Stick Welding - Slight Eye Irriation

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Hey guys,I am just learning to weld. I have an old Lincoln 225 Stick Welder that i have been playing around with. I am using the blue flame harbor freight auto darkening helmet. Turned to 10 or 11 for shade.I used around 6-10 rods last sunday practicing making beads on flat stock. After a couple sticks i noticed my eyes were slightly burning and dry. So i turned the lens up to 11 and did a couple more rods, for a total of 6-10 rods. About an hour later both eyes had a slight burn to them and were very dry. I took my contacts out and that helped a bit. but they still burned. My face was also slight sun burn. (could have been from spraying weeds, doesnt take long in phoenix ) I slept like a rock and when i woke up it was gone, until i started looking at PC screen at work. I kept putting eye drops in every 30 minutes till about noon. After that it never bothered me again.So, to be safe, i went and bout some UV/IR saftely glasses incase the helmet wasnt working right or something. these guys here [ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002A5J4Q4/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00[/ame]Today, i tried again, about 10 sticks. I got the same slight burning about half way though and concenrated on blinking more, which helped. But, here i am about 2 hours later with the left corner of my left eye slightlying burning. Both eyes are dry.Could this be arc eye? I have done a ton of reading and i know it can reflect, but could only 10 sticks be enough reflection to do it?I've been banging my head against the wall trying to figure what the hell it could be reflecting off of for the last week since im outside in the shade with dark stucco walls. It just NOW dawned on me, the grill is like 4 ft behind me with a stainless cover.I also had my swamp cooler blowing my direction to create a slight breeze to move the fumes away.
Reply:If that high dollar hood doesn't have a leak, maybe your eyes just need to get use to welding.Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:I have ad hoods and don't use them unless I have too.. get a fixed shade.Miller Pro 300 SS w/ cat Miller Bobcat 250Miller Diversion 165 Miller 211Miller Xtreme 375Miller 12vsMiller Dynasty 200 DX Miller Passport Plus w/ Spool GunMiller 30a spoolmaticLincoln AC225 Buzz Box VictorMathey Dearman - H&M
Reply:betting it's stray light getting in under the hood. make a leather piece that can go onto the bottom of the helmet to keep the light out....or weld with the piece up higher where you aren't looking down onto the piece you're welding
Reply:What you describe is what getting flashed more than a few times feels like.  I found that I would get more sensitive to it the more days in a row it happened.  Visien (sp?) helped a little.Miller Syncrowave 180SDLincoln WeldPak 100 with gasHandheld Milwaukee BandsawO/A Cutting Torch
Reply:I second the leather piece on the bottom of the hood.  Also, consider going to a fixed shade non-darkening lens.  In my opinion, you get what you pay for in the auto-darkening market.Matthew MortonTexas A&M '06Logsdon Seminary '13"Who Dares Wins""AFTF""WH2PH"SA 200 (Code: 5337)TB 302CP 302 w/22A Wire FeederMillerMatic 200Miller Syncrowave 200MillerMatic 252BurnTables 4x4 CNC MachineHypertherm 65
Reply:You could be getting flashed from reflections, but I don't think this is the case.  I think it's more likely that the smoke or weed spray irritated your eyes.  It has been my experience that burns from the light don't show up for many hours or even until the next morning.  Then it takes 3-4 days to go away and will be easily irritated by more flashing.Symptoms within only a few hours make me think it's something else.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Your irritation may not be from the arc....." I took my contacts out and that helped a bit. but they still burned."I also wear contacts when welding. I have found that the SMOKE from welding can get into your contacts. Once the smoke particles get in your eyes and under or into your contacts they will irritate your eyes (which will last even after you have removed the contacts). If I do a lot of welding I usually get out a new pair of contacts the next day....Since your are stick welding you can use a fan to blow the smoke away from your work so less gets under your helmet and into your eyes....HF 151 Dual Mig Welder (with mods)Lincoln 225-S AC WelderBuffalo MM-1 Milling MachineCraftsman/Atlas 6 inch Metal LatheBuffalo RF-115  4 x 6 inch Band-Saw
Reply:With Arc Eye you don't experiance it right away, normally its later on in the day and always in bright light or when your watching the TV, for it to happen when your welding make me believe that its more Fume related as opposed to flash, Arc related. With Arc eye it feels like you have sand in your eye.You will understand that Stick welding does produce more fumes than simply mig welding, and cheaper rods may also throw out more fumes than quality rods, have a go at using a different better quality rod and try have to have a small fan blowing gently to push the fumes away from your face/helmet
Reply:Hey guys,Thanks for the replies.This morning my left eye is still burning/irritated. NO sand feeling. My eye lid feels like its sunburned or sensitive. My eye, nor my eye lid look red. Last night my cheeks felt slightly sun burned and looked a tad red. Looks like its about 50/50 on smoke vs arc. While this is my first time welding, i have welded with my dad,(holding things and helping out) with this same welder and same sticks many times. The difference is I usually wear a fixed shade helmet thats like 30 years old, and i stand 10 ft back most the time, other then the few times i hold something.I def think it could be either, but am leaning slightly more towards arc reflection.My BBQ grill behind me with the rounded stainless top cover is a perfect reflector. I  had my back towards it most of the time. Its also more towards me left side then my right, which i find it funny its my left eye thats bugging me and my right pretty much feels normal.The difference between this weekend and last, is im wearing the safety glasses underneath. So what i think is happening is basically the UV rays bouncing off the BBQ grill, are coming into the left side of the helmet, and bouncing off the lens into my eyes. Now this weeekend since i was wearing the safety glasses, they absorbed the UV coming off the welding helmet lens at the right eye. BUT, the gap between my face and the safety glasses was probably lettting light in on the left, and bouncing off the safety glass lens into my left eye...At this point, im really bummed out.  I am having a lot of fun learning, but I dont want to keep doing this to my eyes.My neighbor think its the fumes and says i should go get a mig welder. Since for what i do, im wasting my time with stick and should go to mig.  He doubts its the helmet since he has same one and has been fine. I guess this is a good excuse to go buy a miller 211 and a nice miller AD helmet. Just bothers me i cant figure out what the deal is. If i try the stick again, im going to move the BBQ and possibly borrow my neighbors helmet and see if does it again. If not, i know its one of the two.
Reply:Originally Posted by GalaxiemanYour irritation may not be from the arc....." I took my contacts out and that helped a bit. but they still burned."I also wear contacts when welding. I have found that the SMOKE from welding can get into your contacts. Once the smoke particles get in your eyes and under or into your contacts they will irritate your eyes (which will last even after you have removed the contacts). If I do a lot of welding I usually get out a new pair of contacts the next day....Since your are stick welding you can use a fan to blow the smoke away from your work so less gets under your helmet and into your eyes....
Reply:When the smoke has bothered by contacts, it felt like dirty contacts or something in my eyes.....Remember, when you are welding you cannot see the huge volume of smoke that is put out by the stick welding process..HF 151 Dual Mig Welder (with mods)Lincoln 225-S AC WelderBuffalo MM-1 Milling MachineCraftsman/Atlas 6 inch Metal LatheBuffalo RF-115  4 x 6 inch Band-Saw