Welding Tips and Tricks

VA-Sawyer wrote:I've been giving a bit more thought to the 'perfect' welding helmet. With a RF link between the welder and helmet, there are a few other things we can do. How about a Heads-up display that tells you the current. Add red, yellow, and green LEDs to indicate welding voltage as it relates to arc length. We can even change the shade in sync with pulse welding at low to medium frequencies. No flicker.

If you really want to go overboard....... a small camera mounted on the torch. High Res display in the helmet. 5X and 10X Zoom when desired.
IR sensors to monitor temp of surrounding metal. A warning system to let you know when the 'bottom is about to fall out'.
How about displaying guide lines for desired puddle size.

Sign me up!
Seriously though, how challenging would some of that actually be?


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If you don't go overboard, something like Bluetooth could do it. Cordless pedal, and/or finger control, tied in with a RF helmet and welding unit should be fairly easy to do.

The digital communication would be fairly straight foward. All three components are assigned a network number. Let's say it is network #175.
The weldor pushes on the pedal 25%. The pedal sends out a signal saying "Network 175 wants 25% power " . The welder responds with a signal that says " Network 175 hears a request for 25%, please confirm". The pedal then sends a signal to confirm the request for network 175. Then the welder transmits a signal that says "Starting arc at 50 amps (25% of the 200 amps set on the welder) on Network 175. The helmet on Network 175 then responds that it is ready for 50 amps. The welder then starts the arc. All of that happens in about 1/100th of a second.
The welder then sends a signal indicating the actual current that is flowing on Network 175. The helmet displays the value on the heads up display.
Any changes in pedal position and the process repeats.

If the lens should fail to darken, a sensor inside the helmet would see it, and have the helmet send a signal to Network 175 saying Emergency-stop the arc. It should be fast enough that you hardly see the flash.

I'll go out on limb here and say that we'll see something like this within 5 years...

Now think about a welding school. We make an 'instructors helmet' which allows the user to easily select the Network number.
The instructor looks at the welder for the assigned Network number, sets that on the helmet, and now can view the student's welding. The instructor can also see the current, and voltage in real time.

VA-Sawyer wrote:I've been giving a bit more thought to the 'perfect' welding helmet. With a RF link between the welder and helmet, there are a few other things we can do. How about a Heads-up display that tells you the current. Add red, yellow, and green LEDs to indicate welding voltage as it relates to arc length. We can even change the shade in sync with pulse welding at low to medium frequencies. No flicker.

If you really want to go overboard....... a small camera mounted on the torch. High Res display in the helmet. 5X and 10X Zoom when desired.
IR sensors to monitor temp of surrounding metal. A warning system to let you know when the 'bottom is about to fall out'.
How about displaying guide lines for desired puddle size.

Lots of good ideas here. I like the one about the welder sending an RF signal, with the sole exception that the ark itself creates a tremendous amount of RF interference. That might make that design a bit challenging.

On some of the other stuff in the later posts, you have to be careful how many things you tried to do or the power requirements for the design will mean the welder guy has to carry around a deep cycle battery. LOL

Bughunter,
Next time you are welding, pull out your smart phone and play a music video while running an arc. Any interference?
Record a video of the shop while welding. Don't point it at the arc, just general shop. How much interference do you get?
We don't need near the RF power a cell phone has. A reliable 50 ft of range should be enough. It wouldn't need an OS to control everything. No 16 gig of memory needed, only 1 RF mode needed, no speaker, no microphone needed either.
I think it could do a lot of things with modest power requirements. Maybe add a wireless charging system built into a helmet stand.

VA-Sawyer wrote:Bughunter,
Next time you are welding, pull out your smart phone and play a music video while running an arc. Any interference?
Record a video of the shop while welding. Don't point it at the arc, just general shop. How much interference do you get?
We don't need near the RF power a cell phone has. A reliable 50 ft of range should be enough. It wouldn't need an OS to control everything. No 16 gig of memory needed, only 1 RF mode needed, no speaker, no microphone needed either.
I think it could do a lot of things with modest power requirements. Maybe add a wireless charging system built into a helmet stand.

Back years ago when I still had my Hobart transformer tig, it was SOP to stop welding when the phone rang because my office manager couldn't hear proper over all the noise of the welder. I can't speak to how it works with the Dynasty that's here now. I'm the guy who answers the phone now so nobody is welding aluminum when I'm on the phone.

PS, he was on a corded landline phone.

