Welding Tips and Tricks

Had a #10 in my Lincoln hood doing max 90A flux core. VERY hard to see what was going on. Picked up a #9 gold lens and "I once was blind. But now I see." What a difference. Question is, will I need to go back to #10 for my Everlast 140st when it gets here next week?


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You choose your lens based on several factors :
Ambient lighting conditions
Brightness of the arc
How well your eyes can see

You're gonna need a darker lens when welding in bright sunlight than you need when welding indoors. An inverter mig welder produces a brighter arc than does a transformer mig. Stick welding is brighter than tig welding in most cases.
Get yourself a good autodark hood like a lincoln and you'll be able to change lens shade on the fly. Don't buy a cheap autodarkening hood unless you want to just flush your $$$ down the toilet.

RamboBaby wrote:...

You're gonna need a darker lens when welding in bright sunlight than you need when welding indoors...

Nope.

Your pupils will constrict with the higher ambient light. A lighter shade will serve you better welding outdoors. I always used a #9 in the field for stick and GMAW, and a #10 for TIG.

Steve S

#10 outdoors and #12 indoors with a 2.5 cheater or drug store reading glasses. And gold is the way to go for conventional lenses. (buy clears 20 at a time minimum definitely cheaper in the long run)

If I don't go darker outdoors then I get a pretty good headache every time. Maybe my eyes are different from you guys. I have 20/15 vision in both eyes but have a fair degree of night blindness. Maybe that has something to do with it.

RamboBaby wrote:If I don't go darker outdoors then I get a pretty good headache every time. Maybe my eyes are different from you guys. I have 20/15 vision in both eyes but have a fair degree of night blindness. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Could be...

I've always had to go a shade lighter outdoors because of the higher ambient light.

Steve S

DLewis0289 wrote:#10 outdoors and #12 indoors with a 2.5 cheater or drug store reading glasses. And gold is the way to go for conventional lenses. (buy clears 20 at a time minimum definitely cheaper in the long run)

You run a shade 12 indoors?!

Even on my auto dark if I have to get my head real close. I.E. Position required to see. Then I usually turn mine up as well anywhere between 12-13. Spent a day inside a wall cavity in a building when I wasn't welding the only light was from a trouble light 10 ft away after your eyes adjust to the dark I need the darker shade.