First of all, I am a welding novice. I am about to start welding up the gozillion holes in my truck's firewall using an arc welder and a copper "spoon" to back the holes up. My question is, if I climb in the cab (no interior at all) touch stuff etc. am I going to electrocute myself? Silly question to ask but better safe that toasted.
Glad you said that - I was going to weld while my wife sprayed me with a hose to make sure nothing caught on fire
No you will not get shocked. I have even welded in the rain and on occasion, maybe a slight jolt but nothing the old heart can't handle. Make sure you have ALL the insulation off the inside of the firewall area. That stuff likes to smolder for a long time and start vehicle fires.
Or if you of any reason,wanna weld naked saused in with strawberry jelly.... Its no danger before its very wet,but you can sometimes feel a little electrisity if you lay your bare skin an the metal.. but thats just ok Only be a little careful putting the TIG hoses round your neck,if you of should start TIG welding sometime.
Actually "shower welding" is OK...it's "bath welding" that's a little risky. (be sure to set the welding unit on the toilet, not in the bath water))
depends... you said yer gonna use an arc welder????? If it's an ac machine, it might bite ya... if it's dc, it won't... I might have that backwards... I'm sure someone on here will correct me if I'm wrong....
It does depend on how damp you get sweating or whatever. The output on most welders is about 50 volts. Dry skin is resistant to about 70-75 volts. Even slightly wet skin brings it less than 12 volts. Usually even if you geta a little shock every once in awhile, it just tingles or may make you jerk a little. One time my welder got me a good one while I was building a roll cage on a hot day and it made jerk back so hard I bashed my elbow into some of the tubing behind me. That hurt worse than the shock so be carefull.
If you are MIG or TIG welding, and you're standing on the ground, and you're not wearing shoes that provide a high electrical insulation value, or you're sitting on a stoll, AND the ground falls off the item you're welding....THEN you'll get a pretty good shock. After that, you'll make sure your ground is secure.
Are you talking about stick welding or wirefeed, big difference. I am imagining you blowing holes the size of quarters in your sheetmetal if you use stick.
Modernbeat, I know what you mean, this past weekend I had a job resting in the vice, helmet down, push the*****on on the tig just as the job falls outa the vice, I try and grab it (to save it from crashing to the floor and cutting my torch in half like last time), WHACK! the arc looked like a thunderbolt and I lit up like a Christmas tree.
Lemme start off by saying that I am a sweaty fat********. I can break a sweat in the frozen food section of the supermarket from pushing an empty cart. And the only time I have been shocked welding is when I was spot welding (MIG)two peices of tubing together on a metal table and the trigger had a short in it. I was only wearing a glove on my left hand where I was holding the tubing. I was in a hurry and grabbed the handle of the welder with my bare hand and I had my bare elbow on the table. Odds are if I had been wearing both gloves I never would have gotten zapped and I would still be using the same gun on the welder. I guess I found out the hard way that my welder needed a tune up when I pulled that trigger and it zapped me so hard that I think a little bit of pee came out!
I guess I'm missing something but I have always been known for asking what seems to be the obvious question....why are you using arc to weld on a firewall? Get a small gas rig and save yourself some trouble....
I'm gonna go out onna limb and say he's using what he has to get it done... here's a tip for ya... an arc welder can be used to weld holes in the firewall. Don't bother with the spoon backup, what you need is to feed another welding rod into the hole with your other hand... *edit* strike the arc first then feed the other rod! Otherwise you will get zapped! clear as mud?!
[ QUOTE ] depends... you said yer gonna use an arc welder????? If it's an ac machine, it might bite ya... if it's dc, it won't [/ QUOTE ] An AC shock will cause your hands to open up thus you drop what is shocking you, DC makes your hands close so you continue to get shocked. DC is the more dangerous. On a hot day I was stick welding on a big sculpture and pushed back my hood to wipe off the sweat running into my eyes and stuck the stinger right between my eyes.An interesting sensation I must say! that was twenty years ago and aside from a continual drool I'm just fine. pogo
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