Archive for the ‘Welding Helmet’ Category

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Fixed shade helmet or an auto darkening helmet?

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Even though people have used fixed shade helmets forever, the market is swiftly moving towards auto darkening helmets. Prices and performance both are improving. Today, auto-darkening helmets can be bought as low as 39.00 dollars. While not top of the line, they will typically be fairly good performers for average welding. Even name brand, high end companies are offering welding helmets under the 200 dollar mark.

A fixed shade helmet will never be replaced completely. It will probably always be the choice of pipeliners due to the designs available that make their use in the field irreplaceable. But in reality most other jobs can be performed with almost any good quality auto-darkening helmet. For TIG welding, however, more money may need to be spent to obtain the best performance, especially for low amp TIG. These helmets usually have 3 or 4 sensors to pick up the welding arc at different angles. But a few good quality 2 sensors do a fairly good job with TIG in all but the lowest amp ranges.

An important issue for many welders is to decide on the type of auto darkening helmet. There are principally two types: “Solar Powered” and “Battery Powered”. The Solar powered type are a little slower in switching. Some so-called Solar powered units still retain, a permanent, non replaceable battery. These will last for some time, but usually have a service life of 5 years or less. The best are the replaceable battery type which offer easy access to a commonly available battery. Some auto darkening helmets use a triple “A” battery. These are great and easy to replace in a moments notice as the batteries are only a convenience store away.

Fixed shade Auto-darks only offer a shade of 3 or 4 while not activated, and another shade of usually 10 or 11. Other, more advanced helmets offer features such as sensitivity, shade and delay selection. These are usually the best as they allow the most flexibility to fit any work environment.

When selecting between the different helmets, it comes down to budget, and overall comfort. A helmet with a lot of features could be bulky and heavy. A simple, inexpensive helmet may in fact feel better. Try several out before settling on one. Fitting and balance are important whether its fixed or auto darkening.

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Fumes: a hazard of welding

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Can you hold your breath while welding?

There is no doubt that we run into health risks every single day. As some people wryly joke, everything causes cancer in the state of California. Whether you accidentally eat a seed in an apple or you drive your car to work, you face a certain risk to your health. There are government agencies who sole purpose is to regulate and eliminate health hazards in both the home and work.

hold-your-breath

Hold Your Breath While Welding?

The welding industry is no different. All welders at some time or the other a will be exposed to welding fumes.  These fumes can have some nasty side effects to be sure. A common issue related to welding is “Metal Fume Fever” which results from breathing in galvanized metal fumes as it being welded. It can cause mild to severe flu like symptoms. Zinc is the primary culprit as it is the primary component of galvanized metal. The tell-tale signs of a crusty white or yellow powdery substance along the edge of the weld indicate the presence of galvanization.  Rarely does it cause anything more severe, but it can be nasty and briefly debilitating. If you suspect having metal fume fever, get medical help immediately because occasionally things can turn deadly. With that said, since it’s a necessary part of our diet, it is usually self-correcting. But other metals can be present with the Zinc, such as lead and those are the ones you need to worry about.

Hexavalent Chromium is another issue encountered with welding Stainless Steel. Breathing this may not show any immediate effects. But it is a dangerous by product of Stainless steel welding. Keep this in mind while welding anything you suspect to be stainless. Cancer, and asthma are serious side effects and may not show up until years down the road. Some people discount the potential risk, saying they have been welding stainless all their life, and nothing has happened to them. Well, not yet anyway, right? Dead people do not speak.

A related issue is the accidental or intentional use of brake cleaner, or any chloro/flouro carbon based chemical as a metal cleaner before welding. Welding on a piece of metal that was cleaned with brake cleaner releases phosgene gas, a substance used in chemical war fare. Inhaling just a drop of vaporized residue could kill you or leave you seriously sick. Usually it’s a painful death that ensues over the course of days, if not months.

