A problem with MIG welding...

When burning MIG fairly hot the cover plate on your welding helmet gets a film on it that makes your view of the weld hazy but when stick welding you can see fine. Now I remember another reason I prefer stick welding. Glass cover plates probably help but you'd need a new one all the time because of spatter sticking to them. My eyes are kind of tired tonight. Welded a bunch of slip on flanges today at 29.5 volts and close to 500 inches per minute wire speed with a MillerMatic 252. Dave

Ya back in the day when I did mig welding I got to hate it for many reasons. Big one was burned eyes from the guy next to you doing some welding and your helmet did not darken since it was a little ways away from you. Learned potato's do not work to help you go back to sleep when your eyes where burned. I'll stick with stick from now on but then I do it a a hobby and a way to stay out of P/T

When I worked at the frame plant, some guys who did a lot of MIG ended up changing out lens covers on their helmets almost every day, or at least 2-3 times a week. My op wasn't as weld-intensive, [more assembly involved], so mine would last 2-3 weeks.

When in the shop I always wore sunglasses that wrapped around my face a little bit under my helmet. This helped if there was someone welding near me. Never could get the hang of the auto darkening helmet. It always seemed to flash my eyes.

When in the shop I always wore sunglasses that wrapped around my face a little bit under my helmet. This helped if there was someone welding near me. Never could get the hang of the auto darkening helmet. It always seemed to flash my eyes.

Wouldn't the other guys flash from a stick welder do the same think?

We would always put up a guard of somekind between us if we were welding close to each other.

Never heard of potatoes working but a wet tea bag works real well.

Can"t help with the haze problem but for the tired eyes and to make things easier to see you might want to try one of the gold plated lenses. I don"t know exactly what the gold layer does, what rays it absorbs or reflecs over and above an ordinary green lens but I know it works for me. I started using one nearly 15 years ago while working in a fab shop mainly as an experiement to find something to help me see the weld puddle a little better as being partially color blind was making it hard to do. What I discovered was that the colors changed enough to makeseeing what I was doing not such a strain and as such it made a world of difference in the way my eyes felt at the end of the day. Over the years since that is all I have used until recently when I started back in another fab shop and the headgear in my helment broke one day and I had to use another helment til I got a new one. All I can say is using a new, auto dark helment with the small lens was pure hell compared to using my helment. So, while you can"t get away from the haze you might want to try the gold lenses and see if that helps you out any, I knwo it did for me.

Dave as much as I don't like them, I suggest you switch to a glass outer cover lens.

Reason I don't like glass on the outside is sparks pit the glass easier than plastic. If I'm doing a lot of Tig welding then I'll use all glass. Glass is cheaper than plastic, and a lot clearer.

I generally run a plastic outside cover lens, gasket, color lens, gasket, glass inside cover lens. Now this is without a flip lens.

I've had the same hood for years, the film always wipes off I find. It doesn't happen if you keep out of the smoke plume. I don't stick weld inside so it doesn't smoke up my helmet as much.

I've done some fab work with big MIG's, I like not having to change rods all the time when you have a lot of bead to run. My biggest problem with MIG is getting the big tip in some of the places it needs to go.

Ya the flash from a stick welder will do the same thing but because of the way stick welding is done you almost never see 4 or 5 guys welding side by side as you do with mig. Also in this place I worked there was no way to put up shield between the people. This place built boat docks that went all over the world

Use glass.Buy you a bunch of them and change them as you need to.Also the better you dial in your settings the less you will need to change them.Like if your speed is just a touch too high it will splatter a lot more than if its right.Back in the day we would set each others speed a lot of times.It only takes a second and maybe do it again at lunch time,or try and set it yourself if it changes.I would keep a piece of scrap close to where I was working just to do that with.

It's something to do with the shielding gas and the arc that causes a haze on the cover plate when MIG welding. You don't get it when stick welding. I'd guess it's burning close 200)or more) amps as well. Dave

I know what you are saying.I used some heavy duty MIG welders before and that stuff gets on the plastic lens real quick.Ive tried it with a plastic cover over the glass,and then I would take my hood with me to the bathroom and wash it off several times a day,but after 2 or 3 days you cant get all of the haze off of it any more and its just hard to see through.
You are kind of out of it right now.Once you get a little more time with a MIG you will set it to where you dont have so much spatter.Or weld so it doesnt get on your cover plate is probably more accurate.Snip that wire every time helps too.Also weld a long weld.Starting up is where you get the most spatter.You also need real good gloves where you dont feel the heat.You will be surprised at what difference gloves make.A welders hands are as important as anything else in what he does.If your hands are getting too hot its hard to concentrate on doing a good job and that might be causing some spatter,I dont know.Ive welded as far as I could which was maybe a foot and a half and had to throw my gloves off because they were smoking hot and burning my hands.Id let them cool off and do it again,cussing all the time.I hate to use those big welders like that!I seemed to always get to use them because I would weld until my gloves were smoking.Most people would weld about 6 inches or less and try and get on another job.Since I was the low man on the totem pole I would get the job then.So since I hated to do it I would do it as fast as I could so I could go do a different job with a welder I liked.I spent 2 weeks one winter straight welding with that big machine.It was a long time ago and I still remember it,so it made an impression on me.I can forget something I did last week,but I havent forgot welding with that welder.