want to arc welding in my back garden, will put up a screen, but if a neighbour looks out upstairs window they may see an arc. how far away before effects are limited?

the Sun is pretty far away, and will still blind you..

The blind spot will just be smaller the further away you away..

Maybe stand in the way, so you block potential line-on-sight..

Light intensity falls off exponentially - ie: the further you get away the quicker and quicker the light drops off.

At a garden's length away you would have reduced arc eye effects, but it would still be sensible to have some sort of screen...

James

Two seperate things here.
Arc eye itself is a UV keratitis of the front of the eye. The "blind spot" is a temporary problem (usually!!) caused by over-stimulation of the retina. The light coming out of the arc will reduce in power by 4 every time you double the distance between the source and the viewer so rapidly it'll become neglibable... Not sure what the recommended distance would be....

Ding Dong...

Hi its Dangle here from next door. I'm going to be doing some welding in the back garden. Just thought I'd let you know. It's probably best not to look straight at the arc for too long as it can irritate your eyes. Have a good New Year. Bye??

or do I just get on well with my neighbours??

Tell them not to be so nosey!

Or provide them with light eye protection with polycarbonate lenses and according to the H&S dept in work, they won't be affected if approx. more than 10 metres away.

Yeah, I was surprised at this too but apparently it's correct...

you dont live in ******

"Ding Dong....

Hi, I'm from next door and I'm going to be doing some welding in the back garden, best not to rob my garage when i'm not around as it's full of dangerous tools which you'll get a good few quid for in the local. plus when you get in there you'll find a nice part built sports car."

type in the ********** into youtube and you'll see the sort of scum that lives my way.

[Edited on 11/1/08 by Dangle_kt]

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Originally posted by cidersurfer
Tell them not to be so nosey!

Or provide them with light eye protection with polycarbonate lenses and according to the H&S dept in work, they won't be affected if approx. more than 10 metres away.

Yeah, I was surprised at this too but apparently it's correct...

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you wont get it through glass
so just get them some safety glasses for in their garden

Personally I wouldn't worry about it.

If you neighbour stares directly at the light for more than a second then it may dazzle him a bit. But why would he do that?

I got arc eye a couple of times on my welding course, but I was only inches from the torch so got a proper eyeful. In my case the effects were irritated and itchy eyes that came on a few hours after it happened, but only lasted a couple of hours before I was back to normal.

My father always told us not to look at welding as we'd get arc eye, so when I was 7 or 8 I stood a long way from an open workshop with the welding visible from the garden.

I stood behind a tree and watched

Guess what I got.

Friend of mine did a full day stick welding when he was 19 with NO eye protection, and his eyes closed up for 3 days!

Tell your neighbour that you're gonna be welding, that you're going to put up a screen, but if he could mind where he/she (and more importantly, any kids) could look.

ATB

Simon

Tell them sod all!

If they cant see then they cant break in!!

No criminal records and the part build and tools are still where you expect them.

Everyone's happy....

No one with any sense will look at a welding arc. You cant see anything around it anyway!

assuming your eye is normally 12 inches away, at 10 feet it will be 1000 times weaker, at 20 feet over a million times weaker. I wouldnt worry about the neighbours myself. Infact, letting them know is just asking them to sue you, since you could never prove they don't have arc eye.

City of Culture hey Dangle_kt

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Originally posted by mad-butcher
City of Culture hey Dangle_kt

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