Electrical Room

Hi all,

Just looking ahead and wondering how I would check the "magnetism" of a room. I work in an industrial processing plant that has an electrical room where the main and secondary controls are. There are other electrical banks and panels in there along with control charts that I change on a daily basis. I'd like to find out this info in case I end up getting a pm. 

Inside the facility there are large pieces of equipment powered by large motors some as big as 120 hp. Would being near any of this interfere with a pm functionality?

Thanks in advance.


3 Comments

Hope this helps

by stillshocked - 2018-07-30 21:29:18

You can find on several popular shopping sites an EMF reader.  However your best person to discuss this with is your electrophysiologist (Doctor) or the person who does your pacemaker checks for the manufacturer.  Also, in the literature you received with your PM it has a number to call the manufacturer.  I have called them several times with questions and they are very helpful.

Your employer should have an idea on the EMF for their facility for OSHA standards.  

I had previously worked around cell towers as well as electrical transmission lines but I had to stop.  However those are pretty powerful areas.  I wish you the best.

Lori

Interference

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-30 23:06:24

There really isn't a good way to measure how the interference in such a room will affect you.  It's not a trivial matter to measure the fields in the room and impossible to correlate that, in any meaningful way, with your pacemaker and your body. I know I wouldn't go near such a room, though I'm pacemaker dependent and have no escape rhythm.  You have to measure risk vs. reward, though.

The previous two replies give good advice.  1) Ask your EP and 2) Say nothing to your employer unless you know they'll be cool with it (I've told my boss that I can't work on one of the projects that involves large motors).

Don';t bother askig anyone...

by donr - 2018-08-01 01:32:06


...you could sue if they were wrong!  That leaves out your EP, Cardio, the mfgr & the company's legal beagle.  Besides, 3 of the 4 haven't the slightest idea what the answer is!  Even if they are Electrical Engineers by training & license.

1)":ust looking ahead and wondering how I would check the "magnetism" of a room. " As Agent said - a difficult task because there arew so many variables, & it will change from day to day as the eload varies. The advice about not letting the boss know is sound.  You don't want to suddenly be seen wandering around carrying a field strength meter.  That will attract more than a little attention.

2)   "Inside the facility there are large pieces of equipment powered by large motors some as big as 120 hp. "  Be more specific. Are the big honking motors in the control room or scattered about the plant?  120 HP is not huge, but it is out of the ordinary.  Motors must be built to be efficient, so they keep nearly all of their mag fields under control & contained w/i the frame.  Any field that escapes is wasted, so they probably are NOT a problem.  Now were this the generator room of a huge hydroelectric dam or its transformer yard, it wold be another issue - their fields can be rather large, & several PM Hosts who have visited such places have definitely felt the effects of them. having just the switching & controls in the room reduces your probability of problems significantly.  You did not really make this part of your challenge clear.

3)  ":Would being near any of this interfere with a pm functionality? " Yes and/ or No.  Depends on the room, its fields, your PM, your body and the functionality of your heart.   If your heart has an "escape Rhythm," your problems are lessened.  That means that IF tthe fields affect the PM, your heart will go on beating at some rate till the effect goes away, or you get away from it.  It also could mean tha the PM fels no effect.  The WORST the fields can do is close the test switch in your PM & put it into the test mode. In that case you may feel like crap, & realize you'd better hustle thy buns off to a safe distance.  the PM & your hert will return to your new normal.

Now how do you test the room.  Wait till you get your PM implanted & you are ready to go back to work.  Slowly approach the room.  Now this room will NOT be a "faraday Cage" that keeps all fields from excaping, so you will be entering the fields as you approach the room.  You cn safely do this w/o being conspicuous.  Pause outside the door, casually grasping the doorknob.  It would be helpful if you have an unwitting dupe with you to banter with casually as doing this.  You can pause while grasping the knob and chit-chat.  (You don't want the dupe to be responsible for anything.  he/she needs to be able to deny everything & anything if anything goes wrong.  Enter the room, staying away from everrything that you can; approach individual pieces of gear directly & slowly to keep them as the sole contributor to any problems.  If they are going tp affect your PM, it will tell you - you will have plenty of time to move to a safe distance away.   If you get into the room, you will already have established that the doorway & hallway are safe havens.

That, my friend, is the ONLY way you will ever get an honest test of the safety of that room for YOU!

My sory:  I have a transformer box in my front yard.  200 Amp service for my house comes through it.  19,000 volts in, 240 volts & potential 200 Amps out.  I usually sit on it to take a break while working in the yard.  One day I accidentally dropped a tool on the far side of the box.  (I was ysing the box for a worktable.)  I leaned across the box, actually lying on it with my chest & PM, to pick up the gizmo.  Felt nothing strange or wierd.  Got up & went about my work.  Unfazed.  Now, had I asked any of the 4 individuals mentioned in the first line of this comment for permssion to do that, what do you think their answers would be?????
Donr

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