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Eyes hurt after welding

18K views 26 replies 18 participants last post by  zlek131 
#1 ·
I've been doing a bit of MIG welding on the car and it seems my eyes hurt after welding. I have a nice welding helmet with the auto darkening glass. It has three dials that allow you to set the Shade, Sensitivity and Delay. I recently upped the Shade to 13 (max). The delay is set to min and sensitivity is set to medium. I've played with the settings today so I don't know if my eyes are sore due to the previous or current settings. It seems like the auto darkening my not be kicking fast enough...Anyway, what should these settings be? What do you use?
 
#2 ·
Re: eyes hurt after welding

I've been doing a bit of MIG welding on the car and it seems my eyes hurt after welding. I have a nice welding helmet with the auto darkening glass. It has three dials that allow you to set the Shade, Sensitivity and Delay. I recently upped the Shade to 13 (max). The delay is set to min and sensitivity is set to medium. I've played with the settings today so I don't know if my eyes are sore due to the previous or current settings. It seems like the auto darkening my not be kicking fast enough...Anyway, what should these settings be? What do you use?
You're clearly getting welding flash through the lens. Is your helmet solar or battery powered? If battery, change batteries. I've got a solar powered helmet, and I make it a point to leave it out in the sun for a couple of hours if I'm going to be doing a lot of welding. I don't think your auto-darkening helmet is darkening.
 
#4 ·
Re: eyes hurt after welding

Check those lenses and remember if you ever get flash burn.. ive always been told to put a cold potato on your eye lids
 
#5 ·
I've had sunburn of the retina's from stick welding in my youth, Eyes feel scratchy right away, then hours later, BAM the real pain starts. Dr says I was lucky and did not lose an eye. I am much more careful now. I think the custom car TV shows that show welding without helmets (they just close their eyes!) are setting a bad example!
 
#26 ·
I think the custom car TV shows that show welding without helmets (they just close their eyes!) are setting a bad example!
X2 they are making the young up and coming metal fabbers not wear helmets. its ultra violet light, your eyelids are not going to block it:noway:
 
#6 ·
You say your eyes are hurting.If you get a welders flash you will feel like you have sand in your eyes.You realy cant get a flash if the sheild doesn't go dark quick enough ,just plain glass stops you from getting a welders flash.If your eyes hurt you may be straining to see.You may want to get a cheater lense...
 
#8 ·
As an eye doc, I remind my guys to always use the best safety protection. I have seen so many injuries from welding, some are minor, but some serious damage is possible. Welding burns can scar the cornea(the front of the eye) and the retina(the back of the eye). Too many scars and vision can be affected. Saying that, I see many guys who use their safety equipment and seem to do well. Well, maybe a burn every now and then.
 
#9 ·
I have two auto darkening helmets. The solar powered one won't darken quickly enough for butt welding and I found out the hard way. So, I use the battery powered one for butt welding and the solar for plug welding. I can see easier pre-spark with the solar jobby. Both are made in China. By the way, new batteries helped mine considerably. Anyone know if the solar one can be converted to battery?
 
#10 ·
I have not had any problems with solar powered helmets and have been using my present one for 5 years , maybe it not made in China . I use a 10 shade i find 12 way to dark . I got flash burn bad once i had blurred vision for 2 days felt like an eye full of sand i am real careful nowdays . Listen to the eye doc you only get one pair of eyes if you think your visors bad get another you buy cannot buy new eyes .
 
#12 ·
Also do NOT ware a light colored shirt as the flash reflects inside the shield.

On my auto shield I try to look through the top third (stays dark) while I'm welding and through the middle when I need to see (changing sticks,chipping,where I left off,and such)
 
#17 · (Edited)
OK, looking at the auto darkening unit as we speak thinking I want to change the batteries. I think I have a solar unit but at the same time the instructions inside the helmet say to change the batteries if there are auto darkening issues. Don't see any place to pop open for new batteries and the front looks like solar panel to me. Here are some pictures of the unit. Which one (solar or battery) do I have? :confused:



 
#19 ·
I think its does have a small lithium battery in it i know some do , maybe they all do . I looked at the lens in mine and its sealed , iam going to take it to work tomorrow and split it to see whats in it .It sits in my garage and doesnt get used for months but still works+ its easy 5 years old .
 
#22 ·
You guys aren't going to like this, but sometimes the truth hurts. Auto darkening hoods are garbage. I worked in and ran a fab shop for years and we finally made a rule to not allow any auto hoods. If you weld very little you may get away with using one, but when you weld all day you learn what works. We had too many workman's comp claims from auto hoods. Made everyone switch to good old standard hoods and the problem went away. Even for the weekend welder, is it worth it? Get a good standard hood, learn to adjust the headband detents, and save your eyes.
 
#24 ·
A couple updates. I think eyes feel fine after welding this weekend. Maybe a little sore Saturday night but nothing like the first time where I woke up in the middle of night feeling like sand in my eyes with major watering. Also, went to get my Argon cylinder refilled to the place where I got my helmet. Talked to the guy about my eyes hurting and he had an interesting point that I overlooked. One of the settings on the auto darkening is "delay". I had it set to minimum as I was getting it confused with sensitivity. Delay in this case is how long the helmet stays dark AFTER the arc stops. Having it set to minimum would mean that as soon as stopped welding or in between arcs on the same weld, the helmet would turn off the darkening. Perhaps that was my issue (I hope), as I was looking at welds that were still glowing and supper bright.
 
#25 ·
Hey guys, I'm a nastyz28 member but I signed up after reading this thread, because I have been having the same problem for a while now - I keep getting a mild welder's flash after welding even for a very short duration, even though I am using a brand new Miller Elite $250 helmet, and supplied air full head sock. I have also tried fixed shade helmets up to shade 12 for low amperage mig, at which point I can't see anything, and I have tried both glass and gold coated fixed lenses. I am also wearing a bib with the helmet and dark colored clothes. I have gone to multiple eye dr's and they say I am not flash burning myself but if I weld even a few muffler seams, a few hours later and into the next couple of days I am light sensitive and have scratchy eyes. I am also wearing UV blocking goggles UNDER the auto dark mask!! I can't possibly wear any more safety equipment but I haven't found an answer yet.

Steve
 
#27 ·
Are you sure you have delay set correctly? Delay as in how many seconds after you stop welding the auto-darkening lenses lighten up. I think that may have been my issue. To be real honest, I've have also started to close my eyes as I am striking an arc. I have the other delay that controls that set to a minimum but just to be safe I am closing my eyes just for a split second as I strike the arc.
 
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