What's the secret for seeing the weld puddle ad the area you

wsmm

Member
I'm having a trouble with both arc and MIG (with flux core wire) welding. Also seems to happen with Ox/Acetylene welding. I have an auto darkening helmet with adjustable lens shade strength. For some reason when I weld I lose sight of the weld bead and the precise area I'm trying to weld. Just a DIY welder, no formal training. Any and all suggestions and advice as how to be able to see the area I'm welding once the arc is struck would be greatly appreciated. I've tried varying the darkness control, but maybe am not doing it right. V'd out a crack in a socket I was trying to arc weld close and once I struck the arc, I lot sight of the crack and what the weld puddle was looking like.
Thanks,
Bill

Never thought to add, I'm 70 years young and due to many years of computer work I wear progressive lens glasses. Probably about time for a new pair, my wife says so! I'll try the reading glasses that some of you have suggested. Thanks
 
Not sure your age, but with me as my eyesight worsened over time, I had to use a magnifier lense.
If I'm doing anything other than a simple flat weld I have no chance without it or my glasses on.
 
I had the same problem when I started welding. In my case I have a degree of color blindness. Given that the majority of my problems is with reds and greens, all I can figure is the combination of the green shade of the average lens, and the orangish reds of the weld puddle just screw me up something terrible.

That being the case, the way I found to work around my problem is with the gold plated plastic lenses. It"s been years since I had to buy one, but I think mine is about a shade 9, which, for me, is dark enough for everything I have had to do. For me the range has been from .035 wire to .052 wire and from 1/8 rod to 3/16 and 1/4 rods on the welding side, on to heavy plasma cutting and gouging and carbon arc on the cutting side.

In the beginning I tried several different shades, going as lite as I possibly could so I could see, but nothing worked. When I finally found the differences made by the gold lense, it was litteraly like the difference between night and day for me. The downside is you can"t (at least not that I know about) use the auto dark helments. Personally I can"t stand them anyways so that"s not an issue for me, but I can see where it would be a problem for others.
 
Hey Bill.

It might seem that I am stating the obvious but I have seen people who are beginning welders try to see from an arms length. Personally I need to be about a foot away at the most to see properly.

Also particularly when SMAW (stick) welding don't put your head right over the gas cloud. It is mucho unhealthy and reduces your ability to see.

Good luck,

Brad
 
Do you wear glasses? If you do, are the lens the ones that darken to sun light etc. I have to use glasses with no tinting or ones that darken, just clear lens when I weld. If I don't, I can't see the puddle.
 
Practice practice practice is about the best I can tell you. Clening your lense is about second on the list. Maybe you need a new clear lense? Eyesight issues with age of course do not help. I used a gold lense #10 shade for a while till I switched to autodarking lense. Gold seemed to me to have the best visibility. In my opinion it just takes practice to know what you are looking at. You also have to be able to look at your weld joint and know where it's going before you put the hood down cause the reality is its darn hard to see through them lenses.

Another help sometimes is to add a little portable llight to where you are welding to brighten things up.
 
As another said you might need a little shade lens.For low amp tig and some stainless I use a #8 lens. You need a lens lite enough so you can see an inch or so around the puddle. This is common sense, but just in case, make sure your head is on the correct side of the arc.

I use a #10 for all stick welding and steel mig welding that I do.
 
I'll be 76 in a short and as stated below I have to get my head down in close to the work and I have a pair of large round lens Walmart glasses I keep in my helmet. I have to take them off as soon as I lift the hood and start to walk or they make me dizzy. You can buy lenses for the hoods but I never think about it when I am in a welding shop. The other thing I need is to direct extra light on the work. I can't see the work just by the light of the arc anymore.
 
Bill, everything the others have mentioned has contributed to my welding troubles. The lens magnifiers really helped me as I aged. I have to get my face right down into the heat to see good. Clean my hood often - I keep some auto interior cleaner close by. Also - I have lots of extra lighting over my welding table, but sometimes I have to adjust everything to keep the light out of the back side of my hood. If any of my extra lighting (or sunlight) shines into my hood, I might as well stop and reposition. My old welding instructor from years ago stressed "comfort" as the main ingredient for a good weld. If you ain't "comfortable" (out of position, struggling to see, etc) you aren't gonna weld as good as you would if you were relaxed and seeing good. Keep practicing - you'll get better!
 
Very good suggestions here, in my opinion. I've got nothing else, but I do have a couple of things to add about suggestions others have made. Additional light on the work is very useful, but it can't be from behind your helmet or it reflects off the inside of your lens and makes vision worse. A light source near the work is ideal, but it has to be something that weld spatter won't knock out. An incandescent bulb inside the spatter zone won't last hardly any time at all. I'd guess that other sources of lighting are vulnerable, too, but a light bulb is the only one I have personal experience with.

