Supporting information when selecting a helmet

Passive and active welding helmets

Welding helmets and shields containing tinted glass with a properly selected, constant degree of tinting are called passive. On the other hand, those equipped with an Auto Darkening Welding Filter (ADF) are active helmets. It is worth mentioning that the ADF filter consists of a liquid crystal LCD display and arc sensors (sensors). It is powered by photosensitive cells that collect light energy from an electric arc.

Functions and parameters of auto-darkening helmets:

• shade level - determines the degree of shade of the filter (expressed in the DIN unit) adjusted depending on the welding process and the welding current.
• sensitivity function - allows you to set the sensitivity of the sensors depending on the welding process and conditions at the workplace.
• delay function - depending on the welding process, material and temperature, the material to be welded may glow even after the end of welding.
• protection against UV and IR radiation
• switchover time - the time from the moment the welding arc is struck to the ADF filter darkening (given in the parameters of the helmet and is much less than a millisecond).
• adjustment of the detection angle - the ability to adjust the detection angle to the type and place of welding.
• grinding mode - ADF can be set to the "bright" position for the duration of grinding, thanks to which we prevent the filter from darkening due to pulsating light during grinding.
• field of view dimensions.

Selection of auto-darkening helmets

The level of darkness that can be set on the helmet is its most important feature. The table below shows the recommended degrees of protection in accordance with EN169: 2002.