dialing in your welder feed rate setting

[2door]

My 30+ year old, no brand name hood. Heaven only knows how many hours of welding this thing has seen. It works every time.
I use a magnifier lens behind the shield and for small close up work, a pair of reading glasses helps. Funny, I didn't use to need those.

Tom

 

[rustycase]

lol

I am way past the point of needing a magnifying lens!
If at all possible I have my son do the sparking.

Usually I tack my projects then coax him into running the bead.
Better that way!
rc

 

[rohmell]

I too have an auto darkening helmet, identical to CTripp's, but I got it on sale at Harbor Freight. It is solar powered although it also has a "non replaceable" back up battery.

I have one from Harbor Freight as well, but it is all black, and has the same claim of a "non replaceable" back up battery, but careful disassembly will reveal two 3V lithium coin cells internally, but they are soldered in, I guess since they are not in a battery holder, it means 'non-replaceable' to HFT.

 

[CTripps]

There's always a way to take things apart. Putting them back together so they look like they haven't been apart is (sometimes) the tricky part. I've serviced many 'non-servicable' gadgets, quite often needing as little as a button-cell replacement.

It helps if you have a kit like this, though... (the 99pc "Not So Common" bit set from Lee Valley)..

 

[2door]

Getting them apart usually isn't my problem. Finding a replacement part however can be next to impossible. So many things today use obscure little things like in-line thermal fuses that no one sells. Coffee makers are a good example.

As for soldered in batteries, I've had a couple of things repaired at Batteries-Plus. They have the capabilities to resolder, actually a spot weld, a battery in. I saved an old favorite battery powered beard trimmer by having new batteries installed by them. I tried but solder wouldn't stick to the stainless steel contacts that were part of a PC board.

Tom

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

My 30+ year old, no brand name hood. Heaven only knows how many hours of welding this thing has seen. It works every time.
I use a magnifier lens behind the shield and for small close up work, a pair of reading glasses helps. Funny, I didn't use to need those.

Tom

I bought the Miller 251292 Classic Series 8-12 Variable Shade Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet back in 2012 for $89.00

It has two AA batteries that you change yourself. It warns you by flashing a led inside the helmet before the batteries are run down where they will not operate the helmet. Before using the helmet you press a button and you test to see if the batteries are good. The test does a quick from clear to shade of the screen twice and you know it is working.

I know there can always be a malfunction and there is danger. I also know the issues around the kind of auto shade helmets that have no replaceable or easily replaceable batteries that no one supports.

I also got the magnifier lenses that there are various powers you can buy for this helmet, so you don't have to wear glasses under the hood. I have not tried them yet, but one day.

MT

 

[Dan]

That is cool, MT! My bifocals under my helmet are not fun. Can only see the work by looking down and it makes for just another difficulty. (like my teaching my self to weld is not enough)

My cheapo, self darkening helmet from HF amazed me and I was sure it couldn't work. Honestly, how could it darken enough to protect eyes when the arc light is moving at the speed of light?
Just amazes me!

I was gonna say we should invent a solar powered, auto darkening welding helmet and get filthy rich. But then googled it; https://www.google.com/search?q=sol...j1&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

 

[Dan]

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Sola...replacement-Inside-Lens-Covers/425622187.html

Now I want this......

 

[GearNut]

With my old auto darkening helmet I learned to always tested the lens first by flicking the flint of a lighter in front of the lens to see if it darkened.
When it became totally unreliable I bought the new one.
Right around that same time I started using the Halogen light trick too.
Now I just face the helmet at the halogen light to test the lens.

I just went out to check the manufacturer of my old, unreliable helmet. No name brand helmet with a Jackson brand auto lens.

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

There are types of auto darkening hoods that use both solar and battery both. In those I think many of them the batteries are of the rechargeable type and the solar does both charge the battery and operate the helmet.

Some where I heard that of those kinds of helmets you would be best to leave them out of the container to get ambient light even when not being used so the solar charges the rechargeable battery. It seems like something you might not be doing and adversely affect the battery charge and maybe the life of the battery too.

If the rechargeable battery was easily attained and the user could change the battery not voiding warranty and it had the same kind of warning and test I can do on my helmet, I would think it be something I'd be OK with.

I just know 2 Alkaline AA batteries are cheap and easy to find and the cost low enough that I think I'm set for quite a while.