A magnifier lens inside the helmet behind the dark (or auto darkening) lens is much more convenient than magnifier glasses---I've used both.

Getting close and getting comfortable are two of the most important things you can do.

Practice helps. Try to find ways to improve your ability to see the joint and the weld puddle on practice pieces. A lot of people know they have trouble seeing their welds, but wait until the next actual welding job to try different things. Half an hour of working exclusively on trying to solve this problem using the suggestions you've received here might take care of it for the rest of your life. Half an hour of struggling with it for a few minutes in each of the next ten welding jobs you do could stretch it out for months.

Good luck. When you solve it, share your findings here.

Stan
 
I don't know the secret [but it looks like you got some good advice]. ALL I DO KNOW is when that happens STOP regroup ,reposition, get better light magnify. whatever it takes because it is absolutly no good to continue on trying to weld what you can't see. Me , I'm still a neck jerker. But I will put a fixture with a spot light bulb down on the work. In the words of the late ,great T-Bone [ about auto darkening} " If you blink ,you wasted your money anyway." I thought that was a funny one.
 
As others said, if you're over forty you need a magnifying lens inside your helmet. Also, if you wear bifocals, you may have a hard time looking through the "reading" portion of your glasses if your helmet has a small lens (as do most autodarkening helmets).
 
The puddle you are looking at when you are stick welding,is made up of a puddle of molten metal covered with a puddle of molten flux. The flux puddle created by some brands of stick welding rod makes it much harder for me to see the puddle of metal than others do. Sometimes I have to imagine where the metal puddle is under the flux puddle, especially when I am starting an inside corner. I clean off my flux often with a needle scaler when I am not sure that my metal puddle is penetrating and flowing to both sides of the bead. Changing position, auto-darkening shade, and available light that many have mentioned is often necessary. I weld outside for safety, ventilation, and visibility. I clean my auto-darkening helmet lenses and my 3.0 reader glasses when I start and as often as necessary. Mel
 
Good advice here but don't get too strong of a cheater lens or it will make it like you're in a 3D horror film! I've noticed it, mostly with MIG welding, that the plastic cover plates on my helmet will get a film on them that makes it hard to see or gives blurry/double vision. The lens won't necessarily look very dirty until you take it out and try to look through it on it's own. Glass cover plates don't get the film but are like a magnet for spatter. Also try to position your head so the torch or stinger isn't blocking your view. Don't go any lower than a shade 9 lens, especially if you use a stronger cheater lens. If you try a gold lens, make sure not to scratch it or you can get a flash.
 
So far I guess I am lucky. I just holler at my 25 year old son to come and weld it. He thinks he's a hot shot anyway. He is pretty good. I let him think so anyway.
 
I wear the mutli-focus style lens in my glasses they are the pits for trying to weld. You never can find a decent focus point. Could this be your problem? I have a set of single perscription glasses I use for hunting and they work better for welding also. Lots of other good suggestions here, too. Good luck.
 

I like the large window helment with my mutli-focus glasses. I even found one with auto darken.

Dusty
 
uh,oh, I see a problem in my future. I don't do much welding, just started a few years ago with a used Tombstone AC box. But... I had cataract surgery last fall on both eyes and now see 20-20 out of both which is the pits for any close work. Haven't done any welding since the surgery but I've struggled with various strengths of reading glasses for computer work and reading. Guess I'll need to see which pair works best under the helmet. Got a project coming up: framework from an old horse trailer that I'm converting to a utility trailer. Fair amount of cutting/welding required so I'm sure I'll have enough "spark" time to figure it out.
 
I found that any light source above/behind me causes glare inside the helmet. Everything looks fine until you strike an arc, then you can't see anything but the glare from above/behind.

I've been contemplating some sort of flap over the top of the hood to block any light from coming in that way.
 
Try turning the darkness setting back on your helmet. Sounds like it's set too high. Start on the lowest setting and work your way up. Mine is set at about 10.
 
I wear glasses with progressive lenses and the autodarkening feature (Transition lenses). I can't weld wearing them - they darken as I weld. I have a second pair without the darkening feature. they work fine.
 
It's the puddle under the other puddle.

Drop the hat and get a $20 flip hat w/ gold shade

add to that not a magnifier, but reading type corrective clear to go with

It will require you adjust your viewing distance from arc.
Just like reading glasses.

bring it in from arms reach to reading glasses length

stay to the side and out of the flume

you can use a number lighter with gold
that and the fact that the golds are so incredibly much better than any other


safety glasses are the same thing plain in the middle and reading inserts
top for grinding above
and as readers on the lower portion for lap work

theoretically a gold with readers might work but you get tripped up walking
 
I have that problem. compounded by a white ceiling in the shop where I work.
I taped a shop towel to the top of my helment so it drapes over the back of my head to keep the glare off the back of the lens. Doing that helped me a great deal.

I actually came up with that idea one day welding outdoors with the sun directly overhead.
 

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