Cap/Cover passes for the blind: part deuce

MotherFluxxer · Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:42 pm

I'm almost to the point of giving up on ever taking another MIG/FLUX test again. This seems to be a pretty common problem in the field so I'm hoping to get enough feedback to test in the shop and develop a consistent solution.

To recap my situation and experience:

-I am professional welder/ fabricator of nearly 6 years

-I never have trouble seeing the work when I tig weld and seldom do when I stick weld, the trouble mainly comes when i'm ready to cap up a grove with MIG

-I do wear glasses

-I have tried soap stone, cheaters, and adding more light to the work piece with no real improvement

-If I hide the arc behind the cup I can see exactly where im tying in but as a result lose visual clarity of the puddle

-grooving out an area does help but some of the tests I've taken in the past don't allow it

Any thoughts?

Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:29 pm

Lenses are available in a spectrum of colors.

Try silver, if you can find it.

There is a lens color that will blot out the "flare" of your process, and let you see the "meat" of what you're doing.

Red will work well with flux-core, and it might work with MIG.

Each process/metal has a particular color "flare" and the lens you choose will affect your ability to see the puddle over the light emitted by the arc.

Steve S

Vince51 · Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:14 pm

Plus one on the silver coated lense. Have a shade 11 silver in my hood right now.

Va Welder · Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:09 am

I find a #10 gold lens work best for me on everything. In fact it may be a little light for core wire. I can see real good however I think i might go blind one day lol.

Braehill · Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:03 am

I've never welded much with flux core so I don't know if this trick will work for it, but I'm color blind and I have a very hard time seeing the puddle when I'm welding carbon steel. It also makes it hard to see the line that seperates the edge of the parent metal from the weld.

I found that when I' ready to cap a weld I just take one of the silver luminescent pencils that they sell at my LWS and draw a line along side where I need to weld. If I'm doing a pipe weld I use a pipe wrap to get a nice straight line.

They also are great for layout on carbon and it's easier to see your line when using a plasma cutter or torch. I've tried it on stainless and it works to a lesser extent but still is bright enough to pick up under the flash of the arc.

Most of these pencils are made of something soft that melts if you put it too close to the weld so I keep it back a little so as not to contaminate the weld. I also let the piece cool from the root and hot pass so it makes a crisper line. They're around a dollar apiece and last quite the while.

Give it a try, just might work for you too.

Len

MotherFluxxer · Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:14 pm

Had this problem with the MIG again today. Seems to REALLY be a problem when I start trying to run caps with spray arc. If I stay at a shade 10 the flare coming off the arc blinds me from seeing.....if I go up to 11 or 12, no more flare but I might as well be wearing a blindfold as everything outside the puddle looks completely black.

Any other thoughts?

Ranger · Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:27 pm

How are you failing at the weld test?????

MotherFluxxer · Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:14 pm

I'm having trouble tying my passes together because I can't see the previous pass. (not tie ins or start and stops for you tech school noobs who wanna weigh in)

jwmacawful · Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:22 pm

MotherFluxxer wrote:I'm almost to the point of giving up on ever taking another MIG/FLUX test again. This seems to be a pretty common problem in the field so I'm hoping to get enough feedback to test in the shop and develop a consistent solution.

To recap my situation and experience:

-I am professional welder/ fabricator of nearly 6 years

-I never have trouble seeing the work when I tig weld and seldom do when I stick weld, the trouble mainly comes when i'm ready to cap up a grove with MIG

-I do wear glasses

-I have tried soap stone, cheaters, and adding more light to the work piece with no real improvement
it seems like you,ve tried everything. when was the last time you had an eye check-up?

-If I hide the arc behind the cup I can see exactly where im tying in but as a result lose visual clarity of the puddle

-grooving out an area does help but some of the tests I've taken in the past don't allow it

Any thoughts?

MotherFluxxer · Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:43 pm

lol I almost asked why you just quoted my first post.....its been about 20 months since my last eye exam

jwmacawful · Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:48 pm

MotherFluxxer wrote:lol I almost asked why you just quoted my first post.....its been about 20 months since my last eye exam

did you ever find out why you weren't seeing the weld? if the cheater, glasses and a lighter shade of filter lens wasn't helping maybe the trouble was your eyes. do you wear the cheater along with glasses?

Braehill · Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:52 am

When you go for your next eye exam ask them to do a color blindness test. I've been dealing with your exact problem for the past 40+ years and it's frustrating to say the least. Most people will ask you questions like what colors do you see, that's like asking what something taste like.
Since my last post I started using a sharp scribe to make a line very close to the weld and I can pick it up but I have to really focus on it. i feel ya brother. This is why I like to tig aluminum best because I don't have the medium color range to deal with. Good Luck.

Len

jwmacawful · Sun Oct 13, 2013 1:40 pm

while i was working on the jacob javits convention center we were using 3/32 innershield for up to ten hours a day. i was having trouble seeing the puddle but found wearing sunglasses under my shield helped a lot.

Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:49 pm

Polarized sunglasses? Or plain? You might be on to something regarding arc glare...

Steve S

jwmacawful · Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:14 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:Polarized sunglasses? Or plain? You might be on to something regarding arc glare...

Steve S

the javits center was over 30 years ago. did they even have polarized technology then? if i remember correctly they were plain off the shelf ray-ban aviator's. the raising gang mohawks called us hollywood welders. lol

Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:33 pm

Yeah, they had polorized lenses then, and Ray-Bans were the most likely brand to offer them.

This might be worth following up on. Might be a wild goose chase, but polaraized lenses are cheap enough now for it to be an easy experiment.

Steve S

jwmacawful · Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:42 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:Yeah, they had polorized lenses then, and Ray-Bans were the most likely brand to offer them.

This might be worth following up on. Might be a wild goose chase, but polaraized lenses are cheap enough now for it to be an easy experiment.

Steve S

there's lots of water under the bridge since that job. now when i'm welding outside i wear a pair of prescription shades plus a #2 cheater and a #11 filter lens. for some reason i can see better with shades rather than going to a darker filter. i'm glad i only got a couple years till retirement or i'd probably be using a guide dog by then.
btw, i just had a thought as i was writing this; does anyone sell polarized filter plates?