How to Adjust Shade, Sensitivity, and Delay on Your Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet

What Shade Number Means

The shade number indicates the darkness level of the lens when activated. Higher numbers provide more protection for brighter arcs, while lower numbers offer better visibility for lower-amperage work.

The Safe Way to Find Your Ideal Shade (Recommended Method):

Always start with the HIGHEST shade number available on your helmet, then reduce as needed. This ensures maximum eye protection while you find your optimal setting.

1. Start at maximum shade - Set your helmet to the highest shade number (typically 13 or 14)
2. Make a test weld - Strike an arc without staring directly at it initially
3. Evaluate visibility - Can you see the puddle clearly? Are your eyes comfortable?
4. Reduce if needed - If visibility is too limited, reduce the shade by one number at a time
5. Find your balance - Stop when you can see the puddle clearly AND your eyes feel comfortable with no strain

Key principle: Your ideal shade is the one where you can see the puddle clearly without any eye strain or discomfort. Personal preferences vary, so what works for one welder may differ for another.

Important safety rule: Never sacrifice eye protection for visibility. If you're unsure, always use a darker shade.

Reference Guide (Starting Points Only):

Use these as general reference points, but always start higher and adjust down based on your personal comfort and visibility needs:

TIG Welding (GTAW):

• Low amp (under 50A): Shade 9-10
• Medium amp (50-150A): Shade 10-12
• High amp (150A+): Shade 13-14

MIG Welding (GMAW):

• Thin material (under 100A): Shade 10-11
• Medium material (100-250A): Shade 11-12
• Thick material (250A+): Shade 13-14

Stick Welding (SMAW):

• Low amp (under 100A): Shade 10-11
• Medium amp (100-200A): Shade 11-12
• High amp (200A+): Shade 13-14

Note: These are reference guidelines only. Your optimal shade depends on your personal vision, the specific application, and ambient lighting conditions.

What Sensitivity Controls

Sensitivity determines how much light is needed to trigger the helmet to darken. Higher sensitivity means the helmet responds to weaker light sources; lower sensitivity requires brighter light to activate.

Simple Rule: Always Use Highest Sensitivity When Possible

Recommended approach: Set sensitivity to MAXIMUM (highest setting) for all welding applications. Higher sensitivity doesn't hurt your welding performance - it only ensures the helmet responds quickly to any arc, regardless of amperage or process.

When to Reduce Sensitivity:

Only reduce sensitivity if you experience false triggering (unwanted darkening), such as:

• Helmet darkens from bright sunlight when working outdoors
• Helmet triggers from nearby welders' arcs
• Helmet darkens from workshop lights or other bright ambient sources
• Unwanted triggering during overhead welding in bright conditions

How to Adjust:

1. Locate the sensitivity control (often labeled "SENS" or with +/- symbols)
2. Start at MAXIMUM (highest) sensitivity
3. Test with your welding application
4. If you experience false triggering, reduce sensitivity one step at a time until the problem stops
5. Keep sensitivity as high as possible while avoiding false triggers

Pro Tip: Antra helmets with multiple sensors provide better arc detection. If you're having trouble with sensitivity, ensure sensors aren't blocked by spatter or debris.

What Delay Controls

Delay determines how long the lens stays dark after the arc stops. When you finish a weld, the metal remains extremely bright and continues to emit intense visible light and infrared (IR) radiation as it cools. The delay setting keeps your lens dark to protect your eyes from this bright glow and heat radiation until the metal cools enough to be safe to view.

Simple Approach: Medium Setting Fits Most Applications

Recommended starting point: Set delay to MEDIUM for most welding work. This provides good protection from the remaining glow while allowing reasonable visibility between welds.

When to Use Short Delay:

• Tack welding - Small welds cool quickly and you need to reposition frequently
• Frequent starts and stops - When you need maximum visibility between short welds

Special Note for Antra DP3, DP5A, and DP8 models: These helmets feature a dedicated Tack Mode specifically designed for extended tack welding sessions. Use Tack Mode instead of manually adjusting delay for long-duration tack welding work.

When to Use Long Delay:

• High-amperage welding - Metal retains more heat and glows brighter for longer
• Thick materials - Stay hot longer and emit more residual glow
• Continuous welding - Long beads with minimal stops
• Inspecting welds - When you need to see the bead while it's still glowing

How to Adjust:

1. Locate the delay control (often labeled "DELAY" or with clock symbols)
2. Start at MEDIUM setting for general welding
3. Make a test weld and observe the lens after the arc stops
4. Adjust based on the remaining glow:
   • If the lens clears too quickly and the glowing metal is uncomfortably bright, increase delay
   • If you're waiting too long for the lens to clear, decrease delay
5. Find the setting where you're protected from the glow but not waiting unnecessarily

Safety Note: The delay should always be long enough to protect your eyes from the bright, glowing metal and IR radiation after the arc stops. Never set delay so short that you're exposed to uncomfortable brightness from the cooling weld.