stupid me looked at welding for a second

-
roadrunnerh

roadrunnerh

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
3,201
Reaction score
475
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
My buddy was welding some exhaust for me, and I made the dumb mistake of looking at the weld for about a second or two. :banghead:
I was about 10 - 12 feet away.
My eyes feel ok now - just happened an hour ago. Are they gonna really burn later? was 1 or 2 seconds not enough time to do damage?
Is there anything I should do now?
 
If it was only a second or two, you should have no lasting issues, beside the embarrassment of admitting to that, lol.
 
If you did it for long enough, it will feel like there are marbles in your eyes. If it's still screwed up tomorrow, get to a DR. You only get ONE set of eyes, bud.
Slice raw potato into 1/4" thick layers and place them on your eyes. The starch in the potato will sooth the pain.
Good Luck.
Oh, and...NEVER look at a weld puddle without a shade.

George
 
I was always told that you'd feel it when you woke up tomorrow. It'd feel like sand in your eyes. 2 seconds from 12 feet is not too bad. Just don't ever do it again. Maybe call your eye Dr. and get advice on some drops to promote healing of any possible damage. My understanding is that you can get blisters on your corneas so maybe you can ward off any discomfort with drops.
 
huh, I've watched welding a whole bunch of times with no goggles and have had no side effects at all. My dad on the other hand was once spot welding something and he couldn't find his, so when he welded, he squeezed his eyes shut. He was blind for the next two days and now never welds without them on. lesson learned.
 
You will feel it in the middle of the night. Ive done it like a idiot. Your eyes feel like sand is in them. You will not be able to open or close them. Really sucks!!!!!! Bright light will also bother you. You should be alright with that short of time. Dont do it again though.

PS ive done it with a mig and plasma cutter. Learn my lesson.

Curtis
 
I weld every day and have had no problems in the last 6 years that I've been at this job.

That includes tacking when fitting stuff up. Don't know how many times I've flashed myself when tacking at just the distance from my hand to my face.....that includes multiple times during a given day, lol. Also, that's with 6 other guys all within 60 ft of eachother tacking and welding at any time. And that's not with any little 110 welders, all 3 phase on 408 volt plugs! Usually welding in the 26-28 volt range or more close to the 230-300 amp range.

Usually when flashing myself I just close my eyes for about 10 seconds or so and am a little blinded but goes away within a minute.

Never had to put anything in my eyes or on my eyes, guess I've gotten lucky!
 
You should be fine. I do it all the time and ive never had the sand feeling just a sun burn on the eye lids so it hurt to rub them but the eye itself was fine
 
The damage from a welding flash will never go away. Burned retina.
 
jos51700 said:
The damage from a welding flash will never go away. Burned retina.
Click to expand...

:-k There you have it. You're screwed, roadrunnerh. Might as well pack it in now!. It's been nice knowing ya!
bye.gif
 
I have been flashed more than several times both tacking [without a helmet] and when the automatic type fail to work [only time my eyes burned is when the ugly girl next door flashed] it feels like sand in your eyes,it's the sunburn and the hot sparks in the ear canal [when you weld under the car] that i can't get used to.
 
64 SRT8 Dart said:
I weld every day and have had no problems in the last 6 years that I've been at this job.

That includes tacking when fitting stuff up. Don't know how many times I've flashed myself when tacking at just the distance from my hand to my face.....that includes multiple times during a given day, lol. Also, that's with 6 other guys all within 60 ft of eachother tacking and welding at any time. And that's not with any little 110 welders, all 3 phase on 408 volt plugs! Usually welding in the 26-28 volt range or more close to the 230-300 amp range.

Usually when flashing myself I just close my eyes for about 10 seconds or so and am a little blinded but goes away within a minute.

Never had to put anything in my eyes or on my eyes, guess I've gotten lucky!
Click to expand...


What kinda welder are you running. I use a Miller Access 450 at work. I like the pulse welders.
 
I got a good flash once, dam she had nice tits.

You will be fine, you were not exposed long enough.

Kenny
 
So far, my eyeballs only feel MAYBE slightly sore.

I do have thick Corneas - so my optmologist said, which "makes pressure in my eyes seem higher than it really is".

I feel like a jackass for looking.
 
Well if you do start to experience the felling of sand in your eyes, as others have posted. Find a dark room and stay there for about twenty four hours. The eye and the tongue are the two fastest healing parts of the body.

Thick corneas won't help.
 
momoparnut said:
You will feel it in the middle of the night. Ive done it like a idiot. Your eyes feel like sand is in them. You will not be able to open or close them. Really sucks!!!!!! Bright light will also bother you. You should be alright with that short of time. Dont do it again though.

PS ive done it with a mig and plasma cutter. Learn my lesson.

Curtis
Click to expand...
I was helping a welder fix a texas gate at one of my gas wells once (well, I was close by with a fire extinguisher in case of sparks)- I definitely didn't look at the welding, but I must have got some flash in my peripheral vision- the next day I had the sand im my eyes thing going on, and as I drove to work the sunlight was killing me. I had to park in the shade of my tank farm for a few minutes with my eyes closed before I could see again. Nasty.

The only time being near welding has ever bothered me.
 
well i have my eyes burnt more than once being that i build commercial fishing rigging and gear sometimes i gotta weld in spots where i cant wear a helmit just hold the lense but when you get it bad it feels like someone holds you down and jams a handfull of sand in your eyes and it takes a week to recover or more......be carefull not dumb like me
 
roadrunnerh said:
So far, my eyeballs only feel MAYBE slightly sore.

I do have thick Corneas - so my optmologist said, which "makes pressure in my eyes seem higher than it really is".

I feel like a jackass for looking.
Click to expand...

It happens, I have been flashed and I have flashed myself many times over the last 35 years and haven't had any lasting effects from it. You "might" feel like you have some sand in your eyes tomorrow though.

Now where is my mouse?
 
I heard of a trick of using potato over your eyes help. Never got to try it. I had a welder tell me this.

Curtis B
 
I'm a pipefitter, and was holding a piece of Stainless Steel as my welder was tacking it. Tig welding. Didn't have my gloves on, and was holding the piece with my bare hands. Got hot, flinched and got zapped(my hands were shielding my eyes). Split second, not long at all. My god, my eyes have never hurt like that before. I couldn't sleep it was so bad.

Tig welding is the worst for brightness. It's about 10 times as bright as a regular arc welder.

But it does go away. No lasting effects.
 
Ah the Medusa syndrome.
Ya know damn well that it's dangerous and ya had to look.

We all did, and payed that price or some cases worse so deal with the sand in your eyes tonight and don't do it again. :)
 
'S when you start looking at these that you are gonna have problems

250px-Operation_Upshot-Knothole_-_Badger_001.jpg


redwing-dakota-425.jpg


"Duck and Cover"

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW4s7TETtJA&feature=related"]Duck and Cover - YouTube[/ame]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top