Welding last night, eyes hurt now

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
Did a fair amount of welding last night(more than I usually do in one sitting), and my eyes feel slightly aggravated today. I am a novice welder who only welds on his own trail rigs. I was using a number 12 shade lens in a Jackson helmet. It has a new clear cover on top of the tinted lens. I haven't done a significant amount of welding in a long time (12 months or more?). While welding, obviously I could see a lot of bright light in my peripheral vision like the light was bouncing off the sweatshirt that I was wearing. Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks,
Danny
 
Wear a dark colored sweatshirt. Reflection will burn you as quick as dirfectly. Like getting sun burnt on a cloud day.
 
^^X2

Also wait a second for the weld pool to cool before you look at the art work you just laid. If you see spots after you lift your hood wait longer.
 
Interesting. I almost always wear this old black sweatshirt while welding, but was wearing a light gray one last night. Guess I'll try and find that black one I use to wear. Thanks for the reply.
 
yep. wear a dark blue or black shirt. Stay away from aluminum sheet metal.

What I've always done if I'm welding outside in sunlight or around others or around aluminum or stainless is to wear a pair of "flash" glasses, which are about #2 to #3 darkness and use a #10 lens in the welding shield. This helps protect you from getting burned from reflections or from others but keeps the shade about right for good eye protection.
 
Jeff B said:
^^X2
Also wait a second for the weld pool to cool before you look at the art work you just laid. If you see spots after you lift your hood wait longer.
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Yeh, I usually do that. Thanks for the reinforcement/ reminder tip though.
 
Do any of you other guys wear safety glasses under your hood? We had to do it in the welding class I took. They supposedly filter/block UV rays and I think they helped me not get burned when I flashed myself several time during the learning process.
 
StrokedWJ said:
Do any of you other guys wear safety glasses under your hood? We had to do it in the welding class I took. They supposedly filter/block UV rays and I think they helped me not get burned when I flashed myself several time during the learning process.
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I put the safety glasses on the outside of the hood, that way it won't get spattered.
 
I got my eys bad with the plasma cutter one night.....I hated life
 
StrokedWJ said:
Do any of you other guys wear safety glasses under your hood? We had to do it in the welding class I took. They supposedly filter/block UV rays and I think they helped me not get burned when I flashed myself several time during the learning process.
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I Always throw a set on when welding..Its what i was taught and it just stuck

As to the light reflecting it will burn you quick..dark shirt always helps. I always seem to find myself welding in a carhart so i always throw my hood over my rear hood and llaaabamm no light getting in anywhere..although i would recomend weldin in a carhartt..still have a bad place on my arm where i caught fire and the carhartt stuck to my arm:shaking:...:beer:
 
My contacts are UV protective. My safety glasses are UV blocking. Both of those are under the hood, which is set for as dark as I can stand it. I don't deal with eye burn ever, even when both of us are welding all day. Like everyone is saying, wear darker clothes. Check to make sure your lens holder is installed correctly and make sure there is NO light leaking around it. And be careful not to screw up and pop that trigger before you drop the hood. I know it's easy to do.
 
Raw potato slices over the eyes will make them feel better, used to get it a lot in mixing drums when we had multiple welders going. Thats when they are burnt and feel like sand in the eyes when you close them. Eye doc said my eyes looked like a junkyard.
 
BERTIE RENEGADE said:
Raw potato slices over the eyes will make them feel better, used to get it a lot in mixing drums when we had multiple welders going. Thats when they are burnt and feel like sand in the eyes when you close them. Eye doc said my eyes looked like a junkyard.
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yep.My uncle would grate his tater up and put it in paper towels and then put them folded up over his eyes. His eyes would water like hell the next day but he would feel better.
 
BERTIE RENEGADE said:
Raw potato slices over the eyes will make them feel better, used to get it a lot in mixing drums when we had multiple welders going. Thats when they are burnt and feel like sand in the eyes when you close them. Eye doc said my eyes looked like a junkyard.
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ord.sgt.26NC said:
yep.My uncle would grate his tater up and put it in paper towels and then put them folded up over his eyes. His eyes would water like hell the next day but he would feel better.
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Your better off to go the eye doctor & get the pain drops=instant relief. The potato thing didn't work for me & my eyes have visable scars.
 
84cucvk-5 said:
White walls in a shop will bounce the uv back in on you too.
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My garage has white walls. Guess that wasn't helping either.

Thanks for all the replies guys.
 
I didn't read all the replies but one thing I have learned is wait until you helmet is all the way down before striking the arch. The last time I burned my eyes was because I was stick welding and i would strike the arch then flip my helmet down. Even though it was only a split second the cumulative effect through out the day burned my eyes.

I have also found that now that I wear contacts the UV protection in my contacts protects me from all the reflective burns people mention. I wouldn't recommend using contacts a protection but it is nice to be able to be in a shop with someone welding and not get burned by the reflections.
 
One other item to mention is eye strain. Your eyes may be more sensitive to light than others. Pay attention to your eyes while you weld. If you are squinting or feel like you are looking at a flashlight in the dark, you need a darker lens. In my personal experience, if I could see 3 or 4 inches outside of what I was welding while the arc was going, my helment was not dark enough. I tried a friends helment one time and it felt like I was looking through sun glasses. Man it was painful!
 
I like a leather neck protecter attached to the bottom of my shield. No flash at all can come in under the shield. Helps with hot metal also.
 
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