VA-Sawyer wrote:I've been giving a bit more thought to the 'perfect' welding helmet. With a RF link between the welder and helmet, there are a few other things we can do. How about a Heads-up display that tells you the current. Add red, yellow, and green LEDs to indicate welding voltage as it relates to arc length. We can even change the shade in sync with pulse welding at low to medium frequencies. No flicker.

If you really want to go overboard....... a small camera mounted on the torch. High Res display in the helmet. 5X and 10X Zoom when desired.
IR sensors to monitor temp of surrounding metal. A warning system to let you know when the 'bottom is about to fall out'.
How about displaying guide lines for desired puddle size.

Some of this has been developed already and lots of research has been done. This has "High Dynamic Range" cameras mounted to a welding helmet with a display on the inside of the helmet. Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtTdiqDqHc8

In addition to the "augmented reality" weld data provided, the contrast is far better than human eyes can do without such assistance. With high resolution HDR capable cameras being so common, small, and (relatively) inexpensive these days and processing power also very available, I'm surprised someone is not selling something along these lines in a more workable package already. Even if only for particular applications or whatever.
The original video is from 2012, and the required technology has come a very long way in the years since then.

VA-Sawyer wrote:I've been giving a bit more thought to the 'perfect' welding helmet. With a RF link between the welder and helmet, there are a few other things we can do. How about a Heads-up display that tells you the current. Add red, yellow, and green LEDs to indicate welding voltage as it relates to arc length. We can even change the shade in sync with pulse welding at low to medium frequencies. No flicker.

If you really want to go overboard....... a small camera mounted on the torch. High Res display in the helmet. 5X and 10X Zoom when desired.
IR sensors to monitor temp of surrounding metal. A warning system to let you know when the 'bottom is about to fall out'.
How about displaying guide lines for desired puddle size.

Some of this has been developed already and lots of research has been done. This has "High Dynamic Range" cameras mounted to a welding helmet with a display on the inside of the helmet. Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtTdiqDqHc8

In addition to the "augmented reality" weld data provided, the contrast is far better than human eyes can do without such assistance. With high resolution HDR capable cameras being so common, small, and (relatively) inexpensive these days and processing power also very available, I'm surprised someone is not selling something along these lines in a more workable package already. Even if only for particular applications or whatever.
The original video is from 2012, and the required technology has come a very long way in the years since then.

While I'll be first in line when augmented displays showing amperage or even assisting with contrast become a reality and having a camera system where an instructor can key in and view what the student is seeing all without even disturbing them would be amazing. Most schools can't even get get cost of PAPRs approved in the budget despite the fact that welding fumes are an established health risk and generally unenjoyable.

Also I think it's important to remember that it's 2020 and we are still arguing over inverters. Welders are slow to change and tend to distrust technology, I myself despite being 26 and fully embracing the latest in technology will probably never have a wireless foot pedal because it's just one more thing to remember batteries for and try to diagnose when it starts inexplicably refusing to connect as electronics tend to do, the helmet alone would be mind-blowingly expensive, but the welder's themselves would need to be replaced or modified in order to sync, trying to convince a group to spend thousands to switch over when they'd spend thousands just to avoid it would be nearly impossible. Ultimately I just think such things don't already exist because at the end of the day getting flashed through your helmet is simply an annoyance and not worth spending the money needed to eliminate it.

sbaker56 wrote:While I'll be first in line when augmented displays showing amperage or even assisting with contrast become a reality and having a camera system where an instructor can key in and view what the student is seeing all without even disturbing them would be amazing. Most schools can't even get get cost of PAPRs approved in the budget despite the fact that welding fumes are an established health risk and generally unenjoyable.

Also I think it's important to remember that it's 2020 and we are still arguing over inverters. Welders are slow to change and tend to distrust technology, I myself despite being 26 and fully embracing the latest in technology will probably never have a wireless foot pedal because it's just one more thing to remember batteries for and try to diagnose when it starts inexplicably refusing to connect as electronics tend to do, the helmet alone would be mind-blowingly expensive, but the welder's themselves would need to be replaced or modified in order to sync, trying to convince a group to spend thousands to switch over when they'd spend thousands just to avoid it would be nearly impossible. Ultimately I just think such things don't already exist because at the end of the day getting flashed through your helmet is simply an annoyance and not worth spending the money needed to eliminate it.

