Hi Gideon,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We’re sorry the Shade 5 filter didn’t work out for your setup.
Shade 5 is our most protective welding plate—it’s designed to block the intense white-light from the weld arc and a broad range of laser wavelengths. The trade-off is very low visible-light transmission, which can dim or completely block the low-power preview or alignment beams on many handheld welders.
If seeing the alignment beam while you work is critical, Shade 3 offers a better balance between visibility and protection. Just keep in mind that it does let in more light overall, so it provides less protection than Shade 5. Choosing Shade 3 is a matter of accepting that trade-off to maintain a clear view of the aiming beam.
We’d be happy to:
Exchange your Shade 5 plate for a Shade 3 at no cost, or
Refund your purchase in full if you’d prefer to return it.
We’ve also added a note to our product documentation clarifying how each shade affects preview-laser visibility so future buyers can pick the right option from the start.
Please let us know which solution you’d like (or if there’s anything else we can do) and we’ll make it right.
Thank you again for helping us improve.
—Jeremy & the Laser Safety Industries team
