[Jeff2016]

Hi v5vbb,

Like Spartan, I'm in the 9-10 range there. I go light enough that I can see where I'm headed, without being bright enough to bother me. Seeing spots afterwards is probably a good metric of judging too much light getting through.

Modern quality helmets filter IR and UV in separate layers for safety. The LCD panel mainly just blocks visible light to suit your needs.

That's great advice. Good direction to start and compare to the 11 setting that I have been using. Especially good to hear that shade adjustment shouldn't affect the IR and UV filters.

Take Care,

Jeff

[Jeff2016]

Hi Spartan,

I'm usually at a 9 or 10 when welding at those amperages. But each process is different. Set the shade just high enough so you don't see spots where the arc was after welding.

Great advice about the setting. Thanks.

I actually was going to start out moving darker. I wasn't sure if it would be better to darken the arc by going darker, or to lighten the work piece and puddle by going lighter. Your suggestion makes sense.

Take Care,

Jeff

[BillE.Dee]

BillEDee, someday when you want to try a nice helmet, take a road trip and stop in. You can also take a test drive on a Dynasty at the same time. I only have a 1.50 cheater in mine, but if you've got a cheater lens bring it along.

Hi Buggy, do appreciate the invite and will take you up on it. I've been trying everything I can think of with the auto dark hood. I've come to the conclusion that what I used to do all night takes me all night to do...
I do have an old gold lens helmet and will dig it out for giggles. I am using a cheater, reading glasses and both. I'm thinkin it's the result of the crash of '03 (and after effects) that has me in trouble.
pm me with your phone number and we can get together.
gramps.

[BillE.Dee]

Buggy, that auction at central auto sales is saturday. IF GOD lets me, I'll be there.

[JustTheDad]

What is the deal with the split screen on the Lincoln helmet? Before striking an arc it looks normal, but once he started welding there is a distinct line down the middle of the screen. Only notice it on the Lincoln.

The line you see and some of the blur on the 3350 in that video is due to how the camera focuses and meters an image. The other 3 welds are done on flat sides of the metal, so the flare is symmetrical and fades out in both directions. That affects the light in the different metered areas. On the 3350 video, there is a sharp metal line that blocks part of the left side of the arc and which caused issues with the focus and exposure. .Unless you play with cameras a lot and know where the metering patterns are, that can easily happen. It clearly isn't intentional, but it also doesn't give the 3350 a fair video. Jody could have given a better comparison judging from his videos.

That said, I'm sure the Optrel Crystal is better than the Lincoln 3350. I didn't know enough when I bought my welder, and more importantly, I didn't understand that the "50% off any helmet with the purchase of a welder" was off the discounted price at IOC. I assumed it was off list. I could have bought the Crystal 2.0 for $215 instead of the Lincoln 3350 for $125. Oh well. Hindsight is the only place I have 20:20 vision, and I really like the 3350 filter more than the Optrel weldcap filter. Not due to field of view. It's just a much clearer image at low power.

We do have these over the welding area that likely helps https://www.homedepot.com/p/Honeywell-4 ... /313028387

[Oscar]

BillEDee, someday when you want to try a nice helmet, take a road trip and stop in. You can also take a test drive on a Dynasty at the same time. I only have a 1.50 cheater in mine, but if you've got a cheater lens bring it along.

Hi Buggy, do appreciate the invite and will take you up on it. I've been trying everything I can think of with the auto dark hood. I've come to the conclusion that what I used to do all night takes me all night to do...
I do have an old gold lens helmet and will dig it out for giggles. I am using a cheater, reading glasses and both. I'm thinkin it's the result of the crash of '03 (and after effects) that has me in trouble.
pm me with your phone number and we can get together.
gramps.

BillE.Dee, you know you can hit the "Quote" button and it inserts the post formatted as quote for you, right? Copy-n-Paste makes it difficult who is saying what in your posts. Just trying to help, don't get all sentimental on me now!

[v5cvbb]

BillEDee, someday when you want to try a nice helmet, take a road trip and stop in. You can also take a test drive on a Dynasty at the same time. I only have a 1.50 cheater in mine, but if you've got a cheater lens bring it along.

Hi Buggy, do appreciate the invite and will take you up on it. I've been trying everything I can think of with the auto dark hood. I've come to the conclusion that what I used to do all night takes me all night to do...
I do have an old gold lens helmet and will dig it out for giggles. I am using a cheater, reading glasses and both. I'm thinkin it's the result of the crash of '03 (and after effects) that has me in trouble.
pm me with your phone number and we can get together.
gramps.

BillE.Dee, you know you can hit the "Quote" button and it inserts the post formatted as quote for you, right? Copy-n-Paste makes it difficult who is saying what in your posts. Just trying to help, don't get all sentimental on me now!

Ok Oscar, since you're in the teaching mode, how you quote more than one person? Or choose just part of a post to quote?

Thanks.

[JustTheDad]

I open the thread in 2 tabs. Copy paste into the one I post

[TraditionalToolworks]

Ok Oscar, since you're in the teaching mode, how you quote more than one person? Or choose just part of a post to quote?

When you reply, in the list of previous posts it will let you quote the message in your reply, where the cursor is located. There is a button at the top of each message.

