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If you are a beginner, it might take a few months, and certain projects that help you get a good command of welding. Being a professional, you can directly begin welding large industrial-level projects.
After a few attempts, if you use all the necessary protective gear including a welding helmet and respirator, then you might experience the lens of your helmet to fog. This completely blocks your vision while welding, hence preventing you from welding accurately.
Is there a way to resolve this issue? Do you need to maintain your welding helmet to prevent such issues? How can you prevent the welding helmet from fogging up? Being a beginner or a professional welder, you can always face the fogging of your helmet if you do not maintain your helmet properly.
Some basic remedies are to control your breath, using water, buying a small fan to remove the fog and purchase an anti-fogging solution.
We will answer all of your questions and provide you some amazing tips to keep your welding equipment intact and well-maintained.
Solutions
All the welders who work on their welding projects regularly, at one point or another will experience fogging of their helmets. The lower tips are some inexpensive ones that might help you prevent fogging beforehand. They are:
- Slower and controlled breathing
- Water sprayed over the lens
- A fan to dry the air out
- An anti-fogging solution is applied to the lens
- Take the visor from your helmet by removing all 4 screws from the ends of the visor.
- Put a small amount of shampoo on the front and back of the visor and wipe it properly. This helps remove the fog on the lens.
- Now wash the visor with a surplus amount of water and remove excessive bubbles. Make sure not to remove the film coating.
- Now replace and screw the visor back into the helmet.
Slow Breathing
While using the welding helmet, taking milder and more shallow breaths will be quite good and be protective of the visor too. If you breathe through your mouth, the condensation of droplets gets accumulated in the helmet producing foggy layers on the inner surface of the visor.
This isn’t a great remedy for your welding helmet if you do a long and time-consuming welding project. Even after all these preventive methods, if you find that there is persistent fogging, then other options/remedies can be tried.
Water sprayed on the lens
Some professionals and manufacturing companies recommend the process of spraying water on the welding helmet. This layer of water acts as a barrier between the humid air in the helmet and the lens that in-turn helps to prevent the fog.
Once again, this method is viable and works if your project is a small and short-term project.
Use of a small fan
You can purchase a fan or a fan-like device depending on the size of the visor and welding helmet that you have. It helps dry out the air inside the helmet. If no humid air is present, then no fogging can be produced inside the helmet.
Many stores have a small fan that is battery-operated in their store. This fan can be used for clearing the humid air in the welding helmet. One small issue is that you might always not find the perfect-sized fan according to your helmet size.
Anti-fogging solution
This could be an expensive method but it really helps you maintain your helmet and its visor. You just apply the solution to the lens of the helmet and it forms a barrier between the glass on humid air inside the helmet and prevents the helmet from fogging anymore.
Anti-fogging solutions don’t last long enough. So, respraying them accordingly is essential to maintain the protective layer. Reapplying the solution from time to time is recommended for getting some successful results.
Causes
Temperature: There are certain situations where the temperature of the helmet is less than the temperature of your breath. This mostly occurs to welders doing their projects in very cold and dry regions.
In such situations, it is better to pre-heat the helmet and the lens by keeping it in the sunlight or blowing some hot air to warm to the lens.
Distance from the lens: The distance between your face and the lens must be at a particular limit as given in the user manual. Keeping your face too close to the lens of the helmet can cause fogging up issues.
When fog forms up on the lens, then the welder will find it very hard to focus on the bead profile and welding accuracy. Free circulation of air and maintenance of temperature is the best remedy to overcome the fogging of the helmet lens.
Breathing through the mouth: Some welders out of suffocation or habit breathe through their mouth occasionally and this is what is bad when it comes to using welding helmets. This in turn causes a more fogging effect on the welding helmet’s lens.
This is because the temperature of air from the mouth is much higher than from the nose and hence causes fogging.
Rainy Weather: Welder using a welding helmet in a region where there is heavy rain is also a nightmare as there are high chances of your helmet lens getting blurry and prevent you from doing proper welds. As it rains, it cools the air around the place, causes a foggy layer on the helmet as you breathe even through your nose as it will be warmer than the former.
FAQ
- Do Anti-Fogging helmets work?
As the name suggests, the main function of an anti-fogging helmet is to prevent the formation of fogging layers. But it depends on the manufacturing brand and the quality that the helmet is of. Some brands fill the helmet with the anti-fogging element that lasts for very little time and some brands have helmets that last for years to come. That helmet might be a little more expensive than ordinary welding helmets.
- Should you ignore the welding helmet when fogging up?
The fogging up of your welding helmet must not be taken lightly or ignored and therefore various organs and vital functions of your human body are at stake.
- Should you use a welding helmet or welding goggles?
When purchasing your welding gear for the first time, it is better to choose a welding helmet over a pair of welding goggles. The welding helmet offers better protection and is durable. The welding helmet protects your entire face, ears, and neck. None of the sparks, slags, arc light, and fumes might do any harm to you or your face.
- Clean the lens of the helmet and the visor on a regular basis.
- Make sure all the small parts are working properly.
- Always check for any external damage to your helmet before use.
- Store your welding helmet in a cool and dry place with a proper cover to it.
Types of Welding Helmets
Choosing your welding helmet based on your requirements and working schedule is highly essential and plays a vital role in your welding quality and career.
There are three basic types of welding helmets which include the passive type, adjustable type, and auto-shade type. The passive type helmet is the traditional and most commonly used welding helmet. It is big, wide in shape, and has a small opening at the eye-level.
The adjustable type of helmet is very similar to the passive helmet but has a modification to change the shades and lens that it uses. This makes replacement of the lens quite easy saving you a lot of money over time and keep your welding work/business in a growing trend. The auto-dimming lens protects your face and eyes from the powerful UV and IR sparks and radiation.
Final Thoughts
Using anti-fogging helmets can deteriorate its filter and property overtime and can adversely affect its users. It might reduce the clarity of the welding work for the welders. Make sure you look up to reviews people’s experience using a particular welding accessory before purchasing one.
This can save you a lot of time and money. There are certain welding helmets available with small fan circulators within them that can avoid fogging, but they might be somewhat expensive. I hope this guide gives you a clear choice and idea about the welding helmets available and their fogging effect.
Sean Coby is a welder par excellence and well respected among the welding community in Woodbridge, VA. He prides himself to be the fabricator and mechanic in the automotive/ diesel industry for the past more than eight years now. As the chief editor of his https://weldinginfocenter.com, he shares his experience to be safe during welding and to take proactive steps for becoming a successful welder like him.