Sorry I'm probably rehashing an old subject, I did try searching.. Always had light sensitive eyeballs and it's getting worse. Looking for tips on seeing the puddle, and the seam for that matter. I have a 5 year old cheapo (HF) auto darkening, adjustable light helmet, which I have adjusted every which way to no avail. Do better quality helmets work better? I'm using 2.00 reading glasses under the helmet. Better to have magnified lens? Someone said halogen back light. Tried that yesterday, not back light but directly on the work, no help. TIG and MIG.
I've found that I can see what I am doing with the weld out in the bright daylight better than in the garage. You might try using a bright light rather than a black light to light the work area and see how it goes. I've got the same helmet and plan on replacing it with a good one soon.
Buy a good welding helmet. If for nothing else your vision is worth it. In addition, I've found that the self adjusting HF model is just brutal. See if you can borrow one or two different models to see if you can see better with them while welding.
Dump the auto darking hood, i got one after 30 years of welding, i find it hard to do critical welding with them, reading glass ok better if prescription glasses.
Yes if you cannt afford a good auto shading hood just buy a old school hood. I would get the one that has the big lens. Back when I learned how to weld in the 70's thats all we had. I have tryed both the reading glasses and the cheater in my hood and like the cheater better. Good luck
There will be two parts to your question that I will try and answer. When it comes to the vision, chances are the 2.00 magifiers are not adequate to correct your vision. I do not know if you are an eyeglass wearer or not. Certain types of correction, like astigmatism or a cornea that is pointed like a football, deflects the light getting to the back of the eye. This causes issues in low light or night driving. The old cant see street signs. Secondly is the magnification you are using. Readers are all depth of field. The higher the number, the item has to be brought closer to your face. So a 2.00 may help in general reading, but its not powered for arms legnth. I would go and get a good exam and tell the optometrist what range you are working and what you want to do. The setting on the helmet is a big deal. I normally can us my HF helmet at a 6 or 7 for mig welding. Try to keep the light behind you at a minimum.
The Better the Hood and Glass the better you can see the puddle... Always be safe! you only get one pair of eyes... I have learned the hard way like a lot of us have...
THIS! I used a $50 Harbor Fail special until I saved enough to get a $300 Miller Elite. Worth every penny!
When I was still welding a lot I used a standard hood with a gold reflective lense. my eye are light sensative and I discovered that I could go two numbers lightr on my lense with the gold lenses. I have also discovered that having good lighting helps believe it or not.
Ive learned to watch the tail on push welds, see the heat pattern and adjust your weld as you run the bead, the tip is blocking the arc itself - so Im not watching the arc. pull welds you can position yourself / torch to block the majority of the arc flash. Not as useful on sheetmetal, but thats short bursts anyway. I have limited tig experience so cant help there. I use this helmet, speedglas 9000 http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...P9gs_8CS4DVS85N_N2RL3FHWVK_GPD0K8BC31gv)&rt=d
Great Subject. I have the same problem with seeing the seam. Get a great bead going only to find it off the mark. I find the light coming into helmet from behind and reflecting against lense most problematic. Could use a dark cloth over the back of my head and shield but haven't found anything yet. I also wear glasses (far sighted) and wear them welding. Lighting is the issue for me. Have considered riggin a light on either top or side of helmet like a miner.
definetly need to use the correct shade for the welding process and amperage your using. make sure the clear plates on both sides are new and clear. it doesnt take much dirt and dust on both sides to darken things up. a work light on the work helps to. ive actually drawn a line with soapstone on flat seams to see where im going.
I use a ton of lights over,near and beside the weld when I'm welding in the garage. Last year I built a big outside work bench on wheels for smaller stuff when the weather is nice. What I found out quickly ( guess it'd been a while since I welded much outdoors ) was that I could see 1000X better welding outside. I can see better outside even when it's almost sundown. I was really surprised at the difference,and that's with replacement lenses in my eyes due to cataracts when I was in my 30s,and a little known eye fuckup known as Cogans Dystrophy that really play tricks on my eyesight. My outside welds ARE better,LOOK better,and in the future,if I can drag it outside to weld,that's what I'm going to do. This spring,I'll roll the car outside to weld,too,if I can get natural light on whatever I'm welding. I also use an older Jackson self darkening helmet that cost a boatload of money years ago. Money well spent,I think. For me,I just wouldn't trust a HF cheapo helmet.
