Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi guys,

I have a problem with my auto darkening helmet, it works too well.. .
I am a fairly new self taught welder, working on some smaller projects with my Stahlwerk AC/DC 200A TIG.

The problem I have is with my welding helmet, it that it is ignoring the changes I make on the grade of darkness I set. The settings for sensitivity and delay works just fine. But then I have a switch that sets what range the helmet will be working at, between 5-9 and 9-13 in shade. Then I have a knob that I rotate to set the preferred darkness. It also has a grinding mode which is indifferent to all the ofter settings.

But as I wrote, it is always to dark when the arc is lit, I can barely see the arc. .
The batteries are new (interchangeable).

I' don't think that I had this problem in the beginning, at that point I just had to focus on not dipping the tungsten and all the other mistakes a rookie makes. But I am not sure.

Ive seen a few other threads across the internet where ppl have similar problems as me, but there have been no answers. Can you guys figure something out?

I've dismantled it this morning down to the circuit board itself, but not finding anything apparently wrong..
Thanks/Jorgen, Sweden.

Sounds like it's not functioning correctly. Maybe you can get a replacement?

Daniel:
Apparently not, I've been in contact with Stahlwerk, and although they gave me a 5year warranty on the welder, they didn't even give me a 12 month warranty on the helmet..

I was experimenting with the TIG yesterday, and I'm still not able to adjust the darkness to my liking, it is very much better if I don't set the frequency to high (adjustable range 50-200Hz)

Has anyone else any experience with faulting autodarkening helmets when using high frequency?

Check the "delay" if you have this control. Try to set it to the shortest delay.

Cricket:
Yes, I have that knob in the helmet. Max to Min
I'll try and set it to minimum and see what it says, although I'm pretty sure that thats the setting I already have it at!

some helmets get really dark if the battery is weak/dead. try replacing the battery.

Louie:
Hello and thanks for your post!
I've changed the batteries to new ones last time I was in the shop and was troubleshooting the helmet, with no luck :-/

Sounds like you've tried everything. Wonder how much a replacement for just the electronics will be? Sounds like that's what you'll have to do, replace the electronics. It should just pop right out of the helmet.

However, if the helmet was DOA (not working when it arrived) I'd press them to send you a replacement, explain to them that it doesn't work properly right out of the box. I think most respectable companies would send you a replacement if the item is DOA. If it was working fine earlier, and now it's not working, if they don't offer a warranty, then you'll probably just have to pony up to buy a replacement.

Replacement electronics are probably near the price of a whole new helmet, since that's really the heart of it so to speak.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

Any chance of a photo inside the helmet, where the darkening adjustment cable goes into the main block? If yours is the same as mine, could be a simple solder joint that is loose... that's what happened to mine and it was repaired.

Only investigate further if warranty is out!