How well is your shop tighted. You may try going out side in the brite sun and let your eyes get adjusted and then go back in and do some welding maybe that will help.
All can say I don't feel like the Lone Ranger..My buddy said thank god for grinders! I am learning alot here hope one of these Ideas help! Kind of like the blind leading the blind!!
Sorry man, but if you cannot see the puddle, you are welding blind. PERIOD. Not saying you can't "get away with" it, but you have NO idea what's happening until it's too late. I teach welding every day, so I do have some idea where I'm coming from here... To the OP: X2 on losing the auto-dark shield. I use a #10 GOLD face plate and 1.00 mag lens. For most welding, the gold will allow you to safely run one shade lighter than a typical green face plate. (as mentioned above...didn't read to the end)
Thanks again all, this is great info. I'm going to try the gold lens next. The idea of going outside and getting adjusted to bright light first sounds interesting, nothing to lose there.
x2 on this. I had a HF and upgraded. makes all the difference. the HF are comparatively slow to darken and don't get nearly dark enough to fully block out the light. I found I was seeing spots after using the HF mask. can't speak to the glasses--fortunatly not there yet.
I have actually been playing with mounting one of those miners/coon hunting type lights that strap to your head...... I undid the straps and just taped it to my helmet to start with, after some heat the tape got sticky and it slid off. I have now drilled and pop riveted on.....seems to be working.
Damn, i weld almost everyday with damn cheapo Harbor freight auto darkening helmet. I actually have used several expensive auto darkening helmets as well ans I really don't see any difference. When I did start having problems seeing my welds, I noticed how grungy the outer lense on my cheapo had become and replaced it... Problem solved! Now I'm not saying the cheapo is the be all end all helmet, but I just haven't had problems with it, and it has turned back very good service for quite awhile. I do agree with the guys talking about welding in outdoor light when ever possible. Seems to work well for me.
I've never used the HF shield, so I dont know for sure how they are.... However I talked to the guy at the welding store about what he sold and the first question he asked me was whether I was going to be doing low-amperage TIG or stick welding or what exactly did I use it for, and what kind of environment (the background light affects the response)....My point being that there is a difference in response, and they know it, and they also know some arent able or willing to pay the price for top-of-the-line. I thanked him for being honest. I personally like the green lens, just because its what I learned with, but there is a difference you can tell with the blue and the gold, and you'll find people who swear by all three. If you're TIG mostly, you can get away w/o the plastic covers...and w/o the inside one for other stuff, just be careful where you lay the shield when you pick up the grinder or you'll ruin that colored lens with the slag. Good Luck
I use an Optrel helmet. It's expensive, over $300, but it changes fast and uses the light from welding instead of a battery. Others I work with use Miller Elite and always seem to be replacing batteries. The Optrel has multiple settings for welding grinding or cutting as well as sensitivity like the Miller Elite. The only problem I had was if someone was operating a forklift with a strobe light within 200 feet, the lens will darken with every strobe flash. Safety requires we use screens to protect others from arc and it also solves the strobe problem. One guy that used to work with us had a Speedglass helmet. He was having some trouble welding on a trailer so I welded it using his helmet and it seemed that it was slow to darken so your eyes get flashed and take time to readjust. If you don't use an auto darkening helmet, I would recommend the gold lens and keep both sides of all lenses clean.
The bad thing with the hoods with the built in batteries is if you don't weld real offen they go dead and need to sit in the sun for a while to charge them back up. I like the replaceable battery hoods better I got the Hobart hood which is just like the Miller hood.
Some great tips here. I often hold a free HF led flashlight while I weld helps me to see what I am doing.
Sorry I'm late. Good advise given. I use the old school welding hoods with a gold lens. Always using new or very clean clear lens. One thing that was not mentioned was using a bright colored hood. The first thing I do when I get a new hood is paint it white, the reflection from the arc helps lighten the area you are welding.
I didn't read anything but the first post. Got to have clean lenses #1 The HF helmets wear out and slowly obscure your view #2 Yes there are better helmets and more importantly lenses.#3 Better of with a magnified lenses than reading glasses. Try a lesser shade ( impossible with a older HF hood) and some UV safety glasses. using a lesser shade lens is equivalent to shining more ambient light or being outside as long as you have UV protective safety glasses. ( like 9 vs 10- 11 or reasonable ) not a 6 vs 10 Do NOT go too light or you'll see spots like a camera flash for longer Letting your eyes focus and adjust takes more time after 40 than when you're younger. It used to be undetectable but I can actually detect the time if I look at 300 yards to 3 feet to 3" . Fucked up but thats the way it is.
Back to the OP question, Gas and TIG have a puddle, so does old stick welding. IS THERE a puddle with MIG? I've never seen one, and gave up on trying to learn it. Bob
I use a jackson variable shade helmet that has an orange tint instead of green or gray. I feel like it allows me to see the puddle much better. I think the model is"professional"
Yes mig has a puddle. Every thing can be seen the same IE surface wetting / solidified , mill scale roll over, under cutting, porosity, inclusions, its no different in most respects
Some good advice here. Adding light helps plenty. I also attached a cloth hood to the helmet - goes over the back of my head and cuts out all the light entering from behind. Makes a big difference!
Another trick I learned; is to wear a dark colored shirt when welding. If wearing a light colored shirt it actually reflects light from the arc up inside the welding helmet making it much harder to see the puddle.
Speaking of 'Seeing the Puddle'... Kind of hypnotic. When it's hard to see I put a halogen worklight onto the piece. Either 300W or 500W. You would think the arc would be bright enough, but it doesn't work like that.
Bought a #10 gold lens yesterday. Big difference over my HF auto darkening helmet. Can you get auto darkening and gold lens together?
For TIG Welding...Can't live without my OPTREL!!! Also, A copuple of years ago my welding quality started to decline.... ...READING GLASSES!...it'll happen to everyone evetually!... Aloha Tommy
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