Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi,
I have been using a basic 3M Speed glass helmet for MIG welding for the last several years.
Seems to work OK for most jobs but do have to say that I get flashed not rarely.
I bought a new multi system and yesterday was trying out the TIG on some steel.
Didn't go so well. The lens would only infrequently darken - got old real quick.
Is this unusual? Do I need to get a new helmet for TIG?
I tried it with stick this morning and the helmet worked great.
Thanks
Jim

Tig with a close arc is lots of less arc light for your hood to pick up. Might be time to upgrade. How many sensors does your hood have? Does it have a sensitivity adjustment?

Two sensors with no adjustment.

Look for a helmet with a minamum of 4 sensors and one with a sensitivity adjustment. With tig your arc is often partially shielded by your hands, or your gas cup. You need the extra sensors to help pick up the light. Others here can speak to some of the advantages of the new helmets that sense the arc based on the currents.

I have a tekz cheap light weight works great for Tig and everything else also have a Jackson it's much heavier but I like it for stick cause it's a little tougher and I do most of my stick work outside

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I have an old speedglass too, 2 sensors and no adjustment on the lense. Also have a miller classic series that I got 5 years or so ago. The speedglass I still love for mig and stick its light comfortable and really clear with very decent field of view. But with Tig it’s unusable as I constantly get flashed. Or it simply doesn’t even darken. So I have to use the Miller even tho I don’t like it. Tiny lense, bit bulky, crappy quality, but it has 4 sensors and sensitivity adjust works flawless as far as auto darkening.