Welding ground...don't do this!

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So true story. Again positive proof I am not the brightest bulb in the box. Repairing a anaerobic digester I was inside the confined space doing what we do. Needed to weld up some 316 stainless.
Think rotting organic matter to produce methane gas to produce electricity. Four gas meter cleared us to do the repair after required air changes and venting with fans still in place. so I dropped down inside the tank, a mere 107 degrees or so with about 1000% humidity. Long story short the bacteria got in my lungs. I knew what it was as I could taste it when I breathed. Got sicker than a dog next day so I mixed up a small batch of chlorine gas and huffed a bit of it! Instant repair! Killed all the bad bacteria and I knew my body would replace the good stuff. My wife and her sister the nurse went thru the roof at my stupidity. And yet it was a solid cure, and I was literally better within hours. Engineering 101 applied! Do not try this at home and yes looking back it was likely not very bright, but man o man was it effective!
 
I’m a welder, need I say more!
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On the chlorine gas, it's not any worse than putting 110 gallons of 18° Baumé hydrochloric acid into a one million gallon/day high rate anthracite/sand filter and letting it sit for 2 hours and then backwashing it out. An evil white fog of hydrogen chloride and chloramines inside the filter room. And better yet, out across the waste sedimentation ponds and down the creek. I guess it dissipated by the time the creek got near the homes along the bank. Some utility superintendents don't need to be in charge of a deep fryer at a McDonalds...
 
CFD244 said:
LOL.....Funny you should say this. When I was a kid (13), I decided to use my dads arc welder to fix my bike while he was at work. I put on the face shield, welding jacket and gloves and crouched down and did my welding. That night the burn and itching was intolerable. Note to self...........Don't wear shorts when you weld.:BangHead:
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In my twenties I thought I would just close my eyes and lay down some dimes...
Needless to say I had a gnarly sunburn across my face/eyelids...and yeah only a t-shirt...ruined a few favorites that's for sure.
There's a couple of those welds on my car to this day that I want to grind off and redo at the frame connectors
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
In my twenties I thought I would just close my eyes and lay down some dimes...
Needless to say I had a gnarly sunburn across my face/eyelids...and yeah only a t-shirt...ruined a few favorites that's for sure.
There's a couple of those welds on my car to this day that I want to grind off and redo at the frame connectors
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I`ll get myself once in awhile to this day. Mid summer sweltering heat I use cape sleeves with a bib, with just a tee shirt underneath. Over head welding with the sweaty shirt sleeves falling down exposing that soft skin. Man arc burn arm pits ain`t no fun either
 
Sublime one said:
As a long time career molecular thermal fusion specialist wearing the proper PPE is critical. In addition proper grounding is a thing! Keep posting guy, there are a lot of folks just learning, and while us old hands chuckle the young guns need to know. Great post and so very true. Thanks, keep us safe!

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At least those gloves were on the right feet. Let me tell you about all the times I have welded with tennis shoes on, and a hot spark, or chunk of spatter, hit the fabric area in front of the laces. Do you know what stops those hot sparks? Your skin!. They burn right through the tennis shoe and sock, and then burn a nice spot on the top of your foot. But I learned my lesson, right? Sadly, no. It happened at least 3 or 4 times before I wised up and started wearing boots. While I was at it, I invested in some good Miller welding gloves and a welding jacket.
 
Sublime one said:
So true story. Again positive proof I am not the brightest bulb in the box. Repairing a anaerobic digester I was inside the confined space doing what we do. Needed to weld up some 316 stainless.
Think rotting organic matter to produce methane gas to produce electricity. Four gas meter cleared us to do the repair after required air changes and venting with fans still in place. so I dropped down inside the tank, a mere 107 degrees or so with about 1000% humidity. Long story short the bacteria got in my lungs. I knew what it was as I could taste it when I breathed. Got sicker than a dog next day so I mixed up a small batch of chlorine gas and huffed a bit of it! Instant repair! Killed all the bad bacteria and I knew my body would replace the good stuff. My wife and her sister the nurse went thru the roof at my stupidity. And yet it was a solid cure, and I was literally better within hours. Engineering 101 applied! Do not try this at home and yes looking back it was likely not very bright, but man o man was it effective!
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That's HardCore Man!
 
Dave_J said:
Most welder have low voltage, like 22 volts DC but the AMP's will kill ya.
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Uh, no............

The current that goes through you is what kills you but it is DRIVEN by voltage. And "most welders" are not necessarily 20V, either. My mig on higher settings is something above 40 or so, and many stick welders are up around 80V or so open circuit.
 