There are other risks from breathing smoke and fumes from all welding processes in general. Cancer is a real risk, especially, for those who already smoke or abuse their bodies with substances. Heart attack chances can increase as well. The complete carcinogenic effects of welding may never be fully known or understood. However, breathing all welding fumes should be minimized at all times. Open areas are the best.  Having a fume hood, or fan with open windows is a good way to fend them off indoors. If you are concerned with smoke while welding, try slowing your breathing or holding your breath before you start welding. This is not fool proof by any means, but it can help minimize exposure to those who are making short welds. Yet, for some, none of these measures may be a practical solution.  The welding may have to be done down in a tank where there is not any relief or escape. For many, a respirator is the only solution.  They are not cheap however, and before purchase, a little research will need to be done on compatibility with your helmet, and headgear. However, though they can be bulky and hot, a respirator might just be the thing you really need for a lifetime of worry free welding. Minimization, if not elimination to exposure is key to enjoying a long life of safe and happy welding.

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Safety And Precautionary Practices While Welding

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Welding is an important process in metal joining. Whether you are a professional in welding or it is just your hobby, there are certain safety procedures that you must ensure to follow while you are welding. The helmet is one of the most important elements in welding safety.

These helmets often come with glasses. These glasses help you look through the welding spark and well into the welding process. If you are looking at the flame arc with naked eyes, it might damage your eyes after a period of time. This is prevented by looking through a shield or glasses. The advantage with helmets that come with glasses is that you don’t have to hold the shield with one hand.

You have both your hands that you can use for welding. The next thing to wear is gloves. Gloves will protect your hand from electrical shocks as well as sparks from the welding that can be very dangerous to your hand.

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How to get the right Welding Helmet?

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Choosing the best suitable welding helmet is as important as choosing the right electrode for your welder. When you are getting ready to wed, you will have to make sure that you are well equipped with all the safety gears and other precautionary stuffs available immediately when you need them. Though you are a practiced welder, you will have to take all necessary steps to take care of your eyes and face especially from the harmful fumes and gases.

You have hundreds of welding helmets to choose from, they vary from sizes, pricing and the level of protection that they give you. You will have to see the features of the helmet rather than seeing its rate. Never choose a helmet just because it is cheap. Always think about your safety and get the one that you will need.

The best out of the recent models are the auto-darkening welding helmets, you could read about their uses before you buy and then choose them. Auto darkening helmets gives you a liberty of wearing them on even when you are setting up the weld and hence your face and eyes are completely protect even in case of any accidental sparks coming out of the welder.

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Significance of Welder’s Helmets

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

Safety and precautionary methods are very important things that need to be followed when welders perform any kind of welding. You might be a professional welder, or a beginner or someone who takes welding as a hobby, following all the safety measures is vital to avoid fatal and serious injuries.

When you prepare yourself for welding, make sure that you protect your eyes and head with a good quality welding helmet, a protective gloves and proper protective boots as well. Out of all the safety equipments, welding helmets take an important role in keeping the welder safe to a great extent.

Welding helmets come in a variety of designs and are even differentiated according to its utilization. Mainly welding helmets are differentiated into two types, auto darkening welding helmets and the normal welding helmets. Auto darkening welding helmets are more useful as the welder need not remove the helmet while setting up the weld. But in a normal helmet the welder has to remove the helmet to setup the weld in order to have better visibility.

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Importance of Welding Helmets and It’s Types

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

A person who is working in the field of welding or just examining the welding process needs to wear a welding helmet .The reason why welding helmets are essential is because of the bright light given off by welding. Without taking safety measures, this light can factually burn the insides of your eyes and cause temporary or permanent blindness. Part of the reason is that mainly in dark places, the eye cannot adjust to the change in brightness fast enough to prevent damage. A good welding helmet not only protects you from rapid sparks, but also shields you from the extremely brilliant welding arc.

Today welding helmets have changed significantly. While they look quite a bit unusual today than they did years ago, you can still find two main types of welding helmet:

  • Passive
  • Auto-dimming

Whenever you picture welding helmets, you’re almost certainly thinking about manual, or passive as it’s also known. The main advantage to these passive helmets is that they often cost less. More recently, auto-dimming welding helmets have become more popular. These helmets, like the conventional manual ones, are a part of metal and a piece of glass. The auto-dimming helmets come in two types, some use infrared viewers whilst others use electricity to dampen the glass. Both use electricity.

