Helmet Question

[Alchad]

Hi

New member, although have lurked in the past when trying to decide what welder to buy.

Anyway a bit of background which might help. I've got a Clark MIG 160(?)gas/gasless welder which I bought to do a few odds and sods welding jobs that come up from time to time but so far haven't managed to get past the practice stage. I usually give up and usually get a local jack of all trades agricutural mechanic to do it for me.

My problem is that I have dificulty in seeing the weld. Initially it was the problem in striking the arc using an ordinary type helmet so I bought a cheap auto darkening one on Ebay (from the States). Using the helmet I no longer have a problem in getting the arc to strike but do have great difficulty in seeing the join where I want to weld. I'm not sure whether this is just an eyesight problem with me - I wear glasses. Or is it a function of the cheap helmet? I did ask my welder/mechanic wht he thought of my helmet and he didn't think it was so bad but he's both young and an expert!

So my question is whether a better helmet would help? I've searched some of the past posts on helmets and seen some of the comments about cheap Ebay imports and I can understand the aguements against them. It's just that I'm slightly reluctant to spend £100(?) on a supposedly better helmet only to find I still get the same problem.

Any comment/advice would be appreciated.

Alchad

 

[Wozzaaah]

Welcome to the forum Alchad .
Is it a fixed shade or variable shade mask? It may be that you have to turn the shade knob down just a touch or it may just be that you're lacking in experience. I wouldn't think wearing glasses would have too much of a negative effect, lots of welders wear them and get on fine.
One of the main problems with learning to weld is keeping the wire on target, we've all struggled with it.
A few tips which may help;
1 set up a light to brighten up your weld path,
2 put a chalk line parallel to the join to give you an indication of whether you're going off-target
3 relax, get yourself comfortable and steady the torch with your 'spare' hand too, just rest the swan neck on it.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

what shade are you using. I have mine set to 9, the minimumon the auto, but the fixed mask I used for a few years has an 8 in it.

That's maybe a bit low for the higher power settings but generally I don't go much above half power with mine (Clarke 150TE).

It's a case of getting used to seeing by the glare of the arc and 'feeling' your way along.

Regards
Peter