I never liked auto darkening helmets. Still flip mine down every time...just like Grandpa did. Anyway, have you cleaned the lens inside and out? That's the one that always gets me. Little Windex and it's all better.
Most folks drag the puddle when they MIG weld. Us old guys were taught to push the puddle when ever we weld, but I too often catch myself dragging a MIG to controll the bead heighth. Pushing while keeping about a 15 degree angle on the gun will allow you to turn up the heat and wire speed and weld at a fairly rapid pace while keeping the puddle in sight. The older I get the more I have to adapt new tricks just trying to keep up with the young bloods.
In a few weeks I'll be 74 and I've been having the same problems as all of you. I know I need new glasses and that's gonna happen next month. I've been using progressive grind (often called "no line" bifocals for years, like the varying focal lengths. But I think I'm gonna talk to the optometrist about a set of single vision glasses just for welding with a focal length around 18"-24" in addition just for welding. Other threads here and on other forums have opined that progressive lens glasses and auto daeken helmets just ain't compatible. My auto darken helmet is a big lense Jackson, which some in this thread have commented that they did better after they replaced a Jackson with a better helmet. But others have listed the Jackson as a good helmet. So I'm confused, and I sorta wonder about that hemet on the link where you flip it closed with your jaw. Can you get that witha large gold lens? All I know is that I've been welding almost 60 years and I ain't happy about what I'm getting lately. Beads still look OK, but they just aren;t alwats properly positioned. Adding cheater lens helped, but still ain't right. I have a fixed big lens helmet with a gold lense also and I guess I could go back to it, but I really like the auto darken. Dave
I couldn't weld with my no-line bifocals worth a darn. Couple of years ago I got some single lens glasses. The optician just asked how far I needed to focus so I demonstrated that I weld about at this distance. He made me up a pair of clear straight lens glasses, now I can weld as bad as I ever did when I was younger.
EXCELLENT INFO! I remember my welding instructor in high school preached about protecting our eyes. He said we should use a #12 lens if at all possible and wear glasses or safety glasses as long term studies had shown those that welders that wore glasses or safety glasses under their hoods had something like a 10% less incidence of cataracts. I also remember him cautioning us about wearing white shirts while welding as they'd reflect the light under the helmet. I'm 52 now and recently had to switch from #12 to #10 lens. I still use the "traditional" non-auto-darkening hoods. I've read enough about the el cheapo and old auto-darkening hoods causing permanent eye damage that I'm not going to risk my vision using an auto-darkening hood. I may need these eyes another 40 years! I've found that most "glare" issues can be fixed with new cover lenses.
I saw some good replies and some silly ones, but I didn't read em all. When I have that issue I use a Sharpie and lay a nice black line on the joint. As for puddles, yes indeed a mig has a puddle. Some of the mig-haters, geez, I don't know why. There's multiple ways of doing things and not everyone can adapt to O/A or TIG. If you do it right then MIG is a good way to weld most anything. Too much spatter? Change your settings. Too hard of a weld? Get a different wire. Can't hammer weld it? Get a helper with a minor degree of talent. Lastly about bifocals, I don't know how ANYONE can weld with em. I tried a few times and I hate it. It seems like it's too easy to weld right out of the line of sight in the glasses. I went to a 2.0 lense and don't need my regular readers to weld now. It could also be as simple as putting your head behind the cup on the mig gun. If you block the major portion of the glare it lights a clear path to the promised land. I had to improvise a bunch when I was doing tubs and cages. Bad back, bad eyes, small cars, and over 6'2" and 250#...I mean WTF was I thinking? I'm sorta glad nobody asks me to do that any more! You'll get it. Sit back and look at what you're doing. Good luck.
For people that are having a hard time seeing the puddle, I recommend a Pancake hood. I have been using them for a while and while they are funny looking, I will never use a standard hood again. They have a Balsa wood eye box that you sand down until it fits your face perfectly, therefore ZERO outside light is seen while welding. Of course it will only fit one person but that is the whole idea. Being as no outside light is seen you are able to use a darker shade lens for more eye protection but the puddle is very easily seen. I use a shade 11 auto-darkening lens in mine. But standard lenses work well too. They are the hood of choice in the Pipeline industry. I'll see if I can find a pic of mine. Google "Sarge's Pancake Hoods" or "Wendy's Pancake Hoods". You can see the hood on the rear of the bed I'm building below, notice the wood eyebox, And for a right handed welder they have a side shield that covers you left ear. As I said...funny looking, but nothing makes it easier to see the puddle than a Pancake hood.
Try hiding the arc with the gas shield,you should be able to see where your welding ,works for me and I`m 69 and wear tri-focals. It does take a little practice knowing where the puddle is,I`ve been welding for over 30 years .The welds are not real purty but what the hell I`m not either. Purty weld don`t necessarly do the best job ,it`s like sex,penatration is what makes it work.
in Bobs defense, the mig he has tried is older than metal itself. turn the heat up, slow the speed down...it will melt together!
I wear tri-focals as well but the last time I bought new glasses I had a pair made with cheap plastic frames and the whole lens was my close up perscription. They work good especially if I have to look up which the tri lenses won't do.
