As I have aged I now have trouble seeing where I am going when welding. Doesn't mater whether it is stick, mig, tig or plasma cutting. I can make out the puddle but can't follow a line, crack, or pipe joint. I am using a #9 shade and afraid to go any lower. I have tried cheater lenses with no help. The problem is not seeing clearly as much as it is needing more light. I only see the arc, the puddle and maybe a little bit of the work area. Complained to eye doctors and they have tried different glasses but no help. Has anyone else had this problem and if so is there a solution.
Can't see enough when welding
Brian Rush
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As I have aged I now have trouble seeing where I am going when welding. Doesn't mater whether it is stick, mig, tig or plasma cutting. I can make out the puddle but can't follow a line, crack, or pipe joint. I am using a #9 shade and afraid to go any lower. I have tried cheater lenses with no help. The problem is not seeing clearly as much as it is needing more light. I only see the arc, the puddle and maybe a little bit of the work area. Complained to eye doctors and they have tried different glasses but no help. Has anyone else had this problem and if so is there a solution.
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As we get older this is what happens. When I weld outside I can see fine so I use one of these over my welding table when inside.
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What has helped me is cheap reading glasses(magnification same as my prescription glasses) and cleaning welding helmet lens . Also put a leather cover on top of helmet.
I am having a pair of glasses made for 10" focal length. I wear trifocals and they slide down a bit. 2x4 window in helmet leaves me ****ing my head to try to use the lower lens and half the time I can't see the puddle clearly. Strapping glasses back doesn't reall help befause I'm looking out the helmet at an angle too high to benefit from the lower focal.
Jerry
Jerry
It may seem backwards, but sometimes your problem is the shade is to light. The arc blots out a lot that you don't realize. Try going darker and see if that helps.
The aux light can also help some times. I need one many times welding in my garage where lighting in general sucks. Another possible problem is light thru the back of the hood.Your eyes may not be able to focus too well because they want to focus in close on the lens even though the lens is clear.
The aux light can also help some times. I need one many times welding in my garage where lighting in general sucks. Another possible problem is light thru the back of the hood.Your eyes may not be able to focus too well because they want to focus in close on the lens even though the lens is clear.
I had the same problem and covered the back of my hood with a black cloth, added a halogen work light to my welding area, and bought a clip on magnifier from Harbor freight. The combination made a huge difference. That magnifier from Harbor Freight is absolutely great (at least until it came apart). But it works way better than a cheater lens which I've tried. It clips on to your glasses and you can flip it up or down as needed. It's so useful, I'm going to keep buying them as they fall apart until I can find a better made version somewhere. Or maybe I can figure out how to permanently fix it so it doesn't come apart. I got so used to it, I feel crippled without it.
Maybe you are not getting your face in there close enough. I come across kids that want to weld at arms length and have no idea what they are looking at. I keep screaming at them to get thier face right on it so they know what they are looking at. 6 inches is my preference on mold and die work as well as soda cans. 10 to 12 inches on structural steel.
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go outside in backyard on bright sunny day and try welding and see if you can see better
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JD1 has a very good improvement with a lightweight cloth as sort of a cape over the open back of the helmet to keep out ambient light, especially when working outside or with a lot of light behind you. At age 70, I understand very well that you need to get everything possible going for you to see the danged puddle!! If you can find some Nomex cloth, it shouldn't catch fire. Problems occur in cold conditions with the various lens elements, and one's glasses, fogging up. Try to keep the helmet in a warm place before using it to minimize fogging.
Just yesterday I was doing a dead-simple short weld on some dumb little project, and raised my hood to find that after a couple inches of good weld, the bead had wandered out a good 3/8" from the groove. What the devil did I think I was seeing? This sort of thing happens a little too often and doesn't improve my mood. I have the helmet cape, but am often too lazy about putting a direct light on the joint, thinking the arc will light things up enough . . . Wrong!!!
Just yesterday I was doing a dead-simple short weld on some dumb little project, and raised my hood to find that after a couple inches of good weld, the bead had wandered out a good 3/8" from the groove. What the devil did I think I was seeing? This sort of thing happens a little too often and doesn't improve my mood. I have the helmet cape, but am often too lazy about putting a direct light on the joint, thinking the arc will light things up enough . . . Wrong!!!
I might do that, especially if they only cost $35 online at Zeni Optical. Get the prescription then send it to them. The only drawback is that the focus is set at 18" or whatever and when you flip your hood up everything is blurry except 18" away. Slide the glasses down your nose so you can see and you still can't see if your regular glasses have a strong prescription in them.
The nice thing about the HF clip ons is that when you flip your hood up you can also flip the clip on up and everything is back in focus. That's why I love them apart from then weak hinge construction.
Edit:
Woo hoo! A bunch of other choices here. I'll be adding one to my next Amazon order. Except I won't order the Japan made ones, that's probably what HF sells. The HF ones are 3x and combined with my glasses that's perfect for me.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...0856244-0938604?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=clip+on+magnifying++glasses
Try these that should solve your problem
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Hours-M...ef=sr_1_41?ie=UTF8&qid=1460146149&sr=8-41&keywords=clip+on+magnifying++glasses]
Now I'm joking Maybe!
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Hours-M...ef=sr_1_41?ie=UTF8&qid=1460146149&sr=8-41&keywords=clip+on+magnifying++glasses]
Now I'm joking Maybe!
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Maybe highlight the weld line with a paint marker....
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