I cant weld with a autodarkening helmet i get blinded for a couple of seconds no matter how good quality on the helmet i allways used regular helmets clean glas and no light from behind that reflects in the glas is a bonus made a good living out of working with repairing big boilers in power plants most of the time dark dirty uncomfortable positions used 2 mirrors sometime to see to weld tank god that time is over
Wish I could mig weld sheet metal. Anything thinner than 32nd I have to torch weld. Spent too many decades welding mine machinery/recovery hydraulics. 'Was' certified on 1" plate! That's a 'V' groove 1 7/8" wide! Hanging that much weld overhead to pass, was excrutiating! Generaly ran through a 50# roll of .045 wire per shift! Used a #14 lense, with a air hose hook up, (like the sandblast hoods). YES! Extra light, air circulation, confortable position, are your requirments. I have a #12 lense for my garage. I have tried a #11 but, it's seems too bright for me. I tried one of those auto darkening hoods once. Got flashed burns. So there must be a split second 'leak'. I rearely use a hood anymore in the garage. Very hard to get a hood, eyes, mig gun/stinger, arms up in some places in a vehicle. Have a 'welders sock' over my head and use a #12 lens in a set of cutting goggles.
I wear tri-focal glasses and welding is tough, especially if I have to work overhead. I took my prescription to the local Wal-Mart and had a pair of glasses made with just the bi-focal using big lenses and industrial plastic frames. They are not very stylish but work great under a hood. I have a Lincoln Vista 3000 auto darkening hood and it is worth the money.
Install a good over head light, above your work/welding table that will help alot, if your eyes are tired after welding from squinting than a magnifier is a good option (they give me headaches) a darker lens would not help SEEING the puddle, it will just make it harder to see. Godspeed MrC.
I use a 1.5 cheater lens in my helmet and then wear reading glasses in addition whenever I can get close enough with my helmet. If I have to move my head/helmet further away, I take off the glasses and use only the cheater. Also, since I've gotten older I've been using the trigger method, meaning I stack a sequence of single spots so that I can identify the crack as the puddle is red and adjust each stitch. You have to crank the heat higher to get proper penetration, but it allows you to lay down some nice "roll of dimes" beads.
I just started welding , I have been taking classes at the local JC . Could nt see the puddle or run a straight bead until I got prescription glasses. Readers didnt work for me.
Getting the "bifocal" prescription ground on a large lens in some cheap frames works pretty well - clean helmet plates are a must. And a good ($) helmet helps a lot.
I don't know if would be the same for you, but I've got a Miller digital elite and I adjust it down to where I can see the puddle (old eyes with bifocals) I've had to turn it down to 8 sometimes, but didn't have any remnant flash pictures when I closed my eyes after running beads. I dunno if that's a valid test. I sold my cheepo 1st helmet to the kid next door.
i dont use an auto darkening athough sometimes i wish i had one. ive just rock a jackson welding helmet with a# 9 gold lense ( the gold lense really helps visability) for most welding but i mainly tig.
Having my eyes ruined by many years of being outside unprotected in the New Mexico sun I use a combination of several of the ideas already mentioned. Using reading glasses (everything is close, might as well use the whole lense), a high quality auto dim helmet, and flooding the area with a 500W halogen shop light lets me see the puddle like I was a kid again.
I had a cheap HF autodarkening helmet that worked well, but decided to give it away and bought a much better Speedglass. Now I can't see for crap when welding unless I get a bright work light on the subject. Wish I could trade my son inlaw back for the cheap HF helmet!
The guys on the MUSCLE CAR show commented that the BRIGHT studio lights made it very hard to weld with the auto darkening lense. Nick
Remnant or residual flash picture is an excellent way to know if your lens is dark enough. I was taught that in welding school back in the late 40's. On standard helmets, most people have a clear plastic lens on both sides of the dark lens. That means 6 surfaces to be cleaned. It is extremely important that for maximum visibility all these be as clean as possible.
ditch that helmet, buy a simple passive #10 sheild, try the gold glass #10 like Porn beaner said. get your face close to the puddle but out of the fumes and keep the arc close not to high.
I just bought a new $99 auto darkening helmet (welding shop talked me out of a $350 helmet) as my old one was about 5 or 6 yrs old. I has having trouble seeing also. They told me the internal batteries were probably failing and there were several layers of film that darkened. as the battery fails the film do not lighten up like they should so it looks darker than it should. the new one made all the difference as it is brighter and has a larger viewing area and with a little extra light put near by I can actually see now and my welding has greatly improved.
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