filters & eye strain
 

hi there,

i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
strained.

my eyes dont hurt...they just feel different.a bit like when you ve
stayed up all night using the internet.

i am using the correct filter shade (#11) for the current i am welding
with and its manufacturer meets the DIN specs for welding filters.
you cant see anything through it before the arc is on.I have never
seen spots following extinguishing of the arc.

what i would like to know is if any other welders here ever felt eye
strain following welding even when you were using filters of the right
shade?

thanks,
Sam

filters & eye strain
 

In article , Sam wrote:
hi there,

i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
[....]
what i would like to know is if any other welders here ever felt eye
strain following welding even when you were using filters of the right
shade? thanks, Sam

no direct experience, but folks here have said the same, you don't
get the strain with normal helmet/filter. they attribute it to
the split second of flash that darkens the auto lens, and only
experience it when lots of short welds are done all day. --Loren

filters & eye strain
 

if I am tried lack of sleep than a bit perhaps, under normal conditions no,
do you wear perscription glasses or maybe you need your eyes tested for
glasses, also check that the lenses are in very good condition, I have gold
lenses and they have to be replaced when they become scratched i've always
used a shade 10 never been a problem
"Sam" wrote in message
om...
hi there,

i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
strained.

my eyes dont hurt...they just feel different.a bit like when you ve
stayed up all night using the internet.

i am using the correct filter shade (#11) for the current i am welding
with and its manufacturer meets the DIN specs for welding filters.
you cant see anything through it before the arc is on.I have never
seen spots following extinguishing of the arc.

what i would like to know is if any other welders here ever felt eye
strain following welding even when you were using filters of the right
shade?

thanks,
Sam

filters & eye strain
 

Sam scribed in
:

hi there,

[]
i am using the correct filter shade (#11) for the current i am
welding with and its manufacturer meets the DIN specs for
welding filters. you cant see anything through it before the arc
is on.I have never seen spots following extinguishing of the arc.

hmmmm.... wacky idea for Monday.....
what about having some really bright lights pointing at the welding
area with an autoswitch to turn them ON when you weld, so the rest of
the job is lit up so you can see it as well as the arc?

what i would like to know is if any other welders here ever felt
eye strain following welding even when you were using filters of
the right shade?

my father-in-law is a professional welder. he reckons it's the
smoke. he says keep the smoke out of your face and you can weld all
week but one afternoon of smoke in your visor and your eyes have had
it.

swarf, steam and wind

--
David Forsyth -:- the email address is real /"\
http://terrapin.ru.ac.za/~iwdf/welcome.html \ /
ASCII Ribbon campaign against HTML E-Mail - - - - - - - X
If you receive email saying "Send this to everyone you know," / \
PLEASE pretend you don't know me.

filters & eye strain
 

On 6 Jul 2003 04:00:32 -0700, (Sam) wrote:
i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
strained.

my eyes dont hurt...they just feel different.a bit like when you ve
stayed up all night using the internet.

i am using the correct filter shade (#11) for the current i am welding
with and its manufacturer meets the DIN specs for welding filters.
you cant see anything through it before the arc is on.I have never
seen spots following extinguishing of the arc.

what i would like to know is if any other welders here ever felt eye
strain following welding even when you were using filters of the right
shade?

A dark filter causes the pupils to dilate when you're under the hood,
and that shoots your depth of field to hell. So your eyes have to work
more to keep a near item in focus than if you're working under bright
lighting and can allow depth of field to take up most of the slack. LCD
helmets accentuate this because you tend to keep the helmet down
more, so your eyes dark adapt more than if you were nodding a
conventional helmet.

Most welding supply shops have a stock of diopter correction lenses
(magnifiers) that snap in place behind the filter. Welding is generally
close work, and loss of visual accommodation (the ability to easily focus
at different distances), which typically starts around 40, can cause
eye strain if you don't give the eyes a little help. I use a 2.5 diopter
lens in my LCD helmet to avoid eye strain.

Gary

filters & eye strain
 

In rec.crafts.metalworking Gary Coffman wrote:
On 6 Jul 2003 04:00:32 -0700, (Sam) wrote:
i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
strained.

my eyes dont hurt...they just feel different.a bit like when you ve
stayed up all night using the internet.

i am using the correct filter shade (#11) for the current i am welding
with and its manufacturer meets the DIN specs for welding filters.
you cant see anything through it before the arc is on.I have never
seen spots following extinguishing of the arc.

what i would like to know is if any other welders here ever felt eye
strain following welding even when you were using filters of the right
shade?

A dark filter causes the pupils to dilate when you're under the hood,
and that shoots your depth of field to hell. So your eyes have to work
more to keep a near item in focus than if you're working under bright
lighting and can allow depth of field to take up most of the slack. LCD
helmets accentuate this because you tend to keep the helmet down
more, so your eyes dark adapt more than if you were nodding a
conventional helmet.

now _that_ makes sense. would also explain why there are so many
opinions/guesses on the reason. --Loren


Most welding supply shops have a stock of diopter correction lenses
(magnifiers) that snap in place behind the filter. Welding is generally
close work, and loss of visual accommodation (the ability to easily focus
at different distances), which typically starts around 40, can cause
eye strain if you don't give the eyes a little help. I use a 2.5 diopter
lens in my LCD helmet to avoid eye strain.

