welding

i know i am suppsed to stay 24 inches away from a welding machine,but does welding affect the pm.i dont weld at work any more,but want to weld at home on motorcycles,race cars,and hotrods.does anyone know how to detect the magnetic field from welding,that may affict the pm? we use high frequency some time in welding.it is considered a radio wave.will it affect my pm?are there any welders out there tat have a pm,and how they have adjusted to it? from the welder

3 Comments

Welding

by Butch - 2008-06-14 11:06:56

I still weld all the time. I have an OLD Lincoln welder. I just try to keep the leads away from my left side as much as possible.

More than the actual waves coming off the wires I worry about getting the occasional shock. Like when you grab the end of the rod not thinking about it and get a jolt. We are kind of like water,, Electricity is Not our friend.
If you want you could get your dr to let you wear a halter around for a day and see if it sets anything off while you weld.
See Ya Butch

Welding With A PM

by SMITTY - 2008-06-14 12:06:54

Hello Welder,

I do not weld but I have seen this question several times. From what I understand it is the electromagnetic field generated by welding machines that is of concern for people with pacemakers. If you have had a PM checkup, then a magnet (my tech called it something else, but is was still a magnet) over your pacemaker and it is the EMF (the same EMF you could get from your welding machine) that repositions a switch in the pacemaker so that they can do their thing.

My understanding is the repositioning of the switch puts the PM in what some call the dumb mode, some call it the default mode or as the tech said to me "this puts your PM in the magnet mode." No matter what it is called, they pacemaker goes into a mode where the setting are fixed and in effects says "I'll do all the work to keep your heart beating while in this mode." When the PM is in the magnet mode you may feel different as your heart rate will probably change. The good part is when you leave the magnet mode that switch changes position again and your PM reverts to controlling your heart rate as it was doing before going into the magnet mode. No harm will be done to your pacemaker.

You can purchase a Gause Meter to measure the strength of the EMF field from the welder. However, you will need to contact the PM manufacturer to find out what lever EMF you must avoid. Or, you can just go ahead with your welding and if you feel an irregular heart beat, or you become lightheaded, step away from the welder and give things a couple of minutes to settle down. If you have such problem every time you try to weld, then you will have your answer.

In other words, you can use the tried and proven trial and error method to see if there will be a problem with your welding. The only caution you will need to exercise, that I can think of is not put your self in a position from which you cannot extract yourself, should the unlikely happen and you need to get away from the surroundings that are causing your pacemaker and you a problem.

Good luck,

Smitty

Magnetic Field from welder

by ElectricFrank - 2008-06-15 12:06:19

As Butch mentioned the magnetic field is generated by the wires rather than the actual welding machine. And as Smitty said it is the effect on the magnetic switch in the pacer that could be a problem. One other issue with the switch is that it is affected by a constant magnetic field of a particular orientation. An AC welder switches the current back and forth at 60 times a second. I've never seen anything about the effect on the pacer of being switched in and out of magnet mode 60 time per second.
Keeping the hot lead of the welder as close as possible to the work piece would minimize the magnetic field. The idea is to keep the current loop as contained as possible.
As for RF welding that could be a problem depending on the frequency. Something I found with my Medtronics Kappa 701 is that the telephone interrogation system doesn't have a magnet in the receiver head. Instead it switches to "magnet mode" by sending a waveform in the 100's of kilohertz range. They continue to call it magnet mode because the cardiologists are accustomed to the term.

frank

You know you're wired when...

The mortgage on your device is more than your house.

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So, my advice is to go about your daily routine and forget that you have a pacemaker implanted in your body.