Aaargh weldburned eyes

Wear a mask and save yourself an awful night.

This sucks, that is all

there ain't never nothin' good on TV anyhow

Something you will do only once I bet.

Yep, that is so much fun, seeing spots for quite a while. You don't make that mistake again (usually), quite painful.

Besides being painful, some aftereffects can be permanent. Don't go there. I watched a guy in a cylinder head shop stick welding with no eye protection. Did not want my advise.

had a friend do that....owwwww.......

Don't want to even think about that....have forgotten to lower helmet before. Probably won't do it again.

did it once.. that was a enough

there must've been some Bob Costas at the finish line...

Funny you should mention that Pat.

Snowblindness is similar? If so, I feel for you.

I didn't realize there were any members of the "squint and squirt" school on here!

For anyone who is ever around welding or welding themselves, it happens to everyone at least once.

It's happened to me a few times. It does suck.

I will never weld without a mask after seeing what happened to my Grandfather later in life. As the Alzheimers started to really take over his mind, he would often start to reach out for spots and try to push them away. Our families best guess was that he was seeing permanent weld burn spots from his youth and was getting frustrated with them and was trying to get rid of them.

Wear the mask now, save yourself years of frustration later...

I did some metal work for an artist in Tampa that would not allow me to bring in my own welder. He had an El Cheapo 110vac unit that as soon as the power was turned on, the stinger was hot. Drove me nuts trying to get a weld started without zapping my eyes. That did not last long.

I've only been welding for a few months, and I was making something at work just the other day, nearly forgot to lower my helmet once, I was literally ready to arc it. Scared the poo outta me. Can't imagine how fun it would have been if I didn't, my face was less than a foot away!

Enggboy wrote: I will never weld without a mask after seeing what happened to my Grandfather later in life. As the Alzheimers started to really take over his mind, he would often start to reach out for spots and try to push them away. Our families best guess was that he was seeing permanent weld burn spots from his youth and was getting frustrated with them and was trying to get rid of them. Wear the mask now, save yourself years of frustration later...

My father was doing the same thing while in the hospital on some heavy pain meds. As the meds were clearing his system he was able to explain that it was the little floaters that we all see.

Burned mine once only. That will never happen again. There was a guy who worked in the body shop at the Mazda dealer who refused to wear a helmet, 'squint and squirt' was his deal. I asked him if he'd ever burned his eyes and he replied 'Yeah, a few times'.

I always wear a helmet. I wouldn't ever weld without one, but in almost 40 years of welding, I've been arc flashed, probably 100 times or more. Some people feel a lot of pain and it feels like they have sand in their eyes, but I only get a temporary blind spot (like looking ito a light bulb) for about 1 minute, and then I'm fine.

I eventually bought myself an autodarkening helmet after flashing a few times. I could never get the "head nod before the strike" routine reliable enough . Screwed it up a couple of times every Saturday.

I have only been a flashed half a dozen times and it was never pleasant. I have an auto-darkening helmet at home but had to finally get another for work so I wouldn't have to use the one they supply as it is not auto-dark and I have flashed myself one to many times using it.

I've gotten burnt a few times from welding class at school. not from my own welder but from one in my peripheral vision. VERY not fun to see spots for 5+ hours. My symptoms are always essentially what Zomby Woof said, just last a little longer =/
Auto Dark helps a lot though, or maybe its just because I have it now and I'm not in a room with ten other people all welding at the same time lol

Ordered my auto dark helmet today from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-Darkening-Powered-Welding-Helmet/dp/B002I54R0Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330964031&sr=8-2

Yesterday sucked but today I am fine again.

I just read the "folk remedy" thread. When I worked in a welding shop (laborer, kid's summer job) the old guys mentioned one we tried when my brother got eye burn. Cut a fresh potato in half, pound one side a little to get the pulp juicy, press it against the closed eyelid. Of course, it makes no sense, but my Bro said it was a magic cure, or at least temporary relief. Probably just gives you the feeling that at least you're doing SOMETHING...Anyone else heard that one?

corytate wrote: I've gotten burnt a few times from welding class at school. not from my own welder but from one in my peripheral vision. VERY not fun to see spots for 5+ hours. My symptoms are always essentially what Zomby Woof said, just last a little longer =/ Auto Dark helps a lot though, or maybe its just because I have it now and I'm not in a room with ten other people all welding at the same time lol

The worst I ever got was from getting "tagged" with a laser. Not your penlight lasers, but a high powered one used in concerts. I was in a lift focusing lights and coming down, I traveled down through the "field". I knew they were using it, so I was not looking towards it, but still took a shot to the side of the eye. I was seeing green for hours.

The only good thing, that is the eye that lacks periphrial vision..