Flashed - what can I do

[45Kevin]

Or am I in for a night of agony with sand in my eyes; like what happened to me 30 years ago.

I have an auto helmet, that I thought was turned on. It's a #9 I think. I welded for a couple of minutes, doing spots on a sheet metal patch on the 45, before I noticed it. I thought at first it was just a dusty, dirty glass that made the view less than normal.

I cleaned it and it did'nt change. That's when I got suspisious.

I looked at the sun quickly and got no response from the helmet. I then pressed the on button, again, and this time I could see it turn on.

So, am I fawked? Or is there an old welders trick to avoid the pain?

 

[haryv]

see spots before your eyes?

Go and see a doctor. Best sugestion

 

[fieldsken1]

it will be better tomorrow just use eye drops to kept moist

 

[-Spike-]

I believe the auto welder's helmets block the harmful UV rays whether they darken or not. If you're not seeing spots and have no burning, you're probably fine. I've experienced the burning, it's not fun.

 

[Rwhat]

Lincoln helmet?

 

[zebrabeefj40]

Been flashed when I forgot to turn on my autodark helmet a few times. Since the thing is a shade 5 even when off no harm was done; just had to wait for the spots to go away...

Nick

 

[45Kevin]

Just got my internet back.

After 24 hours I have had no ill effects. I didn't even get to see any spots.

My helmet is a 3m auto darkening, and like zebra suggested, it must provide protection even when off.

 

[Rubiconcruiser]

cut a raw potato and squeeze the juice into each eye. best all around suggestion. See a doc if necessary but we use potatoes routinely

 

[KLF]

This is a "Learn From My Fail" post.

Had to fill in a bunch of 1/8"-1/4" holes in sheetmetal bodywork yesterday. No way to get behind them. Welder kept burning through the metal, despite using 0.023" wire and the lowest setting. The only way I could get it to work was to do a bunch of small tacks and try to stitch the tacks together to fill over the holes. So it was a lot of trigger work, tack-wait-tack-wait-tack... and so on. Probably a couple hundred tacks by the time I was done.

I have a nice Miller Performance Series helmet, I spent the extra money as I only have one set of eyes. I did a few projects in the past with an old Speedglass helmet we have at school, but I have had headaches hours afterward, so I believe my eyes are too sensitive to the glass in that helmet, so I bought a good helmet when I bought my welder (MillerMatic 211 AutoSet).

Well, I guess even this new helmet isn't fast enough, even though I have the sensitivity cranked way up. Woke up at 2:00 am with a roaring headache, I wanted to gouge my eyes out. Had to take a bunch of Tylenol and keep my eyes closed till after noon. Headache went away, but my eyes still bothered me. My wife found something called "Artificial Tears" at the drugstore, they really helped, I'm still putting them in about every hour.

I read about the potato thing on the web, but that looks like a good way to get an infection to me.

Hoping Yooper checks in on this thread...

 

[e9999]

OP, I can't quite figure out what you meant and saw or didn't see. You didn't see any difference while welding compared to normal operation? It was darkening fine? Or just partway?

(wondering what to pay attention to in terms of figuring out something is wrong if not completely obvious)

 

[45Kevin]

The button to turn on the auto-darkening is starting to stick a bit it seems.

I pressed it as I normally do and watched for it to lighten up as it does when turned on.

Well, I guess i didn't watch closely enough, and assumed that it has been turned on.

I was welding in the shade and had done a number of tacks before I suspected that it was not turned on. That's when I again pressed the on button and this time I actually saw the glass lighten, so I knew that it had not turned on the first time I pressed the button.

I got suspicious that it was not on because I was having a hard time seeing my work through the glass, when there was no arc, because I was in the shade.


KLF, you have my sympathy.

 

[Ebag333]

I believe my eyes are too sensitive to the glass in that helmet, so I bought a good helmet when I bought my welder (MillerMatic 211 AutoSet).

From what I've heard, some people are sensitive enough that they can't use any auto darkening helmets (as it takes a fraction of a second for it to darken).

You may want to invest in a decent flip helmet, where you can line up your work then just flip the shade down/up as needed.

 

[KLF]

A lot of times what I will do is briefly close my eyes just before I pull the trigger, then after I hear the crackle start I open them to run the bead. But it just wasn't possible for this instance, neither was a non-auto helmet. Very tedious work, I really needed to see what I was doing.

Whatever, I officially hate bodywork and hope I never have to do something like this again. But I do enjoy buildin' me some bumpers...

 

[normiex]

Any job you can do with an auto helmet you can do with a non-auto helmet, a lot of boiler makers I know don't use them. I don't use them because my eyes sting after a couple of hours use.

 

[Gumby]

My auto would hurt my eyes if I spent some serious welding time with it.

it was cheap though.

 

[Walton]

I've had extreme flash burn from welding. For future reference, when you can't stand the irritation any longer, go to the ER. They have drops they put in your eyes that give you instant relief. Like a covey of quail flying out your ass. I asked for a bottle, but the doc told me no, they were not good for your eyes if you overuse them.