Have you ever thought about the usage and the necessity of welding equipment especially welding masks? Why are welders using them? Welding masks are one of the most basic and common welding equipment. A welder uses a welding mask, whether on the scaffold, in a modern factory, or under the deep waters. Indeed, welding without a mask or protective goggles is difficult and risky. This equipment protects our eyes, skin, face, and neck from burning, welding spatters, ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) lights, and heat. Welding is dangerous, and these dangers will increase when inferior and low-quality equipment is used. Nowadays, most welders are using welding goggles and mask. Masks are mostly used for the Arc Welding, such as Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). These masks have opaque helmet shells, protective filters (lens), and a headband or a handle. The lens can help welders to see their welding work and process. These lenses can vary, but most are dark-colored glasses, dark-colored plastics, or polarized lenses with variable density. These masks have different types: 1) Passive welding helmets, 2) auto-darkening welding helmets, 3) The solar-powered lens helmets, 4) The battery-powered helmets, 5) The fixed-shade lens welding helmet, and 6) The variable-shade lens welding helmets.
Why Welding Helmets Are Necessary
There are many dangerous effects and damages during welding, so welders have ensured the necessary use of welding helmets. One is photokeratitis or arc eye inflammation of the cornea caused by exposure to ultraviolet rays from artificial or natural sources. A welder who is suffering from arc-eye has inflamed eyes. To prevent the arc-eye, wearing helmets is necessary. They also prevent photic retinopathy. 
Photic retinopathy is another damage and injury to the eye’s retina from exposure to solar radiation or other lights like arc welding, laser, etc. This damage can cause blindness. All these injuries would happen when the eyes are exposed to the rays and radiation from welding. The UV also can injure the unprotected skin and cause sunburn skin during the short time of welding. In addition to these radiations, fumes and spatters can damage the eyes and skin, which mask will protect from them. Before the invention of welding masks, welders used goggles and other kinds of coverings, and gradually they came to use a type of mask to protect the complete protection of the head, face, and eyes. Then they used a kind of hat in which some lenses were used. Then they developed and changed into these types of masks.
The Effects of Unprotected Welding
Welding is a hazardous skill and job in which welders should be armed with equipment to prevent any effects of welding, and an unprotected welder will hurt deeply. Protective goggles or welding masks with UV and IR filter lenses are the first secure equipment that is better used by hats to protect welders’ heads and necks from melted spatters. Welding helmets are a combination of all goggles, masks, and hats at the same time. If welders have none of them, they may be seriously injured so that they cannot live the rest of their lives. The following protective step is wearing gloves and a leather apron. Welding has two kinds of radiation. These rays are because of the melting metals during the welding process. The first one is Ultraviolet or UV, the same as the sun’s radiation. Prolonged exposure to UV can cause skin cancer. Without wearing the masks, this radiation affects the skin directly and increases the risk of skin cancer. The second one is Infrared or IR. This radiation is used in microwave ovens to warm the food up. Read more: Steel Products Companies 
IR causes many internal problems in the body and wearing masks, and leather aprons can decrease the effect of IR on the body. After a long time of unprotective exposure to these rays, it can cause many other eye disorders and diseases like cataracts. A cataract is a disease that causes the eyes’ lenses to become white, and if treatment is denied, the sight can be lost. Then, light sensitivity can be another disease. For a person who has light sensitivity, it is hard to tolerate any lights and sunlight. Welding is an exothermic process. The heat from welding can be dangerous or cause some burns on the skin and some blisters. In the same way, some melting spatters can burn the welders’ skin or eyes if they do not wear protective equipment.
Welding Mask with Handle vs. Automatic
The first kind of welding mask to protect the face and the eyes is a mask with a handle. They are used in a way that the welder should hold them with one hand in front of the face. Using these masks is not suitable for protracted welding because they limit welders by making one of their hands busy and tired. They also are not proper for low-ampere welding, and their protection is limited. In 1981, Hornell, a Swedish inventor, made an electronic shutter with Crystal Liquid Technologies (LCD). This shutter was a sensor that automatically turned dark with arc light and radiation. Then an automatic welding mask was invented. So, with these masks, welders do not need to move the masks on their faces and decrease the welding risks. When the lenses automatically turn on in these masks, there is some crystal liquid among polarizing filters that refract the light about 90 degrees, and lenses turn dark to protect the welder’s eyes. Using masks with handles is not common anymore, and automatics take their place in modern welding. 
Read more:High Voltage Power Cable Auto-darkening can help the welders have better sight without moving their necks, heads, or masks. Practically it can improve the accuracy of electrode placement because welders do not need to take off the helmet or move their sight to detect. This advantage, individually, decreases the risk of grinding and welding again.
