What am I doing wrong?

[dragoneggs]

Question: I have a couple of chunks of 3/8 aluminum plate. Is this usable as a substitute for the copper heat sinks described above, welding very thin material?

Yes, can only help.

 

[CADplans]

I use a #10 setting across the board. Higher arc settings do not seem to make any difference. From what I know an arc temperature is a fixed value, what changes is the base metal temperature.

Ron

So why the possibility of adjustment?

You change the shade color based on the reflectivity of the metal being welded,, mostly,,

I think I remember aluminum being highly reflective compared to steel, so the light getting to the helmet was much greater,,
If you did not use a darker lens, you could damage your eyes,, or, at least get a whopper of a headache,,, :thumbdown:

 

[CADplans]

Question: I have a couple of chunks of 3/8 aluminum plate. Is this usable as a substitute for the copper heat sinks described above, welding very thin material?

Yes, can only help.

I agree, it can help,,,

BUT, if you turn the heat up WAY too high, the steel weld will fuse to the aluminum,,, then you gotta break it apart,,,

 

[California]

I agree, it [aluminum plate heat sink] can help,,,

BUT, if you turn the heat up WAY too high, the steel weld will fuse to the aluminum,,, then you gotta break it apart,,,

Yeah, melting and fusing is what I was thinking might happen under any conditions. If this should work under moderate settings, I'll give it a try.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[Industrial Toys]

With law suits and all, why wouldn't an auto darkening helmet, ALWAYS limit the light to a minimum SAFE level. Doesn't seem like a hard thing to do electronically.

Getting old, I need TONS of light to see anything. Does a young person need less light in a welding helmet?

 

[yomax4]

With law suits and all, why wouldn't an auto darkening helmet, ALWAYS limit the light to a minimum SAFE level. Doesn't seem like a hard thing to do electronically.

Getting old, I need TONS of light to see anything. Does a young person need less light in a welding helmet?

Most AD Hoods on the market protect your eyes from IR and UV to shade 13 even in the light state. You can still get eye strain and you couldn't weld long like that but the damaging rays are blocked to shade 13. That covers nearly all welding. Much of it is idividual though. Some guys use a shade 9 on 1/8th" steel while the next guy may need an 11.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Very interesting and informative. Thanks.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Most variables are individual in nature. There are minimums established by safety concerns with your eyes. If you have never had arc burn, you don't want to have arc burn. Attached is a excerpt from Lincoln's welding safety criteria which may be of assistance. If I go to 12 I cannot see the puddle well enough to control it.



Any one serious about arc welding needs the Lincoln "Procedure Handbook of Welding".

Ron

 

[Fallon]

Most AD Hoods on the market protect your eyes from IR and UV to shade 13 even in the light state. You can still get eye strain and you couldn't weld long like that but the damaging rays are blocked to shade 13. That covers nearly all welding. Much of it is idividual though. Some guys use a shade 9 on 1/8th" steel while the next guy may need an 11.

I think it's mostly just the UV that's problematic from the sunburn & getting fashed aspect. It's blocked even when the lenses isn't darkened at all.

Ultra Violet is a higher frequency of light than the human visible spectrum. Infra Red is a lower frequency than the human visible spectrum. ROY G BIV... Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet. Beyond violet is UV, beyond red is IR.

 

[k0ua]

I think it's mostly just the UV that's problematic from the sunburn & getting fashed aspect. It's blocked even when the lenses isn't darkened at all.

Ultra Violet is a higher frequency of light than the human visible spectrum. Infra Red is a lower frequency than the human visible spectrum. ROY G BIV... Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet. Beyond violet is UV, beyond red is IR.

And below infrared is microwave radio Some may not know, but it is all just electromagnetic radiation. We just happen to have built in receivers for a very small part of that spectrum which we call visible light. Imagine if we had receivers for HF radio waves built into some kind of sensory organ. Who know,? maybe somewhere some species "sees" in radio waves. You would be able to see thru walls....