Flash Burn?

[Charlie C]

Several years ago my Father was working in a shop where welding was being done and he received a real bad flash burn. About 2AM he called the wife and had her take him to the emergency room and have some oitment put in the eyes to kill the pain.

Protect your eyes.

[JonnyTIG]

I find quite a few of the shows on tv display unsafe practices. People watching these shows, (that aren't in the know) can learn a disreguard for the safety equipment they don't see being used.

[JonnyTIG]

On another note: I've had a bad flash once.
My welding helmet fell on the floor, to which I was unaware, and the gold plated filter lens got scratched real bad on the concrete. A fellow worker put my helmet back together and when I picked it up I hadn't the slightest clue. I welded for about four hours doing aluminum mig spray. Later, around bed time, the flash kicked in. A friend of mine brought me some Pontocain to ease the burn.
I've also suffered from sun-burned eyelids from tacking with no helmet. Not cool. Although burned uncomfortable eyelids are less of a bother than welder's flash, I personally don't want an encounter with eyelid skin cancer.

[rixtrix1]

Don't just close your eyes.....

If you think a minor flashburn to your eyes is painful, one on the eyelids is another new sensation! It's one of the most sensitive areas, not usually exposed to sunlight as your eyes are mostly open. tons of itchy, burning without the sand in you eyes feel. Wear your hood! My Miller Elite big window is awesome!

Ric G.

[Iron man]

The worst eye burn I have ever seen happened where I work I got a new guy to train one day, we furnish everyone an auto helmet the guy said he was a welder and had used an auto helmet for years so I give him some scrap to weld on and left him alone came back about 3 or 4 hours later he raised his helmet and his eyes looked like blood red. he wore contacts and had welded the entire time without turning on his helmet, contacts melted to his eyes had to go to hospital and have them peeled off made me hurt just thinking of it. come to find out he had never welded before he even ruined the scrap LOL. also since he had never welded he had no clue about the helmet. So that goes to show if you dont know how to do somthing just say so ask for help. dont lie it will hurt you in the end.

[Amos F.]

Had welders burn once. Never again... did something stupid to get it.

My girlfriends 8 year old is a big help around the farm. When he was six he came with me on a day off school and we were doing some millwright work around the grain storage. I told him don't watch what I am doing when I am welding as you will go blind. He didn't listen. While we were having dinner I looked at his eyes and I asked him if he watch me and e said no but his eyes told a different story. A trip to the hospital (which he does not like) cured the problem. He now has his own autodark helmet that sits on the shelf right by mine and he puts it on when ever I plug in the welder without me saying anything. His mother was not happy with me for a few days though.
Amos F

[Alky]

Some people are so concerned of what other people may or may not think about them, they're willing to scar and cripple themself for life. Others are just so stubborn, they only learn by pain.

Both of them looks equally silly to me.

[PAagteacher]

welders flash hidden danger

There are two kinds of burns to the eye that are dangerous for welding. The burn you experienced is a burn to the white of the eye. The feeling of sand in your eye is actually dead cells. The membrane on the eye has been burned away and your eye is exposed to bacteria. You should get medical attention to prevent an infection of the eye.

The second burn is to the retina, the back of your eye. You will not feel this burn and it is perminant damage. The retina is the focal point of all light entering the eye. It is like using a magnifying glass to focus the sun on an ant. This burn will cause a blind spot in the center of your vision. As you grow older the spot will get larger. Some old timers in the welding business have a lot of trouble seeing what is directly in front of them. This is the burn you don't want.

If this discussion is not enough to convince you to wear eye protection consider your senior years trying reading the paper out of the corner of your eye, let alone driving.

[JonnyTIG]

That's a good point. There is a lot more going on with a flash burn than what we can feel.

Some people are more sensitive to flash than others.

I worked with a fellow welder who kept getting flashed every couple of weeks while production welding aluminum vessels. After four months of this going on, we figured out the problem. Inside his welding hood was a white warning sticker, directly below the filter shade. Peel the sticker off, no more flash burns. What was interesting was that he had used the same hood for a couple of years welding steel and had no problems, however the UV radition reflecting off of the aluminum and into his hood, then off the sticker and into his eyes, was just enough to cause welder's flash.