I’ve met a couple of welders who found faults in their electrode leads by walking around them while the cables were laying in the dew and getting their boots wet. They all said that’s the liveliest dance you’ll see many of them ever do!
 
mopar head said:
Reminds me, when I was a kid just starting out, I was sent out in the field to a local to me Paper mill, actually cardboard. Out back of the plant were open inground concrete water tanks with skimmer blades for some purpose. On the edge of the tanks was a trough with water in them that had these freaky bugs in them that I guess was used to break down scum or what ever, that looked like they came from the depths of hell:eek:

Another story I find funny. Long time ago I was building/welding up a pump room.
The roof was not built yet and large pools of water was on the floor. I could see hundreds of mosquito larva swimming around in there. I`m thinking, man I got to kill these bastids before they transform to blood sucking vampires from hell and eat me alive while I`m trying to work. I thought, I`m going to electrocute them to death. I threw my ground clamp in the water and stuck the stinger with rod in next to them. Hmm, they just squiggled a little bit. OK, I`ll get you bastids. I cranked up my machine full tilt, put a rod in the ground clamp, and the stinger and dipped in the pool close to the swarm. Now they squirmed a lot. Never did kill them though, I had to get back to work.

:lol:
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Just pour a 1/4 cup of oil in the puddle. They will die. We always spray skeeter puddles with WD40.
 
Had the hot foot too! Somehow they always seem to find that part of the shoe. Flux welding frame connectors on your back is not real pleasant either. I put a big sheet of cardboard over me and just peaked out over the edge. After I was done the cardboard looked like it took a 12g blast
 
67Dart273 said:
Uh, no............

The current that goes through you is what kills you but it is DRIVEN by voltage. And "most welders" are not necessarily 20V, either. My mig on higher settings is something above 40 or so, and many stick welders are up around 80V or so open circuit.
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I just got hit with 370 volts, capacitor. Made my shoulder and elbow feel much better now (been hurting for a year after my fall)
 
mopar head said:
Is your hair still standing straight up?
:lol:
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No that didn’t happen, no hair! but it hit my palm between thumb and finger. Tingled for a couple hours. My dumbness, didn’t know the wire was out the back when hooking up motor, I know now!
 
67Dart273 said:
Uh, no............

The current that goes through you is what kills you but it is DRIVEN by voltage. And "most welders" are not necessarily 20V, either. My mig on higher settings is something above 40 or so, and many stick welders are up around 80V or so open circuit.
Click to expand...

My 20 yer old Miller 350 CC/CV MIG puts out between 19 V and 35V DC at 100-350 AMPS. I run it off of 240V AC. I have gotten between a bad ground connection and the stinger a few times and YES if hurts.

Its a Constant Current and Constant Voltage CC/CV with a read out screen.

So NEVER high Volts from my MIG.

Yes Voltage is the driver for AMP's. But I am a retired IBEW member and have forgotten a lot of **** since schooling but still have my older NEC books to look up crap.
 
harrisonm said:
At least those gloves were on the right feet. Let me tell you about all the times I have welded with tennis shoes on, and a hot spark, or chunk of spatter, hit the fabric area in front of the laces. Do you know what stops those hot sparks? Your skin!. They burn right through the tennis shoe and sock, and then burn a nice spot on the top of your foot. But I learned my lesson, right? Sadly, no. It happened at least 3 or 4 times before I wised up and started wearing boots. While I was at it, I invested in some good Miller welding gloves and a welding jacket.
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I had to read all the inputs before replying. Not only do you ware boots while welding, but put your pants over them, not in them. A little slag or spatter falling into your boots will teach you a new dance, while your trying to remove them. I believe the ground clamp did not break the torsion bar, but not being a solid ground caused a ark, which damaged the bar and caused it to break. A good reason not to use plyers or vice grips to remove them, so not to damage them and cause the same issue. I have rapped them with a rag first and gently remove them if they are a little tight.
 
mopar head said:
Another story which may have involved a shock but not certain.
Ole Floyd as spoken above had his only son, he may have been a few years younger than me. Was working inside a dump truck bed welding. They had found him dead. This was shortly after I left for greener pastures. Jr was about the biker lifestyle, all tatted up hanging with dudes alot older. I think he partied allot even on work nights. He seemed to sweat more than normal and was a little over weight. He may of had a bad heart and possibly cokeing all night, who knows? A Fd up situation for sure
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Years ago I was a mechanic at a concrete mix company. I was elected to weld a few rotted steam pipes in the sand hopper that kept it from freezing in the winter. Went and talked to the operators in the mix plant on which hopper I was working in. Naturally rusted steam pipes are difficult welding. I got 2 repaired and just started a bead welding in a patch piece and the ground under me gave away. Someone forgot I was in there working and decided to use that hopper. Had to hang on for dear life. Driver brought the chipping hammer back later as he noticed it in the chute. Long tome before "lock out, tag out" became popular or mandatory.
 
My Buddy was an under water welder on oil rigs. Went all around the world doing it and made Big$$. Very short career as Nitrogen Narcosis is bad JuJu. Not to mention Malaria from the Tropics.
 
george joseph reid said:
My Buddy was an under water welder on oil rigs. Went all around the world doing it and made Big$$. Very short career as Nitrogen Narcosis is bad JuJu. Not to mention Malaria from the Tropics.
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They're are some wild videos on underwater welding on WeldTube. All I can think of with underwater welding is who was the first person to do it and did they survive? No doubt they had a raffle for the first human to ever arc weld underwater with everyone drawing numbers in a cold sweat...
 
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