Understanding Welding Fume
WITH the correct PPE, arc welding mild steel in an outside area, or in a well ventilated workshop, is not a problem, but when welding more exotic materials that's when fabricators and co-workers should take special care. Arc welding fumes contain very small particles from the consumables base metal and base metal coating. The substances in the fumes change depending on what is in the electrode and the base metal including any coatings. The most common compounds in the fumes when welding mild steel, for example, are complex oxides of iron, manganese and silicon. The short term effects of these compounds, if inhaled, are temporary and in...
Eweld in the News Again!!!
After launching in December 2012 as "Your Australian Online Welding Helmet Shop", Eweld has continued to grow at a cracking pace. We now have happy and loyal customers all over Australia who continue to come back again and again to benefit from our online welding helmet prices, Australian service and free extended warranties. Customers appreciate our simple, straight forward pricing with no hidden charges or taxes so the price they see is the price they pay. Customers also love the free delivery (for orders over $100) and because Eweld carries every welding product in stock, they know delivery will also be fast. &n...
New Speedglas Mobile App and Youtube Channel
3M Speedglas have just launched a mobile phone product selector app! All you need to do is answer 10 easy questions and the app does the rest. Instantly the app will present the welding helmets best suited to your individual needs and requirements. The Speedglas welding helmet mobile app also allows you to "Sort by Feature" within the Speedglas portfolio of welding helmets and features a "Product Overview" section. The Speedglas mobile phone app only works on mobile devices (iOS 5 and higher (Apple) & Android 2.3 and higher). Visit - app.speedglas.com or scan the QR code ab...
Speedglas Adflo
The Speedglas Adflo welding respirator system is specially designed to meet welder's needs when used with the Speedglas 9100 respiratory welding helmet series. But which 9100 welding helmet is best for you and how do they differ? I'm sure you have read welding helmet reviews and best welding helmet guides and still haven't found what you are after. Here we break down the Speedglas Adflo 9100XX welding helmet series headtops and have a closer look at which welding helmet is best for you. The Speedglas Adflo welding helmets come in three different versions - Speedglas 9100 Air, Speedglas 9100 FX Air and ...
Welding Helmets and Your Bottom Line
We all know that auto-darkening welding helmets are a) more comfortable than conventional 'flip' welding helmets and b) safer than conventional welding helmets, however, it may surprise you to know that your business will also save money or increase profits when using an auto-darkening welding helmet. Studies show that welder's can increase efficiency substantially when using an auto darkening welding helmet. Not only can you work faster when you can always see, but you move more efficiently, placing electrodes more precisely. Most "bad weld starts" can be eliminated. Fewer bad welds mean less grinding and higher overall qua...
Australian Standards for Welding Helmets
Is your welding helmet Australian standards compliant??? This is a very important question to ask. You should always demand welding helmet protection compliant with Australian standards. Note that ANSI (USA) and EN (European) standards are not interchangeable with Australian standards. Equipment that is not compliant with Australian standards should not be used to grind with in Australia, regardless of whether the welding helmet has a grind mode or not. Similarly if you require head protection only use welding and safety helmets compliant with AS/NZS1801. The relevant Australian Standards for welding personal protective equipment tha...
How Much Welding Fume Do You Ingest In A Year??
It may worry you to know that even if you are under the occupational exposure limit, you can inhale the amount of fume in the cannister below in one year!!! The occupational exposure standard for general carbon steel welding over an 8 hour period is 5mg/m3 inspired air. However, even if you are within this occupational exposure limit, you can inhale up to 11 grams (pictured below) of carbon steel every year! Year after year this is the quantity of fume inhaled by an unprotected welder. The health effects of welding exposures are many and varied, because the fumes can contain so many different harmful substances. Long term welders...
Welding Methods
MIG/MAG or GMAW With MIG (Metal Inert Gas) or MAG (Metal Active Gas) welding also called Gas-shielded Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) an arc is maintained between a continuous solid wire electrode and the work piece. The arc and weld pool are shielded by a stream of inert or active gas. The process is suitable for most materials and filler wires are available for a wide range of metals. Flux Cored Arc Welding Flux Cored Arc Welding is quite similar to MIG/MAG welding as far as operation and equipment are concerned. However, the electrode is not solid but consists of a metal sheath surrounding a flux core. As in MIG/MAG welding, the flux core...
How Does Auto-Darkening Work??
First let's explain the different elements of an auto darkening welding lens and then we can look at how they combine and work together to give you auto-darkening technology. 1) The UV/IR filter (The purple section) The UV/IR interference filter removes high levels of UV/IR radiation whether the Auto Darkening Lens (ADL) is activated or not. The UV/IR filter consists of a thin glass substrate with a number of metallic layers. The metallic layers are made up of 5 layers of silver and 6 layers of aluminium oxide. These metallic layers help to reflect and absorb 99.99% of the IR radiation within the shade range of t...
Welding Safety
More than 100 years after the invention of the arc welding helmet, eye injuries continue to be the most common acute injury suffered by welders. More than 30 years since the first auto-darkening welding lenses offering continuous UV/IR protection for the welders eyes were released, welders continue to use passive welding lenses or nothing at all. Even with all the available information on the hazards of welding, "eye trauma is still the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Welding and grinding are responsible for 29% of all eye injuries"*. However, even once the correct eye protection is in place, increasing knowledge about the he...
