[TheForge] Green LED welding hood.

[Kathy]

Jim,
You will be pleased to know that the helmet with three built in green LEDs is
the newest Optrel. However, a green 23W CFL (candle equivalent to a 90W
incandescent light), mounted on a swing arm so that you can aim it conveniently,
is a LOT less money and a lot more effective for bench work. Also, buying a
Harbor Freight variable auto-darkening helmet (visible light filter settings
from #9 to #13) and installing your own LEDs is a lot less expensive for field
work; eBay sells the green LEDs you'll need, and they operate just fine on 9V
batteries (switches, etc, available from Radio Shack).

Yes, these tricks also apply to torch work. Below are some excerpts from my
vision chapter. Have fun:
Mikey

Choosing and Mounting LEDs:
There are an ever increasing variety of LED choices, but for our purposes... it
is...better to buy LEDs with the necessary resistor and a few inches of wiring
already installed...(see resources list below)...to further simplify your work,
only use one LED size (milliamp rating) on any given circuit...several LEDs
wired in series on one circuit give the same individual brightness as a single
diode...our electrical circuit begins at the battery's negative pole (the flat
end on round batteries and the larger male snap fitting on rectangular
batteries), followed by an on/off switch mounted near the battery, or on the
goggle/hood between the battery and the first LED (the switch can also be
mounted between the last LED and the positive battery pole if you prefer). Our
LEDs can use a six, nine, or twelve volt battery, with very little difference in
light output.

The negative lead (or wire) of your first LED is connected facing toward the
battery's negative pole...it's positive lead is connected facing the battery's
positive pole. Multiple LEDs are mounted with their negative leads connected to
the previous LED's positive lead, and their positive leads are then connected to
the next LED's negative lead, with the positive lead of the last LED in the
series facing the battery's positive pole.
An LED's negative lead is always the shorter of the two extending wires...
LEDs are merely described as red, green, blue, etc., by most merchandisers,
although some will give their nanometer rating...this is comparable to most
dichroic "notch" color filters. So far, only primary colors are available
pre-wired, so if you want blue/green lights, you will have to wire them to their
resistors yourself...LED mounting hole size for 8mm = .3150" and needs letter
"0" drill bit


Resources: Lighting Products
8mm green LED lights are available through various eBay dealers (be sure to buy
them with resistors attached0.

ClipMateT 3 LED Clip-On Light (green), is available from The LED Light, Inc.,
1617 Fairview Drive Ste 27-28, Carson City NV 89701 Tel: 1-775-841-4490 between
9 AM and 3 PM  http://www.theledlight.com/clipmate.html

Colored CFL Floodlights are available in red...green...from Creative Energy
Technologies Inc., 2872 State Route 10, Summit NY 12175 Tel: 1-518-287-1428 Fax;
1-518-287-1459 Home page:  Product page:   
http://www.cetsolar.com/compactfluorescent.htm  and 18w white, or 23w colored
bulb, equals an incandescent 100w bulb. They can be used inside or outside. They
also sell less powerful twist CFL lights (13 watt equals an incandescent 60w
bulb) in red, green, yellow, blue, and orange. 





-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Jim Beard
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 2:35 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Inverters & MIG Welders

Someone posted on here a while back about a certain type of LED light
that was visible through a welding hood.  It sounded worth checking
out.  Starting blind sure was the hardest thing for me to get used to
when I first learned to weld.

*I'm also not a great welder :)