Safety glasses

[drakke]

Should I be wearing safety glasses?

I know LED can explode pretty violently.

Thanks.

[SeanB]

Good idea in any case, as any component can blow up if there is a fault, and the pieces in your eye can be very painful to have removed. Been there, done that, and I do wear glasses as well.

[German_EE]

Also been there and done that, in my case it was a piece of plastic from a typewriter cover (freak accident, don't ask). The emergency room in an eye hospital is not a good place to be.

As I now wear spectacles all day I paid a little bit extra and got safety lenses. My frames have removable covers at the sides but these only get used when I am doing machining.

[SeanB]

Opthalmic surgeon's office, and him there with a needle digging into the numbed cornea. bit hard to keep still with the wide open eye seeing this massive sharp point coming closer and closer. A year later I get a call at midnight from a friend to come fetch him at the hospital, as he cannot drive with one eye bandaged up and the other dilated from the eye drops as well.

[PeterFW]

Should I be wearing safety glasses?

Depends... i dit wear very good eye protection every time i worked with something that could explode.
The one time i dit not and kept my distance, someone made something explode in my direction.

Now 5 years later and i still have problems with one eye that will never go away.
Now i wear googles when working with cotton balls, allthough sometimes i still forget to put them on...

[FlevasGR]

Can anyone suggest a good brand for safety glasses?

[German_EE]

Most of the reputable hardware and tool manufacturers sell them, companies such as Stanley or Bosch. You can also try Uvex and 3M. This is one time where buying cheap via EBay is not a good thing.

[PeterFW]

Can anyone suggest a good brand for safety glasses?

I have been using UVEX I-VO for nearly a decade, they are reasonably build and the polycarbonate has a decent thickness.

If you do not need a specific safety rating they are aswesome, they cost around 10-15 Euros and you can juts buy 5 of them and leave them all over the shop.
The first thing to go is the moulding around the ear piece after a few years.

http://www.uvex-safety.com/en/products/safety-glasses/safety-eyewear-goggles-glasses-spectacles/model/34/modelName/uvex-i-vo/

Sadly i loose them every time they need to be replaced, i wanted to shoot one or blow it up for years to see what they will stand up to...

[madires]

I got some eye protection glasses from http://www.avit-tools.com/Products/Safety/Eye_Protection/. IIRC, I paid something around EUR 7. Can't complain, they are fine for me.

[GreyWoolfe]

My prescription glasses are poly carbonate lenses and I also use the Uvex safety glasses that fit over prescription glasses, clear for inside and grey for outside.

[Balaur]

I use the 3M stuff.

The 2750 series (anti-fog) is the one I prefer, as they don't seem to fog as easily.

[max666]

I'm using the 3M stuff now too, not to a small part because they also make me look good 
The no-name I used before had quite a lot of distortion towards the edges, which is fine for stationary work, but you can get quite seasick if you have to move around a lot.

Strangely I'm having the best time when I have my safety glasses, earmuffs and respirator on. I like it being at least partially disconnected from the world around me.

[Someone]

Always wear eye protection unless you are in an energy limited circuit with the appropriate layers of safety, even then there might be dangers than warrant eye protection. A boring hundred ohm resistor will burst into flames when connected across 12V, diodes like to flake off sharp bits of glass or ceramic when they cook, unless you are sure the energy is low enough to be safe then dont risk it.

[KJDS]

Am I the only person who has never seen the need, or ever seen anyone wear eye protection in 25 years of working in the electronics industry?

[george graves]

Am I the only person who has never seen the need, or ever seen anyone wear eye protection in 25 years of working in the electronics industry?

Nope - you're not alone.  Now if I was working with some huge energy circuit, yea I would - actually I would stand back and poke it with a stick. But as a home owner, and someone that makes jigs for assembly, small scale manufacturing....I often use tools that can mess you up.

[GreyWoolfe]

In my case, it only took 1 incident to make me cautious.  Years ago, I was at a small (50 ft) indoor shooting range.  A bullet fragment came back and hit me in the glasses.  If I didn't have them on, who knows, I might be blind in that eye.  Now, due to age/eye issues, my glasses are too expensive as it is to make them safety glasses.  The Uvex safety glasses work fine, are inexpensive and if I think that there might even be a remote chance that something can hit the safety glasses, I will wear them.

[BradC]

In my case, it only took 1 incident to make me cautious.  Years ago, I was at a small (50 ft) indoor shooting range.  A bullet fragment came back and hit me in the glasses.  If I didn't have them on, who knows, I might be blind in that eye.  Now, due to age/eye issues, my glasses are too expensive as it is to make them safety glasses.  The Uvex safety glasses work fine, are inexpensive and if I think that there might even be a remote chance that something can hit the safety glasses, I will wear them.

