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I have a Lincoln Viking 7000g welding helmet that has not been used for a few months. It is solar powered. I set it outside to charge (eventually doing this for a whole day) and it fails to darken. When holding up to sunlight and placing my hand over and away from the sensors, it does flicker, but does not commit to darkening. I am guessing there is an internal battery that is no longer holding charge.
Anyone have any experience with this problem?
Thanks
Martin

Check for a small internal battery

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Does it fail to darken when you weld or are you afraid to try that?

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I have a Lincoln Viking 3350, and have experienced the same. For mine it has a coin shaped battery that needs to be replaced once in a while. Since I can go for extended periods without welding, and then often end up doing so after hours, I bought a spare battery to keep on hand too.

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-Justin

Also follow my build on blogspot, tumblr, or instagram and twitter (GarageOdyssey)

Thanks guys, I'll hunt for a battery. I think it must be sealed inside as a consumable that cannot easily be replaced. I tried welding to see if it would darken....not trying that again. I want it to darken when put up to a bright source before I do that again!

The online owners manual indicates that yours requires no battery. Is it on grind mode? Have you tried increasing the sensitivity or cleaning/replacing the cover lens? Beyond that try checking with Lincoln customer support and/or your LWS for possible options. But it sounds like if the ADF has actually gone bad, it may actually need to be replaced.

_________________
-Justin

Also follow my build on blogspot, tumblr, or instagram and twitter (GarageOdyssey)

Mine did that when new and it was in grind mode.

I'm surprised yours doesn't have a replaceable battery as my experience with battery life says they definitely don't last forever - or even a reasonable time.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Yip, tried messing with all the settings. It always needed a short period of time to charge before each time I used it, and the manual says this could take an hour, which leads me to believe there is some form of internal energy storage. Hoping it is a replaceable battery.

Try storing the helmet on a shelve in the shop that is exposed to the direct sun or shop lites Vs in a box or shaded area. I just cover my helmet with a clear plastic bag to keep off the dust on an upper shelve. Always seems to be charged and ready to Rock&Roll. Dave W

Well it turns out it is a totally sealed unit. I'm pretty sure I damaged the circuit board prying it open. Looks like a couple of batteries hidden in there. 2 lessons learned - keep it in the light as Dave W suggested. Buy one with replaceable batteries. It will now be my grinding-only helmet!

Those may well be capacitors, which makes a lot of sense for a solar-powered unit.

A battery-powered unit isn't all that terrible. Just yesterday I replaced the two AA cells in my Jackson helmet, which lasted 18 years - no kidding.

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Yes, I'm looking into battery powered or battery (replaceable) with solar assist replacement.

Dang! My Miller needs new coin batteries every year or so. Perhaps I'm not using it enough, or there's a different setting for long-term storage that doesn't drain the batteries as quickly!

Well a big part of that is battery size. Two AA cells are about 20X more capacity that coin cells, which comes out about right. Plus, I don't use my welder everyday, maybe more like once a month when I'm not actively building a car.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://www.midlana.com/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains, http://www.kimini.com/book_info/

Well, there ya go! Makes sense. Although two AA cells are far less expensive than two CR2032s!