Welding arc flashed, now what to do?

[evfreek]

Once upon a time, I took a metalworking class at adult ed. There were a couple of artists there doing metal sculpture. One of them put her sculpture right in the middle of the shop and she would strike an arc at random times, even when hands-on instruction was given. Eventually, some of us complained to her, and we were sharply reminded to "keep our eyes where they belong". Probably, she was used to being the center of attention and did not give a care about anybody she did not feel like warning.

I picked up a trick from an old timer which worked pretty well. Wear a pair of flash goggles. If in doubt, use the lightest shade IR & UV goggles possible. Also, 99% + wrap around polycarbonate sports sunglasses work well. Some people had their doubts, but I chucked a pair on to a Beckman spectrophotometer, and it had excellent near UV protection. A couple of seconds of flash is OK at 50 feet, and 99% will get you in to 5 feet with the same exposure. It absolutely got rid of the "sand in the eyes" problem, but you still saw stars and cursed the self-absorption of the inconsiderate flashers under your breath. Polycarbonate sunglasses are shade 1 or 2, so just add that to your welding glass. For example, if you normally use a 10, you can use the 8 with these glasses and just leave them on all the time. Just watch out for the tripping hazard.

[Dodge]

Avoiding flash burn can be tough, especially in production settings, and in case nobody said it yet, "It REALLY hurts!!!" I learned, in a safety meeting, that most flash burned eyes occur from a welder other than the victim. You just gotta get in turn with others around you. You need to get a "feel" for when someone near is going to start a weld. You start to notice the tell-tale nod as they aim the stinger or MIG gun. I only suffered two or three times in my 18 years as a production welder and that was in the first 1 or 2 years. Only takes a couple times to start learning how to avoid it.
Auto-darken hoods are a godsend. I got so spoiled at work that I convinced my wife and kids that one would make a terrific Christmas present for home work a couple years ago
Relief can be tougher than avoiding it. Ive tried the potatoes, cucumbers, Visine, etc. The only thing that was truly effective was time, and as sstreckfuss stated, sleep. The best cure I found in the end was avoidance. However, I have been told, but never confirmed, that there are super effective eye drops made especially for welders available at eye doctors.
Anybody know for sure about this??

[Dodge]

BTW, eyes aren't the only thing that can get flash burned. Cover all skin that will be exposed to the rays. This type of burn is, as I learned from perhaps the same safety meeting as the above post, worse than a sunburn as far as the possibility of skin cancer! I believe this due to the concentrated UV rays inherent to welding flash. Watch American Chopper, Muscle Car, American Hotrod, etc. They, quite often, weld without skin protection, and to me this is stupid and bad television. Try not to mimic them except for the awesome projects they produce. I shall stow my soapbox now LOL

[tbarm]

I agree the quick change helmets are a great invention. If you weld and don't have one try one out and you will buy it. I worked in a production shop for years and we put sunblock on each day sometimes twice. Really helped ease the skin pain. I don't know if doctors have eyedrops but the company store had some that worked really good for flashburn. Probably could get them from welding supply store. They helped but sleep helped more than anything, that is when you could finally fall asleep through the pain. Protect your eyes, it would be hard to forge without them.

[Ten Hammers]

I guess I am blessed. I have only had eye burn twice. Both times from plasma at home. I weld in a shop the has sometimes 4 or 5 sets of welders in seperate locations making 20 or 30 tacks before starting welding ( and have worked in other places the same or worse ). Automatic lenses are great yes. At work they supply us with Huntsman battery powered with 2 sensors at top. One aaa battery lasts long time. I have a hundred dollar Huntsman at home ( solar ) and I would NOT recommend it. I will buy either a full screen automatic to fit one of the shop helmets eventually. Solar sucks. Sunlight is hard to come by frequently. I may or may not weld at home for days ( mig anyway ). I use shade 5's to gas weld. I also now use the same shade 5's for plasma. The red lens Jackson helmet will not be replaced at home until I have a good automatic.

[David Jacobson]

One time when I had arc flash about 15 years ago, I was visiting a friend who had just married a kinda hippie woman who was all into erbal stuff. She seen my reed arc flashed eyeballs and knew just what to do. She went out into her back yard and picked some leaves off a borage weed. Then she put them into an old coffee kettel and she steamed the leaves somehow and put the liquid in a eye droper for me. It worked like magic! no more sand paper eyes.

Dave Jacobson

[arftist]

I go to the emergency room when I get flashed bad enough. I have had to call a taxi at 2 am a couple times. The medicine they put in your eyes is worth every penny. Things to avoid: other people welding while you are not welding (put up a welding curtain if this can't be avoided), White tee shirts, walls painted white, too low shade #( I use #12) and cracked or broken sheilds. The doctor said the more you have been flashed, the more likely to happen again.

[Dave M]

I will recomend against using gold lens welding hoods. Here is the reason, the gold coating on the lens is easy to scratch and if you don't know its scratched or can't see the scratch or scratches you will get flashed through these scratches and not even know it until it is too late. Last year I was welding new floor plates into the beds of Cat rock trucks & end dumps all day with my fancy gold lens welding hood, by bed time it felt like I had ground glass mixed with sand in both of my eyes. Now before you think I may have gotten back flashed of the surface I was welding I modify all of my welding hoods with a snap on leather throat protector, this cuts down on fumes getting in my hood and my throat getting flash burned. Upon shinning a flashlight through the lens I could see light coming through the scratches. Now that hood has been refitted with an auto darkening lens.

[jimmy seale]

well gents,i have worked with lots of welders and, most will holler watch your eyes before they arch. that is a good thing to remember and use

[dragonflySmithy]

When using a plasma I wear yellow safty glasses that are uv blocking. I also wear them while welding under my hood. As far as haveing to flame cut or weld galvanized steel I use a mask with filters that are rated for the job. It is made by the 3M corp and cost me like $20. The filters on the mask are replaceable. It is a life saver. The only other thing that I could add is to make sure the you have good air flow in your shop.