Can't See

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Well not very good anyway. I'm self taught and only have a mig. Problem is everything always looks dark to me in as I can barely see where I'm going with my welds. I've tried different helmets but nothing seems to make a difference. Currently I have an auto dark made by Hobart and I have a cheater lens in there to see clearly but it doesn't help with the light issue. I've tried all the settings from lightest to darkest with no luck. Does anyone else have this issue?
Reply:Originally Posted by TrainWell not very good anyway. I'm self taught and only have a mig. Problem is everything always looks dark to me in as I can barely see where I'm going with my welds. I've tried different helmets but nothing seems to make a difference. Currently I have an auto dark made by Hobart and I have a cheater lens in there to see clearly but it doesn't help with the light issue. I've tried all the settings from lightest to darkest with no luck. Does anyone else have this issue?
Reply:It doesn't seem like that but then I've never really looked for that problem. I'll give it a try though. You'd think the arc would light things up enough for me to do brain surgery never mind just trying to follow the joint.
Reply:The best view I ever found was when I took a fixed shade hood and tried different gold color filter lenses until I found the right shade lens to see the puddle without squinting through the glare.But they need to stay clean and there needs to be enough side light and layout marks to see where you are going.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I agree to look for this light entering the helmet from the top, bottom & sides, you could be getting glare that you don't even realize. it can be like the difference between watching a movie screen in a room with all the lights on vs watching a movie screen in a pitch black room, it def helps to have it pitch black inside the helmet but sometimes even some light reduction can help too. try it, you'll def see better. problem then becomes ventilation inside the hood thoughLast edited by turbocad6; 05-22-2011 at 04:24 PM.miller 330a bp TIGmiller dynasty 200DX TIGmillermatic 185 MIGthermal dynamics cutmaster 101 plasma cuttersnap-on YA5550 plasma cutterhypertherm powermax 30 plasma cutterbaileigh CS225 cold sawetc....
Reply:Had the same issue with the same Hobart AD helmet. I tried a lot of different things. Some helped, most didn't. Tanglediver nailed it with the suggestion on the fixed Gold lens. I just switched to this and the difference is amazing. I have a #10 for SMAW but I'm going to put in a #9 for GMAW and GTAW. Oddly enough, this makes every single piece of Hobart gear I bought in the last 8 months total crap. Kind of disappointing if you consider that the Hobart welding school is so highly revered.The only other thing that worked for me was the same thing technoid posted. I'd try it first if you want to stick with your Hobart hood. You can just duct tape anything to the top of the hood that will hang down behind it and block light coming in. If it does the trick then you can do something more permanent.But, in the end, for me it was really just a case of a cheap AD lens. I have heard many say that the clearest view they ever got was from a fixed shade lens.Good luck with it.E
Reply:The darker it is in the helmet the better it is to see out. Also I push the buddle so I can see were I am going so the torch don't get in the way.www.georgesplasmacuttershop.comPlasma Cutter and Welder Sales and Repairs--Ebay storeTec.Mo. Dealer Consumables for the PT and IPT torch's
Reply:I use a combination of gold lense shade 10 - 12 and covering the back of the helmet to minimize light intrusion and it works great though the instructors wont let me use a gold lense with tig.
Reply:My problem is that my eyes do not adjust very quickly when going from light to dark and this makes for most unenjoyable welding (I am strictly a hobbiest).  I found that in bright sunshine I can flip the hood down and still see where I need to start and clearly see where I am going.  So, I now use a bright spotlight to illuminate the weld area when working in my shop.  This allows me to keep the hood down and my eyes adjusted.  Worked wonders for me.  Maybe it will help you too.Joe
Reply:i use a fixed shade #9 gold lens, and see pretty well. also use a strong light on the work. its counterintuitive, you would think with the arc there would be a lot of light to see..but i need more light..iff you cant see you cant weld..period.
Reply:Thanks for the replies. In order I'll try. Blocking light, using a bright light on the area I'm welding, and a gold lens filter, or a combination of above. I don't do tig but why no gold filter for that?