Recently I looked into a store with cheap goods. To my surprise, there was a very inexpensive selling mask with automatic darkening glass. If the usual mask requires unnecessary, annoying actions. Then with "Chameleon"cook is generally good. A very handy thing. Especially for beginners and amateurs welded once a year to poke an electrode into the metal.
The only thing that worries me is the very low price for a protective device for the organs of vision. The quality must be appropriate.
First of all, I decided to check how the mask sits on the head, are the straps that regulate the fit on heads of cabbage head. I'm surprised they are clearly and quickly regulated. Doesn't jump off my bowler hat.
It is not customary for our people to read instructions, but I did it. Scroll through the gallery. Photos can be enlarged from a computer.
The warranty card covered the entire series of welding helmets. The manufacturer also has expensive masks, and our cheapest is ASF-100. Accordingly, the protection class is the simplest. I removed the filter from the mask, I can clearly show the marking - optical class 1/2/1/2 en379 /
As they write on one of the pages dedicated to welding, the light-shielding class is not so bad:
Amateur welding of black steels with basic or rutile (for alternating current) electrodes: 1/2/2/2; 1/3/1/2; 1/3/2/2.
Also, or more difficult at a professional level: 1/1/1/2; 1/2/1/2.
I was interested in the filling of the automatic glass dimmer. It must be powered from some kind of power source. Besides the solar plate, it generates current for liquid crystal glass. Scrolling through the photo.
As it turned out, the filter contains a lithium battery, which is recharged from a solar energy receiver, and later this energy source can supply power to the LCD glass. Therefore, if your mask refused to work for you, then just recharge it in the sun.
Call brother
My brother is a welder, I decided to call and find out his opinion on cheap "chameleons". I will briefly summarize his answer:
1) Do not use it for a long time, good optics cannot be cheap.
2) In the cold, do not rely on it, because of the cold it works slowly or does not work at all, which is fraught with injuries and burns of the cornea of the eyes.
3) Prepare money for an optometrist
What I love my brother for is his straightforwardness. What do you think about this?
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