Gary

filters & eye strain
 

thanks for all your response so far (and any which are still to come).

i just bought an extractor fan to deal with the smoke which was
filling my helmet.

i will try to remember to blink more to clean my eyes.

about the dialating pupils i will need to have my vision checked for
glasses.

i also got a #12 shade for my fixed lens helmet which i might try
later.

my helmet takes 90x110mm lenses. there are 2 smaller sizes for other
helmet openings, the smallest being half that area.

what size do you use? does UV protection determine how small an
opening you have in your helmet?

thanks again,
Sam

filters & eye strain
 

On 7 Jul 2003 13:31:24 -0700, (Sam) wrote:
thanks for all your response so far (and any which are still to come).

i just bought an extractor fan to deal with the smoke which was
filling my helmet.

That's good whether the smoke was causing eye irritation or not.
You don't want to breathe that stuff.

i will try to remember to blink more to clean my eyes.

Can't hurt.

about the dialating pupils i will need to have my vision checked for
glasses.

Be sure to mention your specific situation when you see the eye
doctor. Let him know your regular working distance when welding,
and also remind him your pupils will be dilated.

i also got a #12 shade for my fixed lens helmet which i might try
later.

I wouldn't be surprised if that made matters worse. I tend to use
a shade a bit lighter than recommended because it makes my
pupils tighten up a bit and increases depth of field. Glare doesn't
bother me much. Others are more sensitive to glare, and want
a darker shade. But that reduces their depth of field.

my helmet takes 90x110mm lenses. there are 2 smaller sizes for other
helmet openings, the smallest being half that area.

The big lens is nice, the magnifiers I mentioned are smaller, which lets
you put one behind the bottom half of your big window, sort of like bifocals.

what size do you use? does UV protection determine how small an
opening you have in your helmet?

I also use a big window helmet, with the magnifier in the bottom half
of the window. *All* welding lenses have to be the equivalent of shade
#14 for UV. Doesn't matter what size they are, and for the LCD type,
it doesn't matter whether they are in the light or dark state for visible
light. Continuous shade 14 equivalent UV protection is an ANSI
requirement for any arc welding lens sold in the US.

Gary

filters & eye strain
 

"Sam" wrote in message
om...
hi there,

i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
strained.

my eyes dont hurt...they just feel different.a bit like when you ve
stayed up all night using the internet.

I have had the same problem using an automatic darkening helmet. Even
though it darkens in 20,000 th of a second. So I started blinking as I
initiated the arc. Guess what I no longer have eye problems!!!

Ken

filters & eye strain
 

hmmmm.... wacky idea for Monday.....
what about having some really bright lights pointing at the welding
area with an autoswitch to turn them ON when you weld, so the rest of
the job is lit up so you can see it as well as the arc?

Difficult to arrange - Full sunlight on the weld area makes it dimly
visible through a #10 before the arc is struck. So you'd need lights
"brighter than the sun". Pretty wacky.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

filters & eye strain
 

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 07:07:53 -0700, "Kenneth Emmert"
wrote something
.......and in reply I say!:

I find it hard to believe that 1/20000 of a second is going to do the
damage. I wonder if it's that what you suggest simply makes you blink,
which has been suggested as a good way to stop eye fatigue under
concentrating conditions.

Same result, but if the autohelmets are causing problems, then this
needs serious investigation IMO.


"Sam" wrote in message
. com...
hi there,

i have never been flashed yet knocking on wood in the few weeks i've
been welding but after a exceptionally longe period of welding this
weekend (where i used around 25 7014 rods) my eyes feel a bit
strained.

my eyes dont hurt...they just feel different.a bit like when you ve
stayed up all night using the internet.

I have had the same problem using an automatic darkening helmet. Even
though it darkens in 20,000 th of a second. So I started blinking as I
initiated the arc. Guess what I no longer have eye problems!!!

Ken



************************************************** ****************************************
Huh! Old age!. You may hate it, but let me tell you, you can't get by for long without it!

Nick White --- HEAD:Hertz Music
Please remove ns from my header address to reply via email
!!
")
_/ )
( )
_//- \__/

filters & eye strain
 

Old Nick wrote: I find it hard to believe that 1/20000 of a second is going
to do the damage. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think this may be the placebo effect working.

filters & eye strain
 

Reflected light from arc can cause problems. Worse case is when it is
reflected off shinny metal or white object like shirt.

filters & eye strain
 

On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 04:45:37 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote something
.......and in reply I say!:


Old Nick wrote: I find it hard to believe that 1/20000 of a second is going
to do the damage. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think this may be the placebo effect working.

No need to use rude words like that! G

It could well be.
************************************************** ****************************************
Huh! Old age!. You may hate it, but let me tell you, you can't get by for long without it!

Nick White --- HEAD:Hertz Music
Please remove ns from my header address to reply via email
!!
")
_/ )
( )
_//- \__/