Might be time for a new lid...

[Wedg1e]

Optrel Satellite Evolution, must be pushing 20 years old... I like it, I know some on here don't... always kept on top of a cabinet facing a window so gets lots of bright light.
Wore it to reweld some of my late old man's handiwork on a garage door (sorry dad) and realised it wasn't darkening. Thought I could see the weld quite well

Anyway, fannied about with it and could hear almost a relay click inside the thing (which would seem unlikely) as it went dark, when lifted to sunlight. OK, so let's leave it in the sun for a few hours.
Tried it again and could get it to go dark but then it wouldn't clear in reduced light! WTF?
Then I realised that it went dark if my hand was over the sensors, and cleared in light. WTAM-FF?!
OK, I thought, off to Google for a new module. Er... not a chance.
Right then, maybe the batteries have died, I mean it wouldn't altogether be a surprise after all this time.
So I got all surgical with an X-Acto and removed an area of the cover to expose the batteries (2 CR2330s), prised them up to get meter probes in and... 3.06, 3.08V. Shorted them out to pull the voltage down and it quickly came back up to the same reading. So maybe the batteries aren't kaput. But for the sake of a fiver I'll change them anyway and see what happens. Could be the 'click' is actually something breaking down, arcing, probably terminal (no pun intended )
If all else fails I hear Lidl offer lids for £25... even at one a year for ten years that would see me into my 70s and be less than a new Optrel
Alternatively maybe just source a different module, I think they're much of a muchness dimensionally - the lid itself is in good shape and I have a plentiful supply of the outer lens...

 

[Wedg1e]

Hmm, just tried the IR remote control trick using the Carrier aircon r/c (the only one I have) and it went dark for a split second every time I pressed the power button, but not if I then tried the temp up/down, mode, fan etc.
Worked fine about 50 times and has stopped responding again. Batteries still measure OK. Puzzling...

 

[frank horton]

Hi
same thing with me....My old Parweld helmet was getting imposs to use....
I bought a lidil one a couple of years ago as a spare...used it a few times then it quit....no batteries, it's solar....
too old to take it back...
looked for a new lens pack on Temu etc.....there they cost more than a new hat from lidil....
but I found this on eBay UK for around £9.....I cant get stuff delivered here coz of Brexit...
dont know if this will help....

PS.... I swopped out the plexiglass lens cover from the Lidil to my old'n and now I can see again....hahaha...
good luck Frank

 

[BrokenBiker]

Apparently, according to experts...you need a speedglas

 

[tom2207]

Apparently, according to experts...you need a speedglas

Everyone needs a Speedglas ,,, I keep mine beside my ACF50

just thought best I mention it

 

[hotponyshoes]

I might have a spare adf for one of those.
I've got a welding cell with optrel adf's in.
Not sure what ones they are but I'll have a look later.
Measure yours as they might fit even if they are not the same model

 

[trigger3]

might just sell off my speedglas and sit in the office all day. then just tell the boss , sorry my $20 mask wont stay working long enough to get any work done . thats a brilliant plan

 

[BrokenBiker]

might just sell off my speedglas and sit in the office all day. then just tell the boss , sorry my $20 mask wont stay working long enough to get any work done . thats a brilliant plan

Still banging that drum i see

 

[Wedg1e]

I might have a spare adf for one of those.
I've got a welding cell with optrel adf's in.
Not sure what ones they are but I'll have a look later.
Measure yours as they might fit even if they are not the same model

Hmm, cheers... 110 x 90 x 9mm, says the stick of numbers.
Left it on the windowsill all day, tried it tonight and it's doing nothing... batteries still show 3V each.
Just for a laugh I'll change the batteries but I'm not optimistic.

Wonder if I can rig it to a bench PSU... (for testing, not welding!)

 

[Wedg1e]

Hi
same thing with me....My old Parweld helmet was getting imposs to use....
I bought a lidil one a couple of years ago as a spare...used it a few times then it quit....no batteries, it's solar....
too old to take it back...
looked for a new lens pack on Temu etc.....there they cost more than a new hat from lidil....
but I found this on eBay UK for around £9.....I cant get stuff delivered here coz of Brexit...
dont know if this will help....
View attachment 511959
PS.... I swopped out the plexiglass lens cover from the Lidil to my old'n and now I can see again....hahaha...
good luck Frank

Frank, there must be 100,000 people selling what looks like either of two types on Ebay, that being one of them, as low as 6 quid or so...

 

[bourbon]

Still banging that drum i see

Talking out of another orifice more like

 

[trigger3]

its amazing the great lengths people will go just to try and save a few dollars. the time posting threads asking why the mask doesnt work. the time taking it apart for a impossible repair. broke down in the middle of a project. time and fuel driving across town for another $40 piece of junk to be in the same position again. makes zero sense at all. 1 step forward 2 steps back

 

[Turbo]

Still banging that drum i see

Hasn't learned anything from his time on the naughty step!

