Clear lense in auto darkening shield

admin

Was welding today and had flipped up the dark shield on my auto-darkening shield and forgot to put it back down when I started welding again, does the clear lense in these shields offer any protection from flash... its a cheap hood I got with welder when I bought it, thought Id read somewhere that even the clear lenses on these helped to protect from bright UV light.. only looked at it for less then a second but my eyes are aching after a about a hour and a half..also it was my mig welder.
Reply:Most auto darkening hoods have enough clear-lens protection to ward off a flash. The manual should explain, if you have one.Rich
Reply:I believe he flipped up the auto-darkening lens, not that his lens was off.Yes, an autodarkening lens, even when off, offers a lot of protection.As for the clear lens, it is polycarbonate, which is pretty good at stopping UV.  Still, I would not make a habit of this.
Reply:thanks my eyes have pretty much quit hurting, its been close to 8 hrs. since I did it so should of experienced some symptoms if I had gotten arc burn..definitely don't plan on making it a habit.