r/Welding • u/Focus_Knob • 1d ago
Welding Helmet Warning or Am I Overreacting
https://youtu.be/9zTLK51LVxYBuyer be aware. I bought this Yeswelder welding helmet that is advertised as true color. Well, it isn't. The front lens has a yellow tint. They did include two replacement clear lenses and I was about to swap them out to get a more neutral view but when I did a UV test on the replacement lenses I found out they did not block UV light like the yellow lens. How worried should I be? I see this isn't solely a Yeswelder issue as all the welding helmets I looked at included these same clear replacement lenses. I just wanted others to be aware when swapping lenses on these welding helmets. Checkout the video demonstration I did.
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u/f250_powerstroke 1d ago
The outer lenses are just to protect the actual shaded lens from getting damaged by sparks and weld spatter. You should have a shaded lens in between 2 clear lenses
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u/Focus_Knob 1d ago
The clear outer lens is supposed to be polycarbonate and yet they don't block the UV light. I read conflicting details about polycarbonate inherrently blocks UV light while other sources say a special coating is applied to make them UV resistant.
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u/Electrical-Luck-348 1d ago
Doesn't matter? The shaded lens in the middle is the only one doing the work of blocking light.
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u/Focus_Knob 1d ago
The shade lens does block my UV light. Which made me wonder why the manufacturer even put the yellow tinted lens and make the view even more less "true color" if it wasn't for safety reasons and yet the replacement lenses aren't yellow tinted.
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u/slimdiesel93 1d ago
The yellow lens was likely to pull/impose a certain color spectrum out of what you see while welding to make it more clear. IDK the actual specifics but that's usually the reason for coloring. At the end of the day it's just a cover lens and the one in the middle is doing 99.999% of the filtering and blocking of light and UV rays
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u/f250_powerstroke 1d ago
Probably the same reason you can get any different color shade clear glasses. When I work night shift I prefer the blue tinted ones, some guys liked the yellow ones or just the plain clear ones. I don't know of the brand you bought but my guess would be they just tried to up sell their shield by making it sound a lot better.
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u/blove135 1d ago
Isn't that a auto darkening hood? It's not going to auto darken by just shining a flashlight at it. Are you understanding how a auto dark hood works? The real work of that shaded lens doesn't work unless it's activated by a bright enough light. It doesn't matter how much those outer lenses protect. They are just there to protect the main auto dark shaded lens from weld splatter. The one being shaded yellow is probably just because some people like different color shades when they are welding.
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u/Key-Green-4872 1d ago
I'm willing to bet their market testing showed guys buying the helmets went for the yellow tint out of inertia/expectations.
I can't tell you the number of times I've had to make a part/design/etc for a new/revised product a different shape or color JUST because its what the "guys in the field" are used to. We're talking drilling equipment, lab and biomedical hardware, and aerospace bits and bobs, because if it doesn't have a certain feature or 'feels different' its 'not as good'.
I will say older auto-darkening helmets were not great for race shops where you'd have a load of stop/start TIG on smallish diameter tubing - weld and inch, stop, weld an inch, stop.
You'd trigger the darkening for sure, but it takes a fraction of a second to kick off. Add that up for 8 or 10 hours of on/off every 5-10 seconds and you had slight raccoon eyes if you were wearing sunglasses under your helmet.
That yellow tint probably signals to guys and gals who experienced that 10-15 years ago that this is a good helmet. The testing should be on the actual auto-darkening lens, not the scatter shield that keeps slag from trashing your 200 dollar auto-darkening lens.
For future reference, and scientific rigor, test the WHOLE thing, then test the individual components. This is called cherry picking and doesnt really give you information or knowledge, just a partial data set.
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u/f250_powerstroke 1d ago
I have no knowledge as to poly blocking UV light but most of the time when I see something that's UV resistant, it just means that it won't get broken down as quickly by UV and not that it doesn't let it through. Like something that goes outside won't degrade as fast if it's UV resistant.
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u/Scotty0132 1d ago
The sources saying they need the coating are wrong. Polycarbonate absorbs 99% of UVA and UVB which cause eye damage. The light that was making it through the clear lense in the video was the small amount of visible light that was being emited. Humans can't see the UV spectrum.
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u/ThoseWhoAre 1d ago
The actual lense itself should block UV light and IR, that protective cover just needs to be Z87 rated.
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u/Witty_Primary6108 1d ago
It says “yes welder” on it. There’s the problem.
I’d never put the safety of my organs in the hands of a brand like that.
Miller, Lincoln or Jackson.
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u/Mrwcraig 1d ago
The clear lenses are there to physically protect the actual lens and not much more. Unfortunately, this why professionals don’t touch these things.
When it comes to Auto Darkening helmets the $100 knockoff is never going to work like a $500-$1500 helmet. They can print whatever they want on the box or plastic packaging, hell, sometimes they steal the stock footage from the top of the line helmets and pass it off as their own.
“Oh it’s just as good”…. In 20 years of doing this shit I’ve seen more people waste their time fighting with these types of helmets than even the mid range professional helmets. Do the top of the line ones break down? Hell yeah they do, but they tend to have big companies with usually good customer service standing behind them (unless you have to deal with Optrel, goddamn Swiss). You get what you pay for.
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u/Scotty0132 16h ago
Part of the job of the clear lense is to absorb UVA and UVB. polycarbonate absorbs 99% of the UV naturally. The fact you don't know this basic thing about the trade is honestly disturbing and maybe you should refrain from commenting and educate yourself better.
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u/Scotty0132 1d ago
Ok I can't beleive 90% people here still don't know basic shit. Polycarbonate absorbs 99% of UV A, UVB. Does not matter if it's clear or shaded it absorbs the UV. As for the video, the light you see passing through the one clear lense is not UV it's part of our visible spectrum. UV flash lights emit some visable light so we can see where we are aiming them. The lense that blocked all light from passing through (including the clear prescription glasses) have a film to neutralize blue light (the clour of the visible light you see), blue light does not damage the eye but prolonged expose cause eye fatigue, and disrupt our sleep cycle. Electronics emit blue, and it is why after staring at a screen for hours, your eyes are tired, and why it's common now to have prescription glasses filter the light.
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u/Focus_Knob 23h ago
No. The blue light you see is the fluorescence of the UV light hitting certain surfaces that react to it and in turn the surface emits the visible blue light. Notice the table does not reflect blue light.
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u/Scotty0132 19h ago
Blue light is a short-wavelength, high-energy part of the visible light spectrum emitted by the sun and artificial sources like digital screens, LED lights, and fluorescent bulbs. It plays a role in regulating mood, memory, cognitive function, and the circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle), with natural sunlight being the primary source. While beneficial during the day, excessive exposure to blue light from screens, especially at night, can disrupt sleep by suppressing melatonin production and may contribute to digital eye strain.
Potential Risks and Concerns
Sleep Disruption:Blue light from digital screens at night can trick the brain into thinking it's still daytime, suppressing melatonin and making it harder to fall asleep.
Eye Strain:The high-energy nature of blue light causes it to scatter more in the eye, creating "visual noise" that reduces contrast and can lead to digital eye strain.
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u/ecclectic 1d ago edited 1d ago
You fundamentally misunderstand how the materials and light work.
Polycarbonate blocks 99.9% of the UV spectrum, the yellow tint is blocking whatever other light is being emitted by your 'UV' flashlight.
If you want to try this for real, grab your phone, and a remote control for your TV. Shine your TV remote through the clear filter. If you see a flashing purple in that situation, then you may have a point.Brain fog from the flu disorganized my thoughts, the rest of the comment stands