 

[Wedg1e]

its amazing the great lengths people will go just to try and save a few dollars. the time posting threads asking why the mask doesnt work. the time taking it apart for a impossible repair. broke down in the middle of a project. time and fuel driving across town for another $40 piece of junk to be in the same position again. makes zero sense at all. 1 step forward 2 steps back

...says the man with so little to do in life that he wastes it looking for forums where he can belittle the efforts of others

 

[trigger3]

...says the man with so little to do in life that he wastes it looking for forums where he can belittle the efforts of others

i remember getting belittled in the last thread as i was called names by atleast one person , but i didnt respond back with name calling how ever. why didnt you speak up on that belittling ? you didnt try to rescue me. maybe because im not from your neck of the woods ? im not your mate ? well enough about that
maybe you can make it make sense. why not spend a few more bucks and get a mask that has reasonable qaulity ? no need for repair threads. no need wondering why it doesnt work. no need chasing a replacment across town.
how is it even possible to manufacture and ship a adf for $30 ?

 

[BrokenBiker]

i remember getting belittled in the last thread as i was called names by atleast one person , but i didnt respond back with name calling how ever. why didnt you speak up on that belittling ? you didnt try to rescue me. maybe because im not from your neck of the woods ? im not your mate ? well enough about that
maybe you can make it make sense. why not spend a few more bucks and get a mask that has reasonable qaulity ? no need for repair threads. no need wondering why it doesnt work. no need chasing a replacment across town.
how is it even possible to manufacture and ship a adf for $30 ?

No one tried to rescue you because everyone thinks you are a bit of a unit...let's face it, the only conversation you are capable of is ridiculing people for wanting a budget friendly mask and then promoting spedglas like you have shares...just get the hint that you arent liked already. Maybe if you tried having normal conversation like the rest of us you might fit in but as it stands, you are a running joke on this forum and everyone knows exactly when you are going to pipe up to the point we now even make jokes before you have commented...

 

[skotl]

i remember getting belittled in the last thread as i was called names by atleast one person , but i didnt respond back with name calling how ever. why didnt you speak up on that belittling ? you didnt try to rescue me. maybe because im not from your neck of the woods ? im not your mate ? well enough about that
maybe you can make it make sense. why not spend a few more bucks and get a mask that has reasonable qaulity ? no need for repair threads. no need wondering why it doesnt work. no need chasing a replacment across town.
how is it even possible to manufacture and ship a adf for $30 ?

Lots of people repeatedly spoke up, and you ignored and belittled their responses.
I really don't think it's healthy for you, or fun for the rest of us, to start going down this road all over again.

 

[skotl]

...we now even make jokes before you have commented...

^^ That pretty much says it all, sadly.

 

[hotponyshoes]

This type?
Or has yours got the external controls?

 

[Wedg1e]

i remember getting belittled in the last thread as i was called names by atleast one person , but i didnt respond back with name calling how ever. why didnt you speak up on that belittling ? you didnt try to rescue me. maybe because im not from your neck of the woods ? im not your mate ? well enough about that
maybe you can make it make sense. why not spend a few more bucks and get a mask that has reasonable qaulity ? no need for repair threads. no need wondering why it doesnt work. no need chasing a replacment across town.
how is it even possible to manufacture and ship a adf for $30 ?

I didn't see the thread to which you refer, but by the sound of it you must have ruffled feathers.

Not that it matters to you, but I've spent 40+ years earning a living by pulling things apart and repairing them (including, funnily enough, things made in the good ole' US of A). I'd have preferred to be a gigolo, but there it is.
If you re-read my original post you'll see that the first thing I did was to try and source an exact (and expensive) replacement filter, but they're no longer available. So I have nothing to lose by trying to repair it. After all, it worked one day and didn't the next. If your car gets a flat tyre (we don't have tires over here) do you rush out and replace the entire car? Or do you say, "Well shucks, that Firestone done gone punctured on a rusty nail, I ain't never buying another one of those, goshdarn it"?
I suspect neither.

I have more than enough 'bucks' so yes, I could just buy a new helmet - Speedglass or otherwise. As I said, I like the Optrel, I know some people don't. This is the first time it's let me down in probably 20 years. That doesn't automatically make me hate it and want some other brand. I do however like value for money and as a hobbyist, if the last one gave me two decades for (as I recall) 200 'bucks' I would like to see two decades from the next one for the same price, or pro rata if I get a cheap one.

...but thanks for your concern for my finances