Collection: Welding Helmet

A welding helmet protects the eyes and face from arc radiation, which is intense in both ultraviolet and infrared, and from molten metal spatter. The choice comes down to the optical cassette, not the shell.

The 4 references in the catalogue

• 3M Speedglas G5-03 Pro and Speedglas 9100.
• ESAB Sentinel A60 and Savage A41.

See also our auto-darkening helmets, our grinding visors and our respiratory protection.

The four digits of an optical cassette

Every cassette carries a four-digit classification, separated by slashes, from 1 to 3. The lower the digit, the better the performance. It is the most useful and least read information.

The first rates optical quality, that is image sharpness. The second light diffusion, so the absence of haze. The third shade uniformity across the whole surface. The fourth angle dependence, which matters as soon as you weld out of position.

A 1/1/1/1 cassette costs more and is much less tiring over a day. At a production workstation, the difference is recovered in weld quality and visual fatigue.

Switching time and behaviour in the cold

Switching time is the delay between arc strike and darkening. It is counted in fractions of a millisecond. Too slow, the eye receives a flash at every strike; the effect is not felt at the time but builds up over the day.

These cassettes react more slowly at low temperature. In an unheated workshop or outdoors in winter, a cassette that is fine in summer can become uncomfortable. The operating temperature range is given in the instructions.

Shade, neither too light nor too dark

The shade is chosen according to the process and the current. Below the right value, the eye is overexposed. Above it, you can no longer see the weld pool, weld quality drops, and above all you end up lifting the helmet to see, which exposes you more than a slightly too light shade.

What the helmet does not do

It does not protect the airways. Welding fumes contain fine metal particles and, on stainless steel, hexavalent chromium. A powered air system sends filtered air under the helmet and keeps a slight positive pressure there.