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Factors to Consider Before Buying a Welding Helmet

Friday, January 14th, 2011

In the welding profession, one of the essential safety equipment for all welders is the helmet. The welders are exposed to the harmful UV rays, infrared and also intense sparks. The human eyes are a very sensitive part of the human body and need to be taken care well. As the welders eyes are exposed to such harmful radiations they need to get some kind of protection which comes via a welding helmet.

In the market today, there are various types of welding helmets available ranging from the non branded cheapest basic helmet to the expensive welding helmet boasting of a variety of features. While initially you would find that there is no difference between the appearance of both and some of you could have even been using the low quality welding helmets for a long period without any health issues. All of you must be aware that the health complications like cataract take time to form themselves and you might experience them only after years.

So to be on the safer side, choose an expensive helmet, don’t compromise on cost. Try out the helmet and ensure that you will be comfortable working with it, opt for light weight helmets which are made of plastic. Today most of the welding helmets are made of plastic; quality is what matters as some of the plastic helmets might get melted when exposed to intense heat. So always prefer a reputed brand rather than the cheap no name. Also check out factors like durability and whether it has feature like auto darkening to protect the eye.

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Welding helmet- A real boon!!

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Welding is one of the important and hazardous processes used in industries. The sparks generated by the welding processes are very hazardous to the eyes and hands if it comes in direct contact, so it is always necessary to wear proper safety gears to keep the welder free from any danger or injury. One of the best safety gears for a welder is the welding helmet.

As said earlier welding helmet is the primary safety gear for a welding machine operator. A good helmet is outfitted with auto darkening mechanism. This is a feature that enables the operator to view and do the work through the lens that reacts instantly to the arc and darkens to a selected shade level. While welding , the sparks produce a great amount of UV rays and also radiation which is very harmful to the human, so using a proper safety gear will not only protect you from these harmful radiations but also acts as a screen against the flying debris. There are loads of types in welding helmets, so go for the one which is apt for you.

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How to pick a good Welding Helmet?

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Welders’ job requires safety on daily basis. He should wear all safety equipments while on the job. One of the most important equipment is welding helmet. Following guidelines will help in determining what type of welding helmet would be best for purchase.

• Ask your supervisor what type of welding work you will be doing, based on that find out what type of welding helmet is best for purchase. Often welders purchase their own equipment, so the type of welding job will vary from one work site to another.

• Find out what type of welding helmet do you need. There are some welding helmets that do not cost much and are made up of low quality. Such welding helmets can be used when the quantity of work is less. The lens area is a main concern to the welder and these type of helmets will probably have shade controls that have to be manually adjusted or changed depending upon the arc of the weld.

• Use high quality welding helmet that are more intense. Welding helmets are of two types: auto shade controls or auto darkening on the lens.

• Go in for well known manufacturer’s welding helmets for your purchase.

• Ask about warranty information on the welding helmet you plan to purchase.

• A welding helmet can start as low as $30 to as high as $250 and up from there.

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Importance Of Welding Helmet:

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

During the process of welding the need for following the safety measurements plays a very important role. One important element that welders are required to put on during the process is welding helmet. Apart from wearing safety gloves, glasses and fire resistant dress the need for wearing helmet plays an important role.

By wearing welding helmet you are going to safeguard your face, neck and eyes against dangerous sparks, heat, infrared and ultraviolet rays which emerges at the time of weld. Your helmet will enclose a glass which will act as a window allowing you to see the job you are doing on metals.

In past helmets were designed in low quality of material and moreover it use to cover face only. But has the days passed there has been a huge improvement in the material and its working too.

You are required to select a welding helmet based on the quality of light filter, which is known to be as lens shade, providing overall console, and multi-functionality. Both professionals and leisure time welders need to wear a high quality of welding helmet which is easy in use and appropriate during the task of weld. Hence this will ensure that your face is completely protected.

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