Can't see when welding

[Porkman]

Try adding some ambient light and often times, one of those gold lenses can really 'brighten' up the view.

 

[bikerdib]

Yes, before I bought my first auto I always used the gold lenses.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My major welding problem as well. I still need to source the reading (correction) lense for my helmit.

Ticks me off! I have a friend that has welded every day for forty years and he can see like a hawk! You would think, that just getting flashed every now and then would have made him blind by now!

 

[Gary Fowler]

My eyes don't see so well at night but I have never had problems with seeing a welding arc except when my HF auto dark setting got turned to 12 accidently. It didn't take me long to figure out something was wrong and checked the setting. Turned it back to 9 and it was OK then. IF you cant see the weld puddle, then you need to reposition yourself so you can. Even a 110V MIG should produce enough light to see the puddle if you are correctly positioned and the wire contact tube has the correct stick out.

Folks please don't use any thing less than a 9 shade when TIG welding, If you do a lot of it, it will be damaging to your eyes. TIG welding produces a lot more UV light (even though the arc seems smaller) than stick or FCAW because the smoke from these shields a lot of the UV from your eyes.

 

[Mysfyt]

I think its your helmet. If I used 9 on my Speedglass helmet it would be too bright for Mig. In fact, 10 is as low as I go for anything including Tig.

 

[kevin37b]

Is there protection plastic on the lense that did not get peeled off ?

 

[GPintheMitten]

Before you buy a different welding helmet, try adding more intense light and adjust your positioning to get a good look at the weld puddle. And double check your darkness setting.

 

[tthopskin@yahoo.ca]

try the cheater lens i tried glasses and you get a reflection from them ..been good with the cheater lens ..i ware 11/2 .glasses but put a 2 times in the helmet ..if your helmet dose not have a spot just put a dab of silicon on the lens and stick it in the helmet ..before that i made nice welds but 1/2 inch from the crack lol

 

[CountryB]

Same here. I have auto-darkening helmet which is too dark. I also have a Snap-On flip-down helmet which is the one I always reach for because the glass is lighter (you can buy different shades (inserts)). If I use the auto-helmet it get so dark I can't see the puddle (or the work). I like a real light shade - almost like wearing a dark pair of sunglasses. It's a #5 lens.

 

[Industrial Toys]

What about putting some reflector, maybe magnet mounted, that could redirect some of the light to give you a different angle of illumination?