How do you tell?

I've had sand eye, there was no doubt what it was. Take some antihistamine and try welding again. I always charge my auto-helmet for 10 minutes before using in bright light. Patrick

Thanks. I am going to try the darker clothes today. However, my eyes feel better today (and I have less allergy symptoms in general) without ever having progressed into the 'sand in the eyes' stage.

"RoyJ" wrote: (clip) A white shirt will give you the bounce effect as well as a helmet that is a bit slow on the darkening phase. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ From previous discussions about auto-darkening helmets, I got the impression that they all have UV filtration that does not depend on darkening. As far as the white shirt is concerned--have you ever welded with a white shirt before? Did this happen? I vote for the allergy explanation.

That's the cause! Some months ago, I have worn a black T-shirt with big white letters on the chest. In the evening, I had a bit sandy eyes. Was a bit puzzled what happened. Next day, wearing the same T-shirt, I realized that it were the letters when I was looking down while welding.

You also might stop washing some of your white T-shirts. :-)

Nick

Yes, I've worn white shirts before, but they have been cotton, not silk-linen blend. No it didn't happen.

Make sure the settings for your hood are high enough also.. Like at least 10 or 11, especially if you're going to be striking often during the session. The effect of a low/slow hood can be serious over time, and its easy to accidently move the knob as you raise the hood with a big fat glove... Also.. please think about getting a cape or a shirt or jacket with a collar. T shirts won't protect the skin around your neck from hot sparks or severe UV exposure and potential nerve damage. I know they're hot and a pain in the ass, but skin cancer aint much fun either..

Gotta preserve the machine if you wanna stay in the race!

good luck 2U!

Arc flash is usually very obvious. You will wake up in the middle of the night with some horrible pain in your eyes, and you won't be able to get back to sleep.

People don't typically get allergens in their eyes at night because their eyes are shut.

Arc flash home remedy: Cut open a potato and place the freshly exposed halves over your eyes.

Go to the Goodwill or other second hand store and buy the cheapest, lightest duty leather coat (make sure its Leather!) you can find on the racks, and rip out any insulated or synthetic lining it may have in it.

Works great for welding jackets and you can get em for $3

Ive a couple stores that save the ratty ones for me, with ripped linings and whatnot and I give em away to my buddies for this use.

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

I belive it was at 11. It runs from 9 to 13 if I remember right.

I should clarify. I used to wear a cotton t-shirt with a long sleeved, collared cotton cordory shirt over it. Full coverage and no exposed skin. Then my wife picked up an abandoned leather jacket from the junk pile at her work. However the other day was a bit warm to wear it, so I was going to grab the old one, but she told me it wasn't in an easy to get to location, and suggested the other shirt. It was also full coverage.

I've been thinking about getting a proper welding jacket anyway.

Yep. About 95% of what I wear is all natural fibers. I want to be able to get a wild hair and go out and blacksmith without worrying about winding up with napalm on my skin. The 5% is stuff that I rarely wear, and never around fire/forge/welder.

The most common precursor is that your eyes will feel warm. This is because you have essentially sunburned your eyes, so the outer surface of the cornea stops breathing. This makes your eyes feel warm.

The sand in the eye comes the next day when the outer layer of cells on your cornea have sloughed off. It usually lasts 1 day, but can last 2 if really bad.

It is rare for there to be any permanent damage to the eye from 1 case of flashburn.

What causes optic damage from welding is repeatedly catching welding arcs without your hood down. This kills a few rods and cones every time, eventually leading to poor vision in the center of your view.

This is correct. They all block UV and IR to a 14 density filter. RTFM!

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote: (snip)

Well, the hood was always down when I struck an arc. I went out and did

88 short/spot type welds last night and here it is 24 hours later and my eyes feel pretty much normal. Looks like my helmet is more or less acceptable. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait until I've got some cash coming in before I upgrade.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody.

Todd

TFM is in Chinese...... Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

Take it to the Chinese carryout and get them to read it. :)

Tom

Nah! Everyone is second generation 'merican and the only one left that can read Chinese is Granny and she lost her glasses =;-(

Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)