How Automatic Welding Masks Works
To understand better how automatic welding masks works, let’s check how the filters work. The filters consist of 9 layers: two replaceable protection plates, an IR/UV filter, three polarizing lenses, two liquid crystal elements, and a cover glass. IR/UV filters continuously block the harmful IR and UV radiations, whether the mask is on in a filtering mode or off. This is the first filter after a replaceable protection plate. After that, there is an LCD that can facilitate the deflection of the light when the sensors and electronics detect the light. So, when the sensors and electronics detect the light, the solar cells provide some voltage to the LCD to darken it. Then the polarizers after the LCD can block the light and filter them. Most auto-darkening masks have two sets of these filters, but some have three sets to improve their efficiency. It takes about 0.15 milliseconds to occur. A mask in standby is in average filtering mode, and after turning it on, it will change to the highest filtering mode.
The Best Automatic Welding Mask
There are many factors in choosing the best automatic welding masks and helmets. An excellent automatic mask should react less than 0.1 milliseconds to the welding lights and turn dark. Now welders can weld faster and safer. Some of these masks are wide-view and can provide welders with better sight. These side views are adjustable, and welders can adjust the density and darkness. There are masks with size adjustability that welders can adapt according to their heads and feel more comfortable. All automatic masks should be compatible with TIG and MIG welding. These helmets must prevent the entrance of heat, humidity, and fumes from welding inside to protect welders. The batteries in these helmets should have a long life. The weight is significant as well. Helmets must be light enough to prevent damage and extra pressure on the welders’ necks. The protection of welding masks and helmets is not the same. Passive welding helmets The most basic welding helmet is this passive one. It does not have special features, but it is worthy of wearing. This kind protects welders from throwing things, UV, and welding heat. The most crucial feature of passive welding helmets is their affordable price. auto-darkening welding helmets The biggest problem with passive helmets is their manual lens adjusting. This problem has been solved in auto-darkening helmets by their sensors. Auto-darkened welding helmets detect the lights and adjust the lenses according to the lightness during welding. As a result, the welding efficiency can be improved and save time with this option considerably. The solar powered lens helmets Some automatic welding products have inner batteries which are not changeable. They are solar-powered lens helmets whose batteries can charge by solar power. These batteries supply the energy of these helmets. Their advantage is that using them is affordable because batteries are not working much, and when welders do not use them, lenses will turn off. In this way, this makes it more affordable. The disadvantage of them is that they are not ready to use. When welders want to use it, they should put them under the sun to be charged and ready. The battery-powered helmets The batteries on the battery-power helmets are chargeable and changeable. The batteries, most of the time, are lithium. Most welders always are busy with their projects. They are not satisfied with the manual lens adjustment or waiting for the solar charging. So, they should use some helmets with chargeable batteries. Both solar-powered and battery-powered have their advantages and disadvantages. The fixed-shade lens welding helmet The fixed-shade lens welding helmets have a conventional shade level of 10. They do not have adjustable lenses for different arc lightness. They are most helpful for some welding projects with the same materials. The variable-shade lens welding helmets. Opposite the fixed-shade lens helmets, variable-shade lens helmets can adjust the lenses according to the level of brightness and welding types. These are suitable for welding variable materials. Both of them are good protectors. But the variable-shade lens helmets can improve and increase the sight of the welders. The welding quality will decrease whenever the intense light has emitted, and the welding should start again. Some Tips for Automatic Welding Helmets For using these automatic welding helmets, some tips should be mentioned:
- If the polarized filters cannot detect the arc or can detect other welders’ arc in the same place, the degree of sensitivity should be adjusted, or the welding process should be changed.
- To buy new welding helmets, welders should be sure that the purchased helmet is suitable for the welding procedure and ampere range. This is true, especially in the invert GTAW with low direct current.
- Welders should ensure that the sensors are clean and are not blocked. If needed, they should be cleaned with water and soup or replaced.
- If it is necessary, replace the batteries. Some of these welding helmets have specific battery life, and welders should be careful about their replacement.
- Since these welding helmets are electronical, welders should keep them in a dry place.
In conclusion, protective welding equipment is necessary, and a professional or amateur welder should not run their project without any protection. 
It does not matter if it is a simple welding mask, a goggle, or a high-tech welding helmet; it is essential to have a guard for their eyes to prevent damage and injuries. During the welding, the eyes and all face and neck are in danger. These damages can be varied according to the types of welding and the welder’s proficiency. If welders want to continue their occupation with a healthy body for a long time, they should be careful about their safety. Except for welding masks, helmets and goggles, there are many other types of protective equipment such as gloves, apron, and boots. Some welders or companies design cloth and protective equipment sets in the same form and color. Or some welding companies design their own logo and organizational color for their welders’ and workers’ protective equipment and uniforms to have better unity and branding.
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