I've been mostly tigging al; no problem w/ #10 shade HF A/D Helmet. Just
started light gauge (22) steel sheet at 30A. The arc light is so dim at
low amp I can't see the work and puddle properly. What do you guys use
here? Do you use an aux halogen light source to illuminate the work?
Need to check out the range of shade levels on some other helmets. Maybe
one that goes down to #8?
JR
Dweller in the cellar
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

JR North wrote:

I've been mostly tigging al; no problem w/ #10 shade HF A/D Helmet. Just
started light gauge (22) steel sheet at 30A. The arc light is so dim at
low amp I can't see the work and puddle properly. What do you guys use
here? Do you use an aux halogen light source to illuminate the work?
Need to check out the range of shade levels on some other helmets. Maybe
one that goes down to #8?
JR
Dweller in the cellar

I recently had some light-gauge steel to TIG, and once I got a helmet
that would respond to the dim arc, had good results with simply
increasing the illumination on the work. That worked better than
changing to a lighter shade.

--
Ted Bennett

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:29:31 -0800, JR North
wrote:

I've been mostly tigging al; no problem w/ #10 shade HF A/D Helmet. Just
started light gauge (22) steel sheet at 30A. The arc light is so dim at
low amp I can't see the work and puddle properly. What do you guys use
here? Do you use an aux halogen light source to illuminate the work?
Need to check out the range of shade levels on some other helmets. Maybe
one that goes down to #8?
JR
Dweller in the cellar

I mounted a 300 watt outdoor halogen light 4 feet above my welding
table, directly over the side I do tig from. Works for me

Gunner


"The importance of morality is that people behave themselves even if
nobody's watching. There are not enough cops and laws to replace
personal morality as a means to produce a civilized society. Indeed,
the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of
defense for a civilized society. Unfortunately, too many of us see
police, laws and the criminal justice system as society's first line
of defense." --Walter Williams

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:29:31 -0800, JR North
wrote:

I've been mostly tigging al; no problem w/ #10 shade HF A/D Helmet. Just
started light gauge (22) steel sheet at 30A. The arc light is so dim at
low amp I can't see the work and puddle properly. What do you guys use
here? Do you use an aux halogen light source to illuminate the work?
Need to check out the range of shade levels on some other helmets. Maybe
one that goes down to #8?
JR
Dweller in the cellar
Greetings JR,
Even though a lighter shade lens will still block all the UV as well
as a darker shade lens will I have found that using bright lights
instead makes the work easier to see. Especially the areas adjacent to
the weld because the tiny arc isn't bright enough to illuminate these
well.
Cheers,
Eric

Thanks for the suggestions.
Problem solved. Got a new helmet:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46092

And a quickie light source:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=40809
On sale for $3.99. It has a tripod mount base, so I mounted it on an old
tripod and soldered two clips to the cord end. Runs off a battery charger.
The helmet works extremely well. The OFF shade is much clearer than my
old HF #10 helmet. The infinitely adjustable 9-13 shade works perfectly,
and it comes with an extra lens shield.
Now I can see WTF is going on...
JR
Dweller in the cellar


JR North wrote:

I've been mostly tigging al; no problem w/ #10 shade HF A/D Helmet. Just
started light gauge (22) steel sheet at 30A. The arc light is so dim at
low amp I can't see the work and puddle properly. What do you guys use
here? Do you use an aux halogen light source to illuminate the work?
Need to check out the range of shade levels on some other helmets. Maybe
one that goes down to #8?
JR
Dweller in the cellar


--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

Sounds like at least part of your problem was a dirty lens. "The OFF
shade is much clearer than my old HF #10 helmet." I keep several extra
lens's and cover plates, put in fresh ones when I plan to do some low
amperage work.

I can't use the HF autodark helmets. Stupid bifocals aren't at the right
angle. And after the hassle of getting used to them, I'm NOT going to do
try all the glasses tricks I've seen. Sheesh, even my eye doctor
mentioned the bifocals with an extra lens at the top of the glass.

JR North wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions.
Problem solved. Got a new helmet:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46092

And a quickie light source:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=40809
On sale for $3.99. It has a tripod mount base, so I mounted it on an old
tripod and soldered two clips to the cord end. Runs off a battery charger.
The helmet works extremely well. The OFF shade is much clearer than my
old HF #10 helmet. The infinitely adjustable 9-13 shade works perfectly,
and it comes with an extra lens shield.
Now I can see WTF is going on...
JR
Dweller in the cellar


JR North wrote:

I've been mostly tigging al; no problem w/ #10 shade HF A/D Helmet.
Just started light gauge (22) steel sheet at 30A. The arc light is so
dim at low amp I can't see the work and puddle properly. What do you
guys use here? Do you use an aux halogen light source to illuminate
the work? Need to check out the range of shade levels on some other
helmets. Maybe one that goes down to #8?
JR
Dweller in the cellar