Why can't I see what I'm welding?

[dkGoodrich dot com]

I use a gold fixed shade lens. Its like welding in HD.. I use a #10 and #11.

I want to add a cheater lens and maybe a light.. anyone tried putting a light on the helmet it self?

 

[dragginbalz]

I use a gold fixed shade lens. Its like welding in HD.. I use a #10 and #11.

I want to add a cheater lens and maybe a light.. anyone tried putting a light on the helmet it self?

Optrel does (or did) make a hood called the Helios which had 3 LEDS in it

I added my own from a pair of AO safety LED glasses

 

[e-tek]

There is no one correct shade for any process or user, but I guarantee you don't want to be maxing a 300A mig with a 9 shade. Be careful with your advice.

Who's MAXING a 300A mig??!

 

[pirana]

Use a lighter shade lens. Also have some good light shining on the weld area. You can also try holding the gun in such a manner that it covers up the actual arc from your line of view.

. Turns out when he put a new lens in his welding mask, he forgot to remove the protective plastic from the one side.

Ha Ha, i've done the same thing myself.

 

[uhohjim]

Optrel does (or did) make a hood called the Helios which had 3 LEDS in it

I added my own from a pair of AO safety LED glasses

Great Idea! Jim

 

[Herb]

Stay with the #10 lense and the helmet you have for now and just add some light such as a drop light or one of those halogen flood lights. I think you'll be surprised at the difference it will make.

 

[welder4956]

Here's what I'm using...

Sheeet. I assume this is supposed to be removed, eh?

BMWPower,

Did you ever figure out the problem? This model hood has a fixed shade 10 auto-darkening lens.

http://www.arc1weldsafe.com/files/ADF-6-10-10_01-UI RevA_v1.pdf

Is the lens darkening when you strike the arc? If the lens is functioning properly, it may need to be removed from the hood and cleaned on both sides, and replace the clear protective lenses on the outside (the inside one looks clean to me).

Having a good view of the arc is also important. If you are laying on your back and looking down the length of the gun to see the arc, then the nozzle and tip will prevent you from getting a good view. Make sure your head and eyes are viewing the arc from the side. Also, you may need to get your head closer. I usually prop my head up on something when laying on the ground under a car, like a piece of wood, plastic container, or whatever gets my eyes to within about 8-12" of the arc.

 

[tcianci]

Well I haven't gotten around to buying a MIG light yet or even rigging up one of my HF freebies. What I did do was hold a drop light near the work, that helped a lot. I had a CFL in it. A few tacks later, I noticed the bulb was out so I put a new one in. A few tacks after that, the new CFL was gone too. Then I switched to a regular old incandescent bulb. I killed that one too. It turns out that the glass of the light bulbs can't take the heat of the little metal spatters hitting it FYI.

 

[bmwpower]

I have tried using a droplight and it seems to help. I'm still having an issue seeing the area clearly 100% of the time. I'm still blind for the first couple of seconds after hitting the trigger. After that, I have a hard time seeing the work piece, but I can see puddle better. Not great but better. I think I need a brighter light.

Does flux vs gas have anything to do with my ability to see things?

 

[nso123]

I have found that using the halogen work lights aimed at what I am welding makes it much easier to see where I am going. I also use an auto darkening helmet set at 12 on my MIG work. I want to keep my eyes around as long as possible.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I use a Lincoln electric mask hat is a fixed shade #10. It was about 35 bucks at lowes. I hate to weld b/c I can't see. Next steps 220 v. And auto darkening.

 

[gjz30075]

Another bright idea

 

[Olafur]

One pitfall I want to mention. Don't forget to try darker shade lens if you are having problems welding.

You put on your auto-dark helmet and prepare for welding. Your eyes adjust to "darkness" inside the helmet and your eyeballs open up accordingly. If the lens is to bright the initial flash from the weld is "blinding" and your eyeballs contract, reducing the amount of light entering your retina. Then it takes several seconds to find new balance - and even minutes for your eyesight to recover fully. In the meantime you are welding blind.

For me it is way better to accept the limited vision from darker lens to avoid getting partially blind every time I hit the trigger. At least I can see something the whole time and never loose track of the weld bead. YMMW.

 

[pro machine Engineering]

I had the same problem when I had a cheap auto darkening helmet. Thought I was going blind and was going to need cheaters. couldnt see know matter what setting the helmet was on. I bought a lincoln viking helmet and that problem disapeared can see fine now

 

[Frank The Plumber]

I think you should call this company that made this auto darkening shade. My first guess is that this shade is directional and that you may have the lens in the unit backwards. It seems to have a way of auto darkening, perhaps you have the sensor in the helmet instead of exposed to the light source.