I can't see where I need to weld

[DAPPH]

Well we saw the partial eclipse , and also lent the mask to everyone who walked by the home on the way to and from the local junior school .

 

[Adam 1573]

No doubt this a dumb statement to all you experienced welders out there but can you help please?
I've got a MIG welder for chassis repairs to a Land Rover. As it's only a hobby, I bought an auto-darkening mask off ebay but although I can see the weld pool/arc ok, everything else is blacked out - it's impossible for me to stay in a straight line and my welds are a mess because of that.

What do I need to adjust on the mask if anything or is this typical of cheap (£30 ish) masks? The masks the seller had sold had good feedback.

30 pound for an auto dark! No point mate go solid lensed! You need spend a bit more for a decent auto dark! Speedglas are brilliant! If you buy cheap you buy twice!!

 

[Bill Edwards]

30 pound for an auto dark! No point mate go solid lensed! You need spend a bit more for a decent auto dark! Speedglas are brilliant! If you buy cheap you buy twice!!

Maybe I've been lucky, but the £25 one I bought is hard to fault. Clear view, adjustable delay and sensitivity, what's not to like?

 

[DAPPH]

Sometimes on my old 18 yr old now recycled mask I had to put led flood lights over the work when working inside as occasionally the mask made things in the back ground too dark to see what I was doing .

If I took it outside in the sunlight the ambient light levels were enough for me to still see the work piece .

 

[cliff366]

Have to say my £20 eBay one works ok only fault I've found is the top dosnt go back far enough so let's light in but as said in other post a peice of leather or alike stops that problem

 

[Pete.]

I was using a £30 ebay auto-darkening helmet and always struggled to see stuff on low amps even on the lowest shade (9 in this case), but then I tried out a £100+ one last weekend and the difference was amazing. I bought that right away and don't regret it one bit.

 

[ukracer]

I was using a £30 ebay auto-darkening helmet and always struggled to see stuff on low amps even on the lowest shade (9 in this case), but then I tried out a £100+ one last weekend and the difference was amazing. I bought that right away and don't regret it one bit.

Which model was it?

 

[Pete.]

Well I dunno on my old welder since the scale was wrong and had a lot of slack zone in it but if I was welding 1mm stainless for instance I'd see the arc but nothing else certainly not the rod tip. Somebody told me that there can be quite a variance in shade numbers between different helmets.

 

[Pete.]

I think the variability between the 'same' shade reduces as the price increases - chances are what said '9' on the cheapycheap one wasn't anywhere near an actual '9'...

I'm sure that is the case. My new lid has 2 ranges I think they are 5-9 and 9-13

 

[ukracer]

I'm sure that is the case. My new lid has 2 ranges I think they are 5-9 and 9-13

Which one did you end up buying Pete?

 

[Pete.]

Which one did you end up buying Pete?

It was this one, though I didn't buy it from this place:

http://www.shopbodyshopdirect.com/Shop/Product-Detail/Lcd-Spaceview-5-9-9-13

 

[ukracer]

It was this one, though I didn't buy it from this place:

http://www.shopbodyshopdirect.com/Shop/Product-Detail/Lcd-Spaceview-5-9-9-13

I should hope not at that price. Lol

 

[Pete.]

No, nowhere near.

 

[Pete.]

I just realised that I spent a few hours practicing with my new Lincoln welder trying different settings etc and I didn't have a single touch-down the whole time using this new helmet. I would have had two or three at least with the old one.