HF Welding helmet repair

Fred Werring

Well-known Member
Yes it's a cheapo Harbor Freight helmet.

Bout 4 years ago internal batteries went dead, helmet wouldn't darken. Ordered battery
holders, didn't have time to wait, bought another HF helmet. My old helmet and battery
holders sat on a shelf.

Re-discovered them last week, soldered in some wires from the holders to the board, used
rtv to mount the holders (they were made for a circuit board, they weren't flat on the
bottom). Some 2032 cells and it works like a champ.

Now that I know it works, got battery holders ordered (6 for 87 cents delivered from you
know where) for when my newer one dies.

Fred
a261647.jpg
 
Good job.
It's not who makes the actual helmet. But rather the quality of the lens that counts.

I like the Solar Auto Darkening lens better myself. No Batteries to mess with or fail in the middle of a project.
 
I had a HF 'Solar' helmet that failed to darken. It actually had failed batteries! I think the solar was simply a battery charger as it had a pair of button batteries in addition to the solar panel.
 
Did you look on ebay for those batteries, I have a cordless phone in my house that I really like, after a few years the battery gave up. Couldn't find them locally, or from the phone manufacturer, but I found them on ebay (should have looked there first).
 
Bought the battery holders off of Ebay.

Included a link below for a 2032 battery holder search. Do a sort order low to high, you'll find the cheapest come from overseas, for the same holders.

You can also search for 2032 batteries. They're not the same battery that was in there, but still 3V, just a few less milliamp/hrs.

I always figured those solar panels on the front of the helmet were for the flash/arc detection, not for charging the batteries. Could be wrong.

Fred
2032 battery holders on ebay
 
These are the holders I ordered last week.

They're a little different than the ones I ordered last time, looks like the bottom may be flat, be easier to mount.

If you order these, look at the delivery time. I'm in no hurry, so it's no big deal.

Fred
battery holders
 
(quoted from post at 08:25:03 03/18/18) I had a HF 'Solar' helmet that failed to darken. It actually had failed batteries! I think the solar was simply a battery charger as it had a pair of button batteries in addition to the solar panel.

The solar cell is what senses the arc. It does not charge the batteries.

If you want proof, put a piece of tape over the solar cell and strike an arc, look at a light, touch the grinder to a piece of steel, anything to trip the auto-darkening function.
 
I got a pair of autodarkening HF helmets at a garage sale, one worked the other didn't, i had them both hanging in the barn window for the summer intending to hacksome battery holders in like you did. After 3 mos in the sunlight they're both working fine with no modification or replacement yet.
 

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