No more arc welding

[rcowan]

Glad to hear that you are ok.

O/A is slower but simpler. Wind is going to blow you around. I built up an area with pieces of long tin to hide behind.
There are all sorts of books around. I like the Wall Mountain series of videos. The guys a hoot.
The one book that I have is Welding Principles and Applications by Jeffus. It's a pretty good book. Kinda pricey but great refrernce.

RC

 

[dstig1]

Ummm...4 yr old thread....

 

[monckywrench]

Tiny date fonts are a forum style choice which backfires often.

 

[SidneyPhoto]

Since it has been revived, I have a comment.

I used to wear an "RF" suit when working on TV broadcast antennas.

One hundred thousand watts of RF will fry your fillings.

They are probably very expensive for a hobbyist, but necessary for a pro.

KW-GARD? RF Radiation Protective Suit

 

[BobRip]

Since it has been revived, I have a comment.

I used to wear an "RF" suit when working on TV broadcast antennas.

One hundred thousand watts of RF will fry your fillings.

They are probably very expensive for a hobbyist, but necessary for a pro.

KW-GARD? RF Radiation Protective Suit

Is anybody sure this would work with welding signals? How much are they?

 

[tglass]

No, I think everyone may have told you wrong, or at least not understood. You should not start or weld close to the welder with a pacemaker, but I have a friend with a pacemaker and you can still weld, but have to be a certain distance away from the welder while starting and welding, just like a microwave. Remote starters are avaliable, and the person I know has his wife start the welder for now for his protection. Yes, for fact, there are ways around this. Check into it, and don't let it get you down.

I was feeling kinda of dizzy last Friday (5/4/07) and ended up in the hospital. After several days of testing, I was told I needed a pace maker. And then a friend mentioned than you probably cannot arc weld if you have a pace maker. I confirmed this with the doctor and the pace maker tech representative. There were no options (well, yeah maybe death), so now I have one.

I guess I need to switch to gas welding. What are the problems with this? Is it pretty equivalent in capacity to arc welding and as versatile and as easy to use? I have a small unit which I have not used except for heating metal to bend it. Do I need a larger unit to weld 1/4 inch plate? What are some good references?

Can I put on a shield of some kind to block the magnetic field and still use the MIG welder?

 

[BobRip]

No, I think everyone may have told you wrong, or at least not understood. You should not start or weld close to the welder with a pacemaker, but I have a friend with a pacemaker and you can still weld, but have to be a certain distance away from the welder while starting and welding, just like a microwave. Remote starters are avaliable, and the person I know has his wife start the welder for now for his protection. Yes, for fact, there are ways around this. Check into it, and don't let it get you down.

The pacemaker company says its alright, just some rules to follow. This is a very old thread. Please read the rest of it.

 

[undercut]

The pacemaker company says its alright, just some rules to follow. This is a very old thread. Please read the rest of it.

Definitely an old thread. Good read though and informative. Good to hear it's making a positive difference in your life. Cheers!

 

[BobRip]

Definitely an old thread. Good read though and informative. Good to hear it's making a positive difference in your life. Cheers!

I have been welding with the pacemaker installed for several years now and have not had any problems. I don't weld a lot though, just a little hobby work.

 

[swines]

I have a pacemaker. You need to check with the pacemaker manufacturer - they're not all the same - and are affected differently by EM/RF fields. I have a St. Jude pacemaker. I can weld with the following caveats. Don't drape the leads over your shoulders to keep the EM away from the pacemaker. Don't weld over 300 amps. Stick welding is the worst because of the size of the arc - need to keep the arc at arm's length.

You have to understand - they don't want you to put a cell phone in your top left pocket because the EM/RF from the cell phone can interfere with the pacemaker. Extrapolate that to welding - and you get the idea.

 

[BobRip]

I have a pacemaker. You need to check with the pacemaker manufacturer - they're not all the same - and are affected differently by EM/RF fields. I have a St. Jude pacemaker. I can weld with the following caveats. Don't drape the leads over your shoulders to keep the EM away from the pacemaker. Don't weld over 300 amps. Stick welding is the worst because of the size of the arc - need to keep the arc at arm's length.


You have to understand - they don't want you to put a cell phone in your top left pocket because the EM/RF from the cell phone can interfere with the pacemaker. Extrapolate that to welding - and you get the idea.

Right. Check with your pacemaker manufacturer.

 

[weldermike]

One of my old partners got put off the job, and started collecting social security dissability after he got a pacemaker. That was probably a liability issue, but if there willing to pay out money early, its definately for a reason.

 

[BobRip]

One of my old partners got put off the job, and started collecting social security dissability after he got a pacemaker. That was probably a liability issue, but if there willing to pay out money early, its definately for a reason.

Yeah, it really limits me. I got real tired on our vacation last year when we were walking six to ten miles a day. Especially when carrying a backpack. Also when I do black smithing I get tired quickly. . Seriously though it really depends on why you have a pacemaker. I don't have any restrictions except no welding and that is from the doctor, not the pacemaker company. I was on a mission trip a few weeks ago and we worked on a house where the owner only had 5 percent heart capacity (normal is 50 to 70%). He could barely walk to the mail box. A great guy to work for though. I feel very fortunate in that pacemakers are available. My thanks to the medical profession and the electronics industry.

 

[swines]

I have a St. Jude pacemaker and have asked the electro-physiologist about arc welding. He suggested staying arm's length from the arc, not draping the leads over my shoulders, and using the lowest arc setting possible. He also said in order of probably interference with the pacemaker: stick, MIG, TIG as the arc gets progressively smaller with each type of welding process.

For my own edification, I tried two types of arc welding. I setup the TIG at 150 Amps and welded for about 5 minutes and felt no problems. Then I setup the MIG for 3/16-inch steel and welded three small welds about 2.5-inches in length. There was a noticable effect on the pacemaker with my heart rythms and pulse rate changing....so... I guess no MIG / stick welding for me.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

...For my own edification, I tried two types of arc welding. I setup the TIG at 150 Amps and welded for about 5 minutes and felt no problems. Then I setup the MIG for 3/16-inch steel and welded three small welds about 2.5-inches in length. There was a noticable effect on the pacemaker with my heart rythms and pulse rate changing....so... I guess no MIG / stick welding for me.

:thumbsup:Now there is a man at peace with his maker. Guess there are some things worse than being dead - not being able to weld is one.

 

[swines]

:thumbsup:Now there is a man at peace with his maker. Guess there are some things worse than being dead - not being able to weld is one.

Naah...I've had this discussion with the electro-physiologist who said it won't affect the programming but might cause some disruption in pacing. His comment was to try it & find out what happens...so, I did!

The reason I need the pacemaker is because I've had radiation therapy for cancer about 30 years ago when more was better and they treated me with about 4x the amount of radiation they would use today. This caused some heart damage - valves, arteries, and electrical conduction.

I have a bundle branch block and a left rear fascicular block - meaning the natural electrical signals are not conducted properly because of the blocks in the conduction paths. Sometimes the heart will naturally reroute signals as they are conducted on the surface of the heart muscles. This worked fine until....

They put in the new valve and did two bypasses. After that the heart would not pace afterward - so a week later they put in the pacemaker.

I only use the pacemaker about 9% of the time (according to its onboard log), so the device is not used a lot.

My wife, however, was not thrilled with my expirement....