.

I'm with you on the blue headlights, but that's also because often ageing eyes lose a little longsight focus, and blue at infinity is more infinity than red at infinity, if you get me. So if you're losing a little distance focus you lose blue first. But that shouldn't have much effect on welding distances.

Except, that with tired eyes that are losing their accommodation, and my eyes don't have much of a focussing range anymore, limiting the picture to one part of the spectrum should make the picture clearer - the eyes don't have to focus long and short wavelengths at the same time.

But don't ask me why amber shades make the dusk look like midday !