Miller digital elite helmet shade too light

I've had an original Miller elite auto-dark for around 10 years but part of the lense started to separate. I found a good condition digital elite helmet on ebay to swap the lens out of. The new lense functions just fine, the only problem is the shade settings seem way lighter than on my original helmet. I've tried swapping the batteries between helmets and it makes no diference.

The shade 13 on the digital elite looks more like a shade 9 on the original elite. The digital elite's shade 8 is also only a little darker than a fixed shade 5. Photos taken with the same manual camera settings.

I'm sure I'll get a lot of "don't buy used equipment!" Comments, but has anyone else experienced this with new or old miller helmets? Is it just an effect of newer lens tech? I don't see how it would still function fine, but just seem 3-4 shades too light.

Thanks

The newer lens will seem clearer to see through most likely. Use new batteries instead of swapping them between old. A brand new complete Miller digital elite can be had for around $300, and not sure what you paid for the used one... They do fail slightly over time in my experience, and my eye sight is worth a lot more than $300! Whenever my hood seems like it is acting up, or seems like it is a little off, and is a few years old...it gets replaced.

Just going off the picture you posted it is hard for me to say anything definitive about its functionality. If you think something's not right then I would go with your gut. Why risk it.

From an electrical point of view. The shade adjustment pot might be a different value for both helmets.

If the adjustment pot from the old helmet is used on the "used" lens then maybe that is what is going on. That is to say that the adjustment
control from one lens is now trying to be used with another. Would be nice if this was an easy change.

But from what I remember is that the control can be part of the lens. The entire assembly is all in one piece. Their external adjustment control
must have been trimmed inside the package. Might be interesting to open up the assembly for the lens and see if the is anything that can be trimmed.

Otherwise use a light shade goggle inside the hood. If you are frugal...

A few hundred bucks can't buy a set of eyes. So don't experiment too much unless it is an easy safe fix.

Rons,

Yeah the lenses are complete assemblies with controls built in and I'm sure they weren't meant to be taken apart. I'm looking at light shade inserts to make it work since it seems fine otherwise.


Johfoster,

I'll keep that in mind. I was indeed using new batteries. As for price it was less than $100. I'd like to think I'm a fairly good judge of eBay item condition. If an added +2 or +3 tinted lense doesn't make it feel right I'll pony up for a new lense.

Thanks!

AbbeyK said:

Rons,

Yeah the lenses are complete assemblies with controls built in and I'm sure they weren't meant to be taken apart. I'm looking at light shade inserts to make it work since it seems fine otherwise.

Click to expand...

A shade that adds darkness is what I would. In case you never heard this, blink both eyes right when the lens is activating. That way you protect yourself
from possible faulty time delays in a hopefully not built lens with unknown origin. But we all know the most likely origin ...

I have 3 digital elite and 1 elite helmet myself. They range over 10 years.

The shades on all 4 of them are basically the same with just a tiny bit of difference in 1 being a tad lighter but not a full shade.

As stated, $300 is not worth a set of eyes when that helmet fails.

I dont know if helmets can be repaired, I honestly would just purchase a new one because I need my eyes to support my family.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

If you've had 4 with less then a shades difference then there has to be something up with mine. That's the comparison I was looking for. Thank you for the input, you and everyone else!

A shade number is on a package for a plastic lens or numbers indicating shade around the circumference of a adjustment knob.
You don't really know unless a way to test the shading is done. Not with your own eyes, but a instrument.