Can not see what I am welding

[Danny Rohling]

I have a miller 110 Mig welder and a Miller auto helmet. After I strike the first arc I loose what I am welding. No matter how I adjust the helmet I cannot see good enough to keep a straight line. My eye sight is good . It is too dark to see what I am doing. What am I doing wrong? Thanks very much in advance.

Danny Rohling

 

[rtbcomp]

Welcome to the forum.

This is a common problem, try increasing the ambient light, some people use those 500 watt halogen floodlights.

You could draw a line with white chalk alongside where you want to weld.

 

[Chickenjohn]

Agreed, get as many workshop lights as you can near the work piece. Also, get your head and eyes as physically close as you can to the welding. You will be protected from sparks and UV by the helmet and you will be able to see the weld a lot better.

Welding is all about seeing!

Also, is your autohelmet's front screen covered in splatter and scratched?? Change it, new ones are usually available for welding helmets.

 

[Sphinx]

Ah, glad I saw this.
I've got an auto helmet but it's triggered by lights (funnily enough). I used a portable light, one of those with a hook on to use under a car, and my helmet kept going dark before I arc'd up lol I ended up not using it but does anyone have any tips or experience of this?

 

[Chickenjohn]

Ah, glad I saw this.
I've got an auto helmet but it's triggered by lights (funnily enough). I used a portable light, one of those with a hook on to use under a car, and my helmet kept going dark before I arc'd up lol I ended up not using it but does anyone have any tips or experience of this?

Yes, I have had exaclty this problem, using hand held fluorescent workshop strip inspection lamps rather than bulb type inspection lights seem to help with not prematurely darkening your helmet (oo errr!).

Plus, i was forever blowing bulbs on those things, knock it on the floor, bulb blows, a spark from the welding - bulb blows, Put jam jar on to protect bulb- bulb heats up and bulb blows, grinding sparks- bulb blows.

 

[Davidss]

...
I was forever blowing bulbs on those things, knock it on the floor, bulb blows, a spark from the welding - bulb blows, Put jam jar on to protect bulb- bulb heats up and bulb blows, grinding sparks- bulb blows.

To help with some, but not all, of those problems you need to search out 'Rough Service' bulbs (sometimes 'RS' bulbs).
However, the filament strength is gained from additional thickness, so they don't glow as brightly. Go up one range, from 60 to 100Watt, to maintain a decent light output. The glass envelope is thicker as well, so can better withstand the occasional grinding or welding spark. These bulbs will cost more that the cheap supermarket '10 for a pound', but you have found the disadvantage of those.

One other general visibility point I see hasn't been mentioned yet.
If you have light behind your head, even general workshop illumination is enough, but the sun is a killer, it really cuts down what you can see through the lens. Tape a temporary cover cloth around the edge of the mask, so the cloth goes over your head and down the back of your neck.
After you have proved it works for you, you will need to find a better way of making the cover more secure.

HTH

 

[Chickenjohn]

To help with some, but not all, of those problems you need to search out 'Rough Service' bulbs (sometimes 'RS' bulbs).
-snio-
HTH

Good point, unfortunately that was mostly with "rough service" bulbs. I ordered a big pack from Toolstation and Screwfix and managed to blow/break most of them during the convertible restoration.

The strip light stands up much better to the abuse. Only one has failed so far.