[LtBadd]

Or choose just part of a post to quote?

Thanks.

Quote as usual and then before publishing, just delete the part you don't want as I just did

[Aaron W]

What is the deal with the split screen on the Lincoln helmet? Before striking an arc it looks normal, but once he started welding there is a distinct line down the middle of the screen. Only notice it on the Lincoln.

The line you see and some of the blur on the 3350 in that video is due to how the camera focuses and meters an image. The other 3 welds are done on flat sides of the metal, so the flare is symmetrical and fades out in both directions. That affects the light in the different metered areas. On the 3350 video, there is a sharp metal line that blocks part of the left side of the arc and which caused issues with the focus and exposure. .Unless you play with cameras a lot and know where the metering patterns are, that can easily happen. It clearly isn't intentional, but it also doesn't give the 3350 a fair video. Jody could have given a better comparison judging from his videos.

That said, I'm sure the Optrel Crystal is better than the Lincoln 3350. I didn't know enough when I bought my welder, and more importantly, I didn't understand that the "50% off any helmet with the purchase of a welder" was off the discounted price at IOC. I assumed it was off list. I could have bought the Crystal 2.0 for $215 instead of the Lincoln 3350 for $125. Oh well. Hindsight is the only place I have 20:20 vision, and I really like the 3350 filter more than the Optrel weldcap filter. Not due to field of view. It's just a much clearer image at low power.

We do have these over the welding area that likely helps https://www.homedepot.com/p/Honeywell-4 ... /313028387

Thank you, that makes sense. It gives the impression that it is split screen like it is showing two different shades or something.

I'm still torn on the helmets, $430 is a lot of money, that could go towards a nice belt grinder for lathe tooling, a 3D printer or a bunch of other toys. On the other hand it would be nice to see better...

I'm working on lighting, and remembering to adjust the shade helps a lot too . I'm really leaning towards just sucking it up and dealing with my current helmet until I have enough projects planned to help justify the cost of the Optrel.

I did get a cordless worklight at Costco that is pretty nice. It is a three head unit, the core light sits on a short base, but the two side lights can be removed and have magnets in the base. They ccharge on the base, but can be removed and used independently.
Bright, easy to aim and it was only $40. I was able to finish the project I was working on the other night with them as my only lighting. No obvious brand, just says ep360, I can't find it online anywhere to post a link, but I think I'm going to grab a second one while they have them.



That is a bummer on the helmet for you, if it was just $90 difference I wouldn't even question which one to go with.

[JustTheDad]

That is a bummer on the helmet for you, if it was just $90 difference I wouldn't even question which one to go with.

Yep. OTOH, I'm more comfortable with my kid taking his boring black Lincoln hood to a welding class than I'd be with him having the Crystal 2. Life works out, and the Lincoln won't be why either of our welds suck!

[Spartan]

That is a bummer on the helmet for you, if it was just $90 difference I wouldn't even question which one to go with.

Yep. OTOH, I'm more comfortable with my kid taking his boring black Lincoln hood to a welding class than I'd be with him having the Crystal 2. Life works out, and the Lincoln won't be why either of our welds suck!

You know things are getting crazy when people see the viking as a second-fiddle hood.

The 3350 is a SOLID hood. I just started buying more of them today to be issued to the folks helping me out in the shop. Personally, I love it. And they seem to as well after trying mine. Sure, the Optrel is probably just a bit better, but the price tag is a bit much, currently.

[LtBadd]

That is a bummer on the helmet for you, if it was just $90 difference I wouldn't even question which one to go with.

Yep. OTOH, I'm more comfortable with my kid taking his boring black Lincoln hood to a welding class than I'd be with him having the Crystal 2. Life works out, and the Lincoln won't be why either of our welds suck!

You know things are getting crazy when people see the viking as a second-fiddle hood.

The 3350 is a SOLID hood. I just started buying more of them today to be issued to the folks helping me out in the shop. Personally, I love it. And they seem to as well after trying mine. Sure, the Optrel is probably just a bit better, but the price tag is a bit much, currently.

I agree, unless the light state of the Optrel is super important to you then the lincoln or other high end but less $$ hood will serve you well.

[JustTheDad]

You know things are getting crazy when people see the viking as a second-fiddle hood.

The 3350 is a SOLID hood. I just started buying more of them today to be issued to the folks helping me out in the shop. Personally, I love it. And they seem to as well after trying mine. Sure, the Optrel is probably just a bit better, but the price tag is a bit much, currently.

Oh, I know it's a solid hood. I think it's a fantastic hood! What I meant was that in a plain black version, it's not terribly exciting and not nearly as "drool worthy" as the Crystal 2. It's just a very good hood. My thinking is there's less risk someone will look at a beginner welder who shows up with it and assume they're some spoiled rich kid. Maybe nobody would even with the Optrel, but I think I might... .

[Poland308]

You can paint flames on the side of a car but that don’t make it fast.

[BillE.Dee]

BillE.Dee, you know you can hit the "Quote" button and it inserts the post formatted as quote for you, right? Copy-n-Paste makes it difficult who is saying what in your posts. Just trying to help, don't get all sentimental on me now! [/quote]

I'm electronics dumb
but
I still luv ya, oscar.