Wouldn’t it be similar to the days when HF units etc. were an add-on to arc welders?
Slowly the tech is integrated and now a person can buy one machine with all the bells and whistles where X years ago it took two or three or more pieces of expensive gear to even approach that level of functionality.

But I hear you on the connection issues. I can’t convince my stupid Bluetooth headphones to stay connected to my phone.


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DavidR8 wrote:

sbaker56 wrote:While I'll be first in line when augmented displays showing amperage or even assisting with contrast become a reality and having a camera system where an instructor can key in and view what the student is seeing all without even disturbing them would be amazing. Most schools can't even get get cost of PAPRs approved in the budget despite the fact that welding fumes are an established health risk and generally unenjoyable.

Also I think it's important to remember that it's 2020 and we are still arguing over inverters. Welders are slow to change and tend to distrust technology, I myself despite being 26 and fully embracing the latest in technology will probably never have a wireless foot pedal because it's just one more thing to remember batteries for and try to diagnose when it starts inexplicably refusing to connect as electronics tend to do, the helmet alone would be mind-blowingly expensive, but the welder's themselves would need to be replaced or modified in order to sync, trying to convince a group to spend thousands to switch over when they'd spend thousands just to avoid it would be nearly impossible. Ultimately I just think such things don't already exist because at the end of the day getting flashed through your helmet is simply an annoyance and not worth spending the money needed to eliminate it.

Wouldn’t it be similar to the days when HF units etc. were an add-on to arc welders?
Slowly the tech is integrated and now a person can buy one machine with all the bells and whistles where X years ago it took two or three or more pieces of expensive gear to even approach that level of functionality.

But I hear you on the connection issues. I can’t convince my stupid Bluetooth headphones to stay connected to my phone.


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While we honestly probably will see some connectivity between welders and helmets in the future, especially within the same brand, and I personally welcome it, especially in regard to things like a real-time voltage and amperage display. I just can't see a market for addon units for the purpose of sensor redundancy given that both a compatible helmet and the addon unit itself would be VERY costly. Perhaps I'm wrong though.

sbaker56 wrote:Also I think it's important to remember that it's 2020 and we are still arguing over inverters. Welders are slow to change and tend to distrust technology, I myself despite being 26 and fully embracing the latest in technology will probably never have a wireless foot pedal because it's just one more thing to remember batteries for and try to diagnose when it starts inexplicably refusing to connect as electronics tend to do, the helmet alone would be mind-blowingly expensive, but the welder's themselves would need to be replaced or modified in order to sync, trying to convince a group to spend thousands to switch over when they'd spend thousands just to avoid it would be nearly impossible. Ultimately I just think such things don't already exist because at the end of the day getting flashed through your helmet is simply an annoyance and not worth spending the money needed to eliminate it.

I have a Dynasty with a wireless footpedal all purchased new in April 2016. The footpedal still has the original batteries in it and has NEVER missed. The batteries came with it, and according to the welder's stats, it's struck many many thousands of arcs. I forget the real total and I did look it up some time back, but it's a lot.

BugHunter wrote:

sbaker56 wrote: I have a Dynasty with a wireless footpedal all purchased new in April 2016. The footpedal still has the original batteries in it and has NEVER missed. The batteries came with it, and according to the welder's stats, it's struck many many thousands of arcs. I forget the real total and I did look it up some time back, but it's a lot.

I also have a dynasty with a wireless footpedal since august of 2016, still have the original batteries, since the batteries are a very common size (AA) I always have new ones on hand, just as I have new batteries ready should one of my welding hoods go dark.

LtBadd wrote:I also have a dynasty with a wireless footpedal since august of 2016, still have the original batteries, since the batteries are a very common size (AA) I always have new ones on hand, just as I have new batteries ready should one of my welding hoods go dark.

Have you EVER had your miss a signal?

AA's???? Mine I'm pretty sure has D cells... 4 if I recall correctly?

BugHunter wrote:

LtBadd wrote:I also have a dynasty with a wireless footpedal since august of 2016, still have the original batteries, since the batteries are a very common size (AA) I always have new ones on hand, just as I have new batteries ready should one of my welding hoods go dark.

Have you EVER had your miss a signal?

AA's???? Mine I'm pretty sure has D cells... 4 if I recall correctly?

Never, and I've also used the Miller wireless at 2 other shops, no problems.

D cells, I doubt it. let's see a pic

Nope, you are right. They are Double A's. I have something here with Dee's that I was very surprised at but I don't remember what it is.