Welding Tips and Tricks

Few weeks ago I was futzing with practice. I pulled the gloves and welded a bit naked. My left arm rested on the ground clamp and somehow the arc hit the filler first. Interesting. Been shocked a lot worse in the past.
The me part of the circuit was from my left hand to left wrist. Just a wakeup gotcha.
I think I'll keep the gloves on. Don't want to see what a hand to hand circuit does.

Don't hook up your ground clamp and the HF will find you to remind you to hook it up. It will zap you right through your leather gloves. Or pull you torch away from the work while you're still on the pedal and you will get zapped.

Maybe my setup is different but neither of those bite me. Lord knows I do the first all the time....my brain is fat from too many lunch breaks.

I haven't fried my phone but I can vouch for the hifreq giving you a kick in the ass at random times. Definitely worse when there's high humidity or if your gloves start to get damp.

I got sumten on that AC that wonders me is that I will pick up and start welding on a aluminum job and my tig rod starts heating up in my other hand!??? And if I have a hole In da glove "WOWA" !

I was going to do a quickie weld job and went at it bare handed and bare arms. I rested both forearms on the edge of my table (1/2" AR plate) stepped on the pedal and touched the tungsten to the filler. HOLY SHIT!! I'm not sure exactly where it got me but it got me.

All I can say is, I am shocked.

On another note ...

I did a training out at a company in Elkhart, In. These guys were welding stainless steel tube, using TIG process. Oh, sorry, GTAW process. Anyway, the tubes were for a handrail, and were less than 2" in diameter. The guys welding were wearing tank tops and T-shirts in summer, trying to stay cool. They claimed that sun screen protected them from being burned by the welding rays.

I was shocked. Really. I tried to explain to these guys, all of whom were 20-somethings, that it might 'work out' just fine for now, but when they get to be in their 40's or 50's, they might end up with strange formations that ooze pus and disgusting, foul smelling fluid. They might end up with bizarre new cancer strains that science doesn't even have names for. But they didn't listen to me, of course, and kept doing what they were doing. I hope I am wrong, but I don't know. But at least no one was getting shocked.

Gary

Gary,

I've been using SPF-45 for about 30 years, in place of sleeves.

I'm not in a tank-top, or any other non-approved stupidity, but proper SPF stops UV from GTAW as effectively as UV from the sun.

I'm not recommending it as regular practice, but I'm not the least concerned that I've been doing it.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:Gary,

I've been using SPF-45 for about 30 years, in place of sleeves.

I'm not in a tank-top, or any other non-approved stupidity, but proper SPF stops UV from GTAW as effectively as UV from the sun.

I'm not recommending it as regular practice, but I'm not the least concerned that I've been doing it.

Steve S

Steve, I will take your word for it! But gosh, I really don't think I want to try it!
Gary

Got my first good zap while tig welding in summer. It was damn hot, i was sweating. Gloves got wet. I got a wake up!

As for the no shirts and stuff . . . another very experienced welder I know, who is also a weld instructor at our college, told us of a friend. His friend used to tig wearing a button up shirt, but never did the top buttons. Developed skin cancer there, and died from it. Proper PPE can sometimes suck, especially in summer heat, but i'll take sweating my ass off over risking it. No substitute for proper protection.

And then there is the guys who are welding at a table behind you that get burned by reflected radiation. I will sometimes do a quick small tack or too without protective gear, you just have to realize you are playing ultraviolet Russian roulette. I cringe every time I see someone welding without gloves or a weld jacket.

In the summer time I have found that a white long sleeved cotton t-shirt works pretty good, but I usually use welding sleeves, and an old welding jacket that I cut the sleeves off of because they had so many holes in them, I have been lit up because of some of those holes in the sleeves that I cut off. It will get your attention.

A time or two I've been "tacking" something real quick with bare hands only to be lit up by a metal screw in the handle of my rod holder, or the trigger of my old wire feed......& yeah, damp tig welding gloves.

I was sitting with the torch wire across my legs
Music was blasting and i was Sweaty (i'm fat) and in shorts
i had my leg against the table leg, you know where you hook your ground wire to
Needless to that torch wire was replaced really quickly but it was a shocking surprise


Kevin

The boss never tig welded with a glove on his filler hand. I was standing outside talking to Mark and we heard a big bang! Mark tells me
Damn, that one got him good.
I asked Mark how he could tell.
Ha says it's because Marty didn't yell, Ahhh - you missed me!
I tell Mark let's go see.
We walk into the shop and Marty got spun 180 degrees out of his chair and is laying on his side on the floor. We laugh like hell. DC never gets you. It's always the AC that knocks you on your ass.
Last time I got bit the boss asked me to hold some type of aluminum engine part while he tacked it in place. I have my elbows resting on the table while holding the parts. The boss lights up and I start screaming. He stops and I tell him that there is some rubber under this bitch somewhere. He turns it over. One end of the aluminum was in firm contact with the 1" thick aluminum table. But not on my end. There was a rubber grommet directly under where I was holding. So much for that bullshit saying that electricity always takes the path of least resistance. It ain't true! I do NOT conduct electricity as well as does aluminum and I still got bit.

Your AC Frequency also dictates how bad it's gonna fuck you up Damp gloves, damp leather cape at the elbow, and bad ground, and no gas have been responsible for all my electrical shocks with the HF start. Been electrocuted so many times it's just fun now but I don't hunt for it like it does me.

As for UV rays, they are non-directional but they can reflect off mirrored surfaces. I've got tough skin that doesn't burn easy here in the AZ sun but I did 150A for 5 minutes just to prove a point to myself and confirm if I could ever get away with a quick naked job, the answer is no. That 5 minutes was equivalent to 5-8 hours in the summer afternoon sun here in AZ and it's not the good kind of tanning UV either. You could see the outline of my helmet on my chest There's also a guy at HF up the road and he just used some goggles for some heavy Amp welding. He's been pealing like he's got some skin disease for months.

And now some Science! Just remember when they say 60 cycles/stimulations in below snippet, they're talking 60Hz and with an interver on 120Hz, you can convert said number to 120 cycles/stimulations. Ever had electrode patches for muscle therapy stuck to you? That's AC too

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763825/
Alternating and Direct Current and the Conductivity of Human Skin and Internals
Membranes of excitable tissues (eg, nerve and muscle cells) will pass current into cells most effectively when an applied voltage is changing. The skin is somewhat similar in that it passes more current when the voltage is changing. Therefore, with alternating current, there is a continuous changing of the voltage, with 60 cycles of voltage change occurring per second. With alternating current, if the current level is high enough, there will be a feeling of electric shock as long as contact is made. If there is enough current, skeletal muscle cells will be stimulated as rapidly as they can respond. This rate is slower than 60 times per second. This will give a tetanic muscle contraction, resulting in the loss of voluntary control of muscle movements. Cardiac muscle cells will receive 60 stimulations per second. If the amplitude of the current is sufficient, ventricular fibrillation will occur. The heart is most sensitive to such stimulation during the “vulnerable period” of the cardiac cycle that occurs during much of the T wave.

In contrast, with direct current, there is a feeling of shock only when the circuit is made or broken unless the voltage is relatively high.4 Even if the current amplitude is large, it may not occur during the vulnerable period of the cardiac cycle. With alternating current, a shock duration of longer than 1 cardiac cycle will definitely give stimulation during the vulnerable period.