wrote in message
ups.com...
I really don't like auto-darken helmets.

If you are welding, stop to grind, etc,
and resume (oops, forgot to turn
the helmet back on), you weld for
a few minutes before you realize
that the arc is BRIGHT.

Any decent auto-dark helmet will protect your eyes from IR and UV damage in
the fully light state. In other words, your eyes will not be damaged if, for
some reason, the lens does not darken. The worst that will happen is that
you'll see bright "spots" for a few moments (like after a flash photograph)
and you'll have to wait for your eyes to readjust to the ambient light
level.


What I would like is a helmet that
would darken with a push-button ON/OFF.
That way I can make sure **I**
darken the lens before I start arcing.

The idea behind auto-dark lenses is that it allows you to see **and hold**
your set-up before starting (and after stopping) the arc without having to
move your head or your hands. Being forced to manually press a button to
darken the helmet would defeat the purpose.

- Michael