[youngwelder_154]

Flash burns are probly one fo the most often seen incidents for welders other then burns of course . Today A guy at work I can honislty call him a friend he told me whenw e where worklign on a project Ryan fi you done feel comfortable doing something jsut say no you dont need to do something that might hurt you with out proper training.I learned about that in class but he is the first person to ever say that to me. He also welds properly when he tacks he puts his shield down for tacks I actually look up to him. He showed me soemthing that I shouldent have to use but I have to anyway thew grinders in this shop have no gaurds. He said the people wont listen to him about putting them on so I really shoudlent use them. I said well I need tog eta job done Ill jsut have to be mroe careful. But yes he gave me some help with weldign today I was Mig welding I find it easy but I had to help ona project and he showed me what I can do to make my weld look better. The weld ended up perfect the guys where even saying **** Mucca his weld looks better then yours I jsut laughed.

[COFBack]

First Post
Been lurking for a while but I couldn't pass this without comment.

I worked for a pipeline welder in OK during High School and College ('79-'83). I was mainly the king of the grinder, but did a bunch other stuff in the trench for my boss. During that time I had the "pleasure" of having flash burns twice. Late look aways, the "come to the light" effect that the weld in progress has and just plain stupidity.

Flash forward 3 years, I'm finished with College and headed down to Pensacola to begin Navy Pilot training (or so I thought). In my whole life I had never read less than 20/20 on an eye exam. That day (for whatever reason) I read 20/25 in my left eye. They kicked me loose and told me to come back the next day. Next day the Flight Surgeon had me read again, 20/25 again, he was going to give me another chance until he looked in my eyes. First thing out of his mouth was "how long have you been welding?".
Final nail in the coffin. I ended up being a Naval Flight Officer (navigator). But have kicked myself in the butt for many years over that.

Take care of your eyes (and ears for that matter).

I'm usually not so verbose. Sorry, it's important.

Robert

[youngwelder_154]

Really can one flash burn effect your eye sight that much? LIke I mean my eye sight isnt 20/20 I am near sighted. But will welding damage your eyes a little bit even fi you have the shield on. If that is the case I believe I am going to take my lense shade up to a 12 for all my welding. They say it makes a difference for stick welding but who cares my sight is worth more then a welding job. Or you can always get the auto darkener adn set it between shades I do believe that can be done. The hood we had at work it could be 10-11-12 but you can set in between im sure that would make a difference?

[drewworm]

RW , I'm laughing my a$$ off right now. Nothing personal, but think about that looking into the sun thing for a minute. Someone doesn't like you. If I don't have my helmet on, I'm not welding or helping.
The sun recommendation makes me laugh cuz it reminds me of when I was a younger man and my best friends dad was building a house. There was a tube of construction adhesive on the ground and my friends younger brother got into it and like axle grease the stuff got everywhere. I told him that sawdust would take it right off.

[Dvigil]

Flash burn

Try a little bit of warm milk in your eye this always helps me out. Remember to always use your safty Gear.

[On fire most of the time]

Ive never actually been flashed, but ive caught sight of the arc at fairly short range. Definitely not a pleasant thing.

I personally think metal in the eye is worse...but not having the other for comparison I cant say for sure. Ive had steel in my eye 4 seperate times, in less than 10 minutes. REALLY not fun. But, a pocket screwdriver (with that wonderful magnet) and a latex glove fixes that issue fairly quickly. The real issue to me is AL in the eye...it doesnt grind the same as steel, breaks off in chunks. Hurts a **** of alot more in the eye too. AND you cant use a magnet.

BTW, the instance where I had steel in my eye 4 times, was WITH glasses, AND a faceshield tucked tight to my chest. Just goes to show, even with safety equipment, things can still happen. All the more reason I now keep guards on my grinders, use a faceshield when I need one, and always wear my helmet when I weld.

Im young and I have all my parts...but one day I want to be able to say that im old and still have all my parts.