I generally wear safety glasses when doing anything remotely dangerous, but in a moment of laziness I copped a bit of red hot steel swarf off my lathe last month. The sort of thing where I really ought to have known better and a very near miss that allowed me to wash the swarf out in the swimming pool (my personal 20,000L saline eye wash station) and get away with a weeks burning pain and no damage to my vision. I now have enough pairs of safety glasses that there is *always* a pair on hand.

Now if only I could find a pair that *really* don't fog up when I'm sweating in the shed I'd buy shares in the company.

[andtfoot]

I have a set I keep nearby for the odd occasion. Things like:
- Powering up something that I've just (hopefully) fixed, especially when it's something that has a decent sized power supply running on 240V with big caps, etc.
- Desoldering; I've had a bunch of time where pulling out the leg of a component sends solder remnants flying.
- Cutting something tough where I can't guarantee a controlled collection of what I'm cutting (steel wire, smaller bits of sheet metal, etc)

[BradC]

I have a set I keep nearby for the odd occasion. Things like:
- Powering up something that I've just (hopefully) fixed, especially when it's something that has a decent sized power supply running on 240V with big caps, etc.

You use safety glasses for that? I use an extension cord and the power socket in the next room.

[andtfoot]

I have a set I keep nearby for the odd occasion. Things like:
- Powering up something that I've just (hopefully) fixed, especially when it's something that has a decent sized power supply running on 240V with big caps, etc.

You use safety glasses for that? I use an extension cord and the power socket in the next room.

I have a remote power switch to my electronics bench... 

[GreyWoolfe]

I suggest you try soldering with one eye closed. That will be the least of your problems. Getting the joint, tip and solder to line up requires extra concentration without binocular vision

Funny you say that.  I have precursors to cataracts in my eyes.  Optometrist says it shouldn't be an issue for another 15 years.  I do, however, have amblyopia  (lazy eye), astigmatisms and a minor depth perception problem.  If I tried to solder with 1 eye closed, I would probably solder the Tek 2235 on the shelf .  I do typically learn from my mistakes, but living here in Florida, I hate wearing shoes and long pants.  If not out running service calls, the dress code is shorts(we know the fun with solder) T-shirt and no shoes.  I went through a bad stretch of dropping things on my bare big toes including a Dell Power Edge 2600 server and an APC smart UPS 1500 with batteries (thought I broke my toe on that one).  I basically spent a year or so without toenails on my big toes.  They more or less have grown back now but I still can't bring myself to wear shoes in the house, let alone steel capped shoes.  SWMBO keeps asking me if I hate my toes .  I take every precaution with my eyes.  I can live and work without toenails, would rather not do so without an eye.

[linux-works]

Am I the only person who has never seen the need, or ever seen anyone wear eye protection in 25 years of working in the electronics industry?

I'm mid 50's and have been soldering since before I was 10.  it was only about 3 or 4 yrs ago that someone clued me into these:

http://www.amazon.com/Donegan-OptiVISOR-Binocular-Magnifier-Lensplate-Magnifies/dp/B000BPWPRK

they look a bit goofy but I won't solder without them anymore.  they give me better close-up vision and they protect against flux flare-up, sputtering, smoke (to some degree) and if I'm cutting thruhole leads from a pcb, they often will fly across the room; I feel much safer with the glasses on!

hand driling also is when I wear them.

for decades I used nothing.  but I realized that I NEED MY EYES and its not worth any risk given how simple and cheap it is to use the eye protection.

I now evangelize for those.  when I see someone not using them, I tell them about it (like I was told; and I never knew about them before I was informed).

seriously.  get them.  why would you NOT protect your eyes?  !!

[AG6QR]

One of the seemingly safe but potentially dangerous operations we do routinely is to clip leads after soldering through-hole parts.  It can be especially crazy in a classroom or group setting.  Little bits of metal can go flying through the air.  Sure, most of them will land somewhere other than your eyes, but...

I've learned to hold on to the lead with one hand while clipping with the other, to prevent launching the lead.  I also wear glasses.  But it's something to teach those new to soldering.

[linux-works]

if you can hold the lead while cutting, fine.  but with my safety visor on, I almost don't care anymore.  let them fly and be free!

I can't believe that for decades, I went without that visor.  and I had no idea how wrong I was to NOT use one.

safety glasses that are cheap and make it hard to see really suck but that visor is opto quality glass and it does not fog up like old school 'metal and wood shop goggles from high school days.  easily flips up when you need to see more directly.

[helius]

I always used safety goggles when drilling/grinding (Uvex), but a recent experience using a blacklight to inspect some equipment made it real how damaging UV can be to the eyes. I was using a puny 4W handheld lamp to look for chemical stains on a chassis, and did take care to point the lamp away from my face. But with the lamp turned on for less than 5 minutes, I got too much exposure to the UV, causing eye problems for quite some time afterward.

When clipping leads I prefer to use cutters with a lead retainer, they keep the wire bits from flying away.