Do these electronic shades come apart?

[WobblyHand]

I dragged out my welding helmet to show to my grandson sometime in the future. He was asking about welding. He's only 3.5 years old. When cleaning it up a bit it appears that the batteries are dead. Of course, one of the batteries leaked and there's corrosion on one of the terminals. It seems there's no access to the other AAA terminal as it is underneath the case. For what it's worth, the batteries are Duracell and dated December 2025.

The unit is a Striker Ultra XL by HTP America. It has served me well. This unit is apparently a Jackson Products unit since that's what's on the warning label.

Is the case openable? There's no fasteners, so it looks like a snap shut case. I can get the first battery out I think using a dental pick. If there's a trick to opening these units up, please let me know.

 

[rodm1]

Try to clean it up with vinegar you may not need to take it apart. The best thing is don't leave battery's in anything that you care about. Expansive things should get only Energizer lithium batteries. I've had luck with rechargeable the last several years.

 

[Nutfarmer]

I had the same problem. I couldn’t find anyway to open the case. It looks like they are bonded together. Working through the small battery window I managed to pry out the old batteries and scrape off the corrosion from the terminal. I did use some contact cleaner. I would not use vinegar because there is no way to keep it away from the circuit board and only on the battery terminals. Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 69715]

I've used some stuff called Dox-It. Comes in an aerosol can with the usual little red straw. Will break down corrosion and makes it painless to clean. Non-corrosive, dries, leaves no film or residue. Not totally magic, but does a good job.

 

[WobblyHand]

I can get to the outboard terminal, and got rid of most of the crud. Both batteries were corroded and had leaked. The inboard battery was difficult to get out because the battery case had swollen. I had to dig into the battery with the pick to pry it out.

The negative terminal, deep inside the case has some sort of unusual spring contact, sort of like a guided spring which greatly reduces visibility and access. At first I tried to use a rechargeable AAA (because that is all I could find) and thought I had some success. I saw it work once or twice then it refused to operate. It was a limited success, because one of the AAA batteries died, measuring 160mV. Of course, we have run out of AAA batteries - groan. So I am not sure if this limited operation is a success or failure.

Apparently this cartridge is no longer offered. I tried looking through the Jackson catalog. Closest I could find is a cartridge size: 4.5 x 5.25, but mine measures 4.7 x 5.4 and has some integral latches. Don't see anything like it.

 

[markba633csi]

You might want to try cutting/melting an access port in the plastic over the hidden terminal so that you can clean it better
Plain water usually cleans up alkaline cell leaks pretty well I've found. A bit of lemon juice can be helpful, and leaves a lemony fresh scent to boot
Remember that the batteries are only for the shade function- the UV eye protection is built into the plastic lens and doesn't rely on power

 

[WobblyHand]

You might want to try cutting/melting an access port in the plastic over the hidden terminal so that you can clean it better
Plain water usually cleans up alkaline cell leaks pretty well I've found. A bit of lemon juice can be helpful, and leaves a lemony fresh scent to boot
Remember that the batteries are only for the shade function- the UV eye protection is built into the plastic lens and doesn't rely on power

Interesting and good idea about a port.

I understand the UV part. However, not having the auto shade function means the hood is useless. An arc is incredibly bright and will have you blinded and seeing spots for quite a long time - trust me on that. Learned that the last time the batteries ran out!

 

[Jake M]

I had that exact same unit, bought it (branded) off of one of the tool trucks. It served me well for 20 years. It suffered the same fate. It drew so little off of the batteries for the amount I used it, they did just that. Never sat more than a week, two on the outside. I could not find a way to open the case. (well, there is one way...). it's clipped, glued or bonded, and generally meant to be permanent. Even once I got in, it wasn't really anything I could have worked with to repair.

The bad news for me was, and given how I got it, I was out a VERY expensive helmet. The good news was, helmets had come a long way. Solar (no batteries) are quite good, the reaction is far better, light and dark visibility are better. Basically, that stuff had come a LONG way since I got it, and I didn't know. I got one from Airgas/Radnor, the entry level / cheapest one you can get on the spot, for two thirds the price of a repair part for my old one. It was gonna be a band aid until I ordered a part, then live at home so I wouldn't have to remember to drag that home every time I wanted it. So much better. I got a second one from Airgas to take home and let the dead one go. Not as good as going from flip up to auto, but time had undoubtedly moved on...

 

[WobblyHand]

I had that exact same unit, bought it (branded) off of one of the tool trucks. It served me well for 20 years. It suffered the same fate. It drew so little off of the batteries for the amount I used it, they did just that. Never sat more than a week, two on the outside. I could not find a way to open the case. (well, there is one way...). it's clipped, glued or bonded, and generally meant to be permanent. Even once I got in, it wasn't really anything I could have worked with to repair.

The bad news for me was, and given how I got it, I was out a VERY expensive helmet. The good news was, helmets had come a long way. Solar (no batteries) are quite good, the reaction is far better, light and dark visibility are better. Basically, that stuff had come a LONG way since I got it, and I didn't know. I got one from Airgas/Radnor, the entry level / cheapest one you can get on the spot, for two thirds the price of a repair part for my old one. It was gonna be a band aid until I ordered a part, then live at home so I wouldn't have to remember to drag that home every time I wanted it. So much better. I got a second one from Airgas to take home and let the dead one go. Not as good as going from flip up to auto, but time had undoubtedly moved on...

I hear the message loud and clear... Buying a good helmet isn't in the cards right now, but perhaps a decent one is. This helmet was a huge step up from my HF auto dark, though - the HF one was so slow I'd get flashed a lot and it contributed a lot to fatigue. Once I got the Striker, no more fatigue. I'm disappointed that the cartridge size is non standard.

Maybe I will just go to my LWS and see if there are any affordable options. Just want a functional lid that is comfortable to wear - no stupid decorations or statements on it, just plain black. And it will respond to a 5A TIG arc, like this one did.

 

[Jake M]

That's a requirement for me. Plain black. Your local welding shop would probably be a good place. If you end up other places (Tractor Supply, Lowes/Home Depot, or similar), get a model number and google the crap out of it. If you go TOO cheap.... They're still perfectly functional, EXCEPT..... If you let the capacitor go TOTALLY dead... There's no juice in it to turn on the electronics to allow the solar panel to charge the capacitor up to turn on the charge circuit... If it's one that's bothered by that, it'll come up just by searching the mode. A welding supply place will have weeded that out, as they're in a niche market. They need their customers to come back.