My Viking 1840 series auto dimming helmet decided to not work today. Any ideas on the best way to try to diagnose it?

@Captain Obvious

@grannyknot

they have battery issues from this: https://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?687971-Lincoln-Viking-helmets-Junk

My batteries are not designed to be replaced.

Looks like Lincoln wants you to replace the ADF cartridge.

16 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Looks like Lincoln wants you to replace the ADF cartridge.

I priced it. They are about $150. I can almost buy a new hat for that!

I watched a you tube video where he got into the ADF and the 3v batteries are evidently soldered in. He reworked it but it still didn't fix his helmet. I would try to replace the batteries but don't want to waste my time. I am wondering if it's in the switch. I wonder if I could come up with a way to bypass the switch. I suspect it is a rheostat

Mine stopped working too so I bought a new helmet on sale. Issue fixed. My eyes aren’t something I’m going to mess around with.

I took a quick look at Lincoln's website and the docs say the battery in the 1840 is replicable.

I'm guessing that's only for the new ones and yours is old enough that's not the case?

4 hours ago, Patcon said:

I can almost buy a new hat for that!

But that's the point, why sell a man one helmet when you can sell him two.

Can anyone explain exactly how these hats work?  They have solar cells and they have batteries. Do the solar cells only switch the lens on or do they also help keep the batteries charged? I don't totally understand the operation.

I took my hat apart and the ADF will dim when looking at the sun, so I need to clean it up and see if it will work when assembled. I am just trying to figure out if weak batteries is part of the problem because of the lack of natural light in the shop.

My understanding is the solar does not charge the batteries, but acts as an "alternative" power source. In fact, I don't think lithium button cells are rechargeable at all.

I think the screen will operate from whichever power source is higher, either solar or battery.

I think the marketing descriptions usually say something like the solar cells "extend battery life". And they do that "extension" by providing an alternative power source. And the more you draw from the "alternate", the less you have to draw from the battery.

So how is it that you made your original determination the helmet had failed? Did you draw a welding arc and it did not go dark? Or did it just stop going dark when you looked at the shop lights?

3 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

My understanding is the solar does not charge the batteries, but acts as an "alternative" power source. In fact, I don't think lithium button cells are rechargeable at all.

I think the screen will operate from whichever power source is higher, either solar or battery.

I think the marketing descriptions usually say something like the solar cells "extend battery life". And they do that "extension" by providing an alternative power source. And the more you draw from the "alternate", the less you have to draw from the battery.

So how is it that you made your original determination the helmet had failed? Did you draw a welding arc and it did not go dark? Or did it just stop going dark when you looked at the shop lights?

It wouldn't dim when striking an arc. I messed with it for a while but couldn't make it dim.

Then a few days later when the sun finally came out I took it outside and it dims fine in the sunlight and adjusts as it should with the ADF out of the helmet.

Yeah, that's just an unacceptable situation. Sounds like it was intermittent, and without figuring out definitively what the problem was (is), then you'll never trust it. That's where I was with my previous helmet, although I believe I can identify the issue as shadowing the (one and only) arc sensor.

So is there a number on the internal battery? Can you tell if it's Ni-Cd, or Lithium? Reason I ask is that if it's Ni-Cd, then it might be rechargeable by the solar cell. But if its lithium, then it is not rechargeable.