I was working on my first actual welding project (a welding table) and was welding the second half of the tabletop to the frame I had made up out of 1 1/2 inch angle iron. I had already make about 20 welds between the angle and the 6 mm steel plates that form the table top. In the middle of one of the welds, the arc suddenly turned very bright; almost bright enough to hurt my eyes. I stopped, and when I resumed welding, it worked normally for a while, then happened again several times.
So I checked the welding helmet; it was properly set on Shade 10. And anyway, the rest of the viewing area did not become more transparent. I made another 5-6 welds after this and it never happened again. The only thing different that I noticed was that there was a larger than normal "ball" on the end of the wire when this happened and I stopped welding (2.5-3.0 mm dia.)
The welder is a Dayton 85 amp MIG using 0.8 mm solid wire and 75/25 Argon/CO2 mix. I was using the highest power setting (4).
Any idea what caused this? It almost hurt my eyes through a Shade 10 and I'm wondering what could cause an arc that bright? Any explanation appreciated...
So I checked the welding helmet; it was properly set on Shade 10. And anyway, the rest of the viewing area did not become more transparent. I made another 5-6 welds after this and it never happened again. The only thing different that I noticed was that there was a larger than normal "ball" on the end of the wire when this happened and I stopped welding (2.5-3.0 mm dia.)
The welder is a Dayton 85 amp MIG using 0.8 mm solid wire and 75/25 Argon/CO2 mix. I was using the highest power setting (4).
Any idea what caused this? It almost hurt my eyes through a Shade 10 and I'm wondering what could cause an arc that bright? Any explanation appreciated...