Its nice to know that Im not the only one...I turned 50 this year and looking back I realize that Ive had this problem for to past 3 years. I had planned to try the flashlite and cheater lense, now the soapstone and sharpie ideas have been added to my list!
If a weld stays on top of the work,you have what is called a cold weld,penatration does create a puddle. If not your doing it wrong.
When I have to weld a straight line, no matter how short, I run my soap stone down the middle of what is about to be welded. It makes the weld line much easier to see.
I am a pipeliner by trade and had the exact same thing happen to me a couple years ago. Considering my welds affect my job performance, this was a big issue. I too tried all the cheap fixes, magnifiers, new clear lenses, more light, new hood etc. Only when I went and got an eye exam did I correct the problem. I had to have glasses. I ordered my specs from Tom Waters and those glasses fit right under my welding hood. They are reasonable. They have tinted lenses which do help depending on the conditions in which you are welding in. Confined indoor area which is well lit while burning rod I would choose rose colored however if outside i would use the blue. Made a world of difference for me. Hope that helps.
Hey since you said your vision is normal otherwise that glare could have been caused by cleaning your lense with something other than water with a mild detergent. Those lenses are surprisingly delicate for what there price is.
Have a Miller Digital Elite and for life of me after I got it I couldn't figure out why my puddle wasn't clearly defined. I finally attached a bandanna to the back to cut out the light from behind and fixed the problem. Check out ESAB's new helmet, the puddle is alluminated in orange and everything else in blue, it sure made layin a bead down easy to see.LB
well here is my opnion.................. this can be taken in many different ways, if there is an opnion problem then keep it to yourself. the auto darking welding hoods have an inherant fail factor. the problem is dealing with ELECTRONICS AND BATTERIES. up until these came on the scene everyone used a hood with or without a flip open lens and if it was not a flip open lens the hood was dropped when the welder was ready to strike an arc. the only fail factor in this style hood is the operator. when i was teaching school i knew an optomerist and we put together a demonstration for my class once. he had a device that measured the ultraviolet light that is produced by a welding arc. the comparison we did this experiment with was a #10 green welding lens and a #10 gold finished welding lens. the two lenses had the same tint but the one with the gold finish on the outside had a reflective finish to it. the first lens tested was the green lens and the devise recorded 75% of the ultraviolet rays got through the lens. then we tested the gold finished lens and the reading off the meter showed that one only allowed 25% of the ultraviolet rays through. if someone has been in the trade for any length of time and learned to weld with the original style hood should be aware of the benifit of the standard type protection. i believe that anything electronic has a fail factor. on a scale of zero to one hundred percent there is a number in there that is attached to everything. i personally have been using a HUNTSMAN 711-P for better than 30 yrs and i have never had annby problems with one. anyway when your eyes are gone then they are gone.
May I suggest not wearing a white shirt while welding. It reflects up into your helmet while welding making it hard to see sometimes. It helped me a lot, I never really figured it out until some old guy recommended a dark colored shirt. I've been welding since '81. Hope that helps!
Been wearing glasses since I was 4 years old, I,m 52 now. Started having the same trouble as others here, missing the line sometimes. Bought a good quality helmet and a 1.5 magnifying lens and sorted the problem.
I have had the same problem about seeing what and where I am welding.It makes you want to give up but i will get a magnifier and try this light thing also. thanks didnt even know there were magnifiers.
My son gave me a pair of 3M bifocal safeties with little aim-able LED lamps in the corner of each lens -- great for under-car work!
Yep, welding shops carry the magnifying lenses, different sizes to fit different helmets. They just slide in to some notches put there for that purpose, at least that is how our helmet was. I am going to work on getting more light onto the area I am welding. It is just too dark there now. I like some of your ideas about clipping flashlights to the torch and all. Don
Well, here's my plan after reading this thread: (1) Get new glasses after Labor Day (2) In addition to my normal progressive grind glasses in untinted and another set as sunglasses, get another set with just the prescription that would be in the lower part of a bifocal set prescribed for me in the whole lens with maybe 18"-24" focal length (3) Make damn sure there's no scratches on safety cover or lens on my Jackson auto dim hood and the same for my big lens conventional hood with gold lens. Then try both, with and without cheater lens. If conv. works good and Jackson auto dim doesn't, then what's next? A better auto dim (what make?), or one of those with the flip up/down lens you control with your jaw? Dave
I have had similar problems. Old eyes don't focus like younger ones do. I normally wear industrial bi-focals. (closeup in the bottom and the top of the lenses) Bi-focal wearers unconsiously tilt their head to use the appropriate area of their lenses. When you're under the hood you have limited movement. To overcome the problem, I had a set of glasses made with my closeup prescription in the lower 2/3 of the lfense and my distance in the upper 1/3. This allows me to see when I raise the hood without having to carry an additional pair of glasses. When I was working in the local Community College welding program, I observed The younger and usually better welders were welding at about a 12 to 16 inch focal length. I experimented with various hood styles and lenses. I started with a Jackson fixed #10 Then tried a gold tint. Bought a Miller Digital Elite. The larger window gives a better viewing area. Cheaters (magnifying lense) limit the viewing area. Experiment and you will find what works for you. Good luck.
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