By the way the adding the magnifier lens option on my helmet does not seem to be something done very quickly as you have to remove the protective screen and put it back afterward. Since I had not tried it yet, it may not take too long to do, and I hope so.

In any case if the protective screen gets scratched or dirty and cannot be cleaned, it is good to know parts to replace it yourself are available. From what I remember it came with one free replacement protective cover screen with the purchase of the helmet.

The helmet I got is still selling for about the same. It is $100 which some have said that is not a very good helmet you are not safe or something. I don't think so. There are some features like adjusting how fast the darkening starts, the amount of light it will respond to start it darkening, and the amount of shade you get once it darkens, that I think it is fine for me.

Some auto darkening helmets have a switch to change for use with TIG, but mine is only right for use with MIG welding for some reason. Some one here probably knows about the specifics of why there are different types or switch on some helmet.

MT

 

[rohmell]

Getting them apart usually isn't my problem. Finding a replacement part however can be next to impossible. So many things today use obscure little things like in-line thermal fuses that no one sells. Coffee makers are a good example.

As for soldered in batteries, I've had a couple of things repaired at Batteries-Plus. They have the capabilities to resolder, actually a spot weld, a battery in. I saved an old favorite battery powered beard trimmer by having new batteries installed by them. I tried but solder wouldn't stick to the stainless steel contacts that were part of a PC board.

Tom

Radio Shack sells thermal fuses, such as this one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102788

which looks like an ideal replacement for a coffee maker. I have used these in the past, with great success.

But, how did they solder the stainless steel contacts to the PCB? But seriously,a few taps with a Dremel equipped with a small abrasive disc will remove the plating/corrosion/oxidation that might be on the contacts, revealing a nice, solderable surface undeneath.

 

[2door]

Radio Shack sells thermal fuses, such as this one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102788

which looks like an ideal replacement for a coffee maker. I have used these in the past, with great success.

But, how did they solder the stainless steel contacts to the PCB? But seriously,a few taps with a Dremel equipped with a small abrasive disc will remove the plating/corrosion/oxidation that might be on the contacts, revealing a nice, solderable surface undeneath.

I watched the guy do the tiny spot weld. The little machine clamps the two parts together then the guy pressed a button. There was a little spark and the battery clip was weled to the contacts on the board. He told me the contacts are stainless steel and that explained why soft, lead based solder wouldn't adhere to it. You can't soft solder stainless steel.

The thermal fuses are also spot welded to the wire and contacts in coffee makers. You can solder those in but you have to use a high temp solder, something like 95/5 or the heat from the heating element will melt regular soft solder. 50/50 or 60/40 just won't do it.

Tom

 

[rustycase]

MIG/TIG...

MT, tig demands a quicker response time and more $'s because it's a manual operation where the operator must be looking directly at the tungsten, where the puddle will be.
Mig is more of an automatic welding process and the wire spark is shielded by the cup.

At least that's my experience... I've done it for the money, but there's a boatload of fellows out there who do better work and know an awful lot more than I do!
Get a 2nd opinion! lol
rc

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

Man If I had to pick only one power cutting tool I could own it would be a 4.5" angle grinder. With some cutting wheels, grinding discs, and flap discs you would be surprised just how professional of a product you could make with that. I could easily modify a fresh chassis i from the ford factory into a motorhome chassis with tube steel with the only cutting tool being an angle grinder from start to finish and ready to paint. Time consuming vs big band saws cutting 50 tubes at once. Man I love me my angle grinders.

Keep in mind you can pull the wire back to drop the voltage to help fill gaps.

I've got two welders at home, a 115 harbor freight flux core mig, and a 230v 100 sec amp (whatever sec amps means) gas mig welder. Both are twenty percent duty cycle. I'm disatisified with both of them. But they function properly. I probably don't like them cause I'm used to 480v 3 phase 300 amp 100% duty cycle welders.

Maybe for the cost an 100 percent duty cycle a torch instead. Jokingly!

I just realized I had been over doing it and getting crummy welds when not stopping welding after 2 minutes and waiting another 8 before starting again. I do stop occasionally and just let the fan keep running.

Most recently I found the wire though was stuck, no it was like an interlock, with the motor and the transformer getting used too much. I needed not to clean the tip, just was too long using it at high #3 of 4 power setting.

Its a Hobart Auto Arc 130 runs on 120vac household outlet.

MT