Welding Tips and Tricks

After a recent surgery I have been told I have bradycardia, apparently a dozen different doctors didn’t notice my pulse rate of 45 beats per minute. I finally see a cardiologist on Monday. The consensus at the hospital was I will need a pacemaker.

I thought nothing of it until I found some stuff online that said you should not weld with a pacemaker.

I did a fair amount of Google searching and found a lot of different stuff. Nothing newer than 2011 though and very little of people that actually had a pacemaker.
I read that you need to wrap the ground and the MIG torch lead, keep amps below 120, and keep the arc 2 feet away from your heart, ETC ETC ETC.

Although I am going to thoroughly discuss this with my cardiologist I anticipate having to educate a person with a doctorate degree.

I was wondering if anyone here had any REAL, ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE about the subject.

FWIW they say you are not supposed to operate a chainsaw either. I live in the frickin woods for crying out loud.

This subject has ben covered before SEARCH is you friend LOL.

Modern pacemakers have "built-in" Faraday cages to resist interference of any kind. When was the last time you saw a pacemaker warning about "microwave in use" like we saw in the late 70s/early 80s.

I'd still ask all the questions, of course, but there's little to worry about.

Steve S

Mike wrote:This subject has ben covered before SEARCH is you friend LOL.

Not here, and not on any other welding forum with a reply less than 2 years old.
I did a lot of internet searching before posting here.

This site, the American Heart Assn., lists welding equipment as a potential risk, about halfway down the page, heading: "Power generating, Arc welding..."

You've likely already seen it in your search.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Condition ... rticle.jsp

I'd think the risk is being near the fields from teh equipment, rather than the arc itself, but this is enough evidence of risk to have a serious discussion with your Dr.

Steve S

Here's another you may have seen. The gist of it is, If something interferes, you'll know it, and stop doing it. The long form is, work with your Dr. for a solution.

http://pacemakerpeople.com/?tag=arc-welding

I've yet to find anything specific to HFAC, or HF start.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:Here's another you may have seen. The gist of it is, If something interferes, you'll know it, and stop doing it. The long form is, work with your Dr. for a solution.

http://pacemakerpeople.com/?tag=arc-welding

I've yet to find anything specific to HFAC, or HF start.

Steve S

Thanks, I did not find them in my search. But honestly it all boils down to liability. Nobody wants to say “yes it is safe” and get sued.

The good news is that it is temporarily moot point. My cardiologist wants to watch my weight lost a have me do another halter monitor in six months.
In all the searching I did do, I found one guy who said “yes I have a pacemaker and I weld with no problems” I found a forum discussion from this spring and now new info was forthcoming.