Anything welding

The little bit that I've done with the Hobart Fabshield fluxcore .030 wire has been good.

Not nearly as nice as using gas of course, but good to have on hand for the occasions its needed.

 

Battery in the Lincoln helmet died mid weld a couple days ago. I got flashed pretty bad. Was able to find a battery at best buy but I grabbed the last one. So I ordered off Amazon and stocked up. Set a reminder to change it out every year. You live and you learn I guess lol.

 

Same had happened to me.

For some reason, the more welding I do, the longer the batteries last.

 

Looks good. Did you have the dimple die kit? Those seem to be expensive.
Zim

 

Thats probably my problem lol. I dont weld super often.

 

Thanks man. Yeah I got a set a while back

1/2”
1”
1.5”
2
2.5”

they aren’t cheap but they paid for themselves very quickly

 

Isn't that the point of the little solar thingies on the hood? I always assumed that was for returning energy back to the battery and not just sensor shit.

 

I never thought about that.
Is there no warning that your battery is dead or dying?
You just get flashed and tough shit?
That seems like a serious design flaw.

 

Some do have a solar cell.

I honestly can't remember if mine charges or not. Will check tomorrow.

 

fixed shade gang, sometimes it pays to be a peasant lmao

 

I looked this up, because I didn't know either. Seems there are fully solar, fully battery, and the auto darkening solar/battery combo, which is what most of us likely have at home.

Here is from the article I read:

Primarily, a solar-powered, automatic-darkening welding helmet uses both battery and solar power. The battery is designed to power the hood or mask initially for when you start the welding arc.

Once your arc is activated, UV light, which is generated by the arc, charges the solar panel for the welding hood, which then powers all the electronics. Therefore, you don’t have to weld in the hot sun to get a charge.

 

My problem is I have never been able to do the "head nod" to get my lid to fall down to the correct position. It's rather too, high, too low or completely comes off my bean...wife says I have a funny shaped melon. I dunno, I always have to use one hand to pull down my helmet.

 

could always 3d print one out of carbon fiber nylon... works pretty good on 16g mild steel





the 3/4" bolt is to keep the two halves aligned, and I figured since I had the big square washer it would not hurt to put in on as well

 

There is a test button on the inside that will turn on the shade or light up a low battery light. I never used it but I damn sure will be now.

 

Haha I never really thought of that... It makes perfect sense though..

I feel like people "Getting flashed" with an auto-darkening helmet are taking it too seriously.. Yes it's bright, but the lens blocks the harmful light. The darkening is just so you can see what you're doing.

 

My Elite claims it darkens in 50000 of a second. That is still not faster than the speed of light.

If I weld for 8 hrs (realistically 3.5 hrs), I will have the flash burn irritation on my cornias. I'll have a 6 hr eye/headache.

Fixed shade helmets are the best, but not the most convenient.

I'm not going back to fixed shade, but be aware that autoshade lenses are not the best.

 

I started out with a cheaper autodarkening helmet and I couldn't see anything. I bought cheap, like $15, hobart fixed shade helmet that I bought for a bystander to watch. Now I like the fixed shade because of the better visibility so much, that its the main helmet I use.

I'm sure it would be harder to start with the fixed shade with arc or tig, but for flux wire/mig, I hold the gun with one hand and drop the helmet with the other. I also zip tied a 1/2 piece of pipe insulation to the back strap so that it is both more comfortable, and holds in on the shape of my head better

 

Getting flashed isn't fun lol my eyesight is shit already not trying to make it worse even if it's temporary.

 

So, I got our poor tig welder all cleaned up and set out to run my tests on old traffic signs for a project for a class here, and they will not weld. Supposedly the are 5052 and I’m using 4043 filler and a green tungsten, but the metal just kind of burns and gets pitted and, crumbles I guess, instead of flowing like other aluminum that we have.

I cleaned off all the coatings and made sure it was prepped, no matter what I did it wouldn’t flow. The 4043 would easy, but not this sign material.

any ideas?

 

A cane topper I made with some spare time and the welder at work