Welding with a pacemaker
- Thread starter Oldiron440
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Del,
I watched the videos, but came to a different conclusion. The magnetic field induced movement only happens when the conductors are very close together. The wires that are a foot or so apart don’t move. The magnetic field is defined by the current and the length of the wire. For a coil, add the number of turns. So the length of the cables, very close together provides the force to move them. They have to be very close together for this to work.
Now let’s think about a similar experiment the same distance (a couple of inches) from the welder transformer. Likely orders of magnitude more magnetic flux that close to the transformer. Lots of force to move something there. Very little magnetic flux in a wire compared to a transformer at the same current.
As you pointed out, a lot of the flux in a well designed transformer (Chinese?) is contained with in the transformer. However the wire experiment distance was a couple of inches. If we are going to compare, it needs to be apples to apples.
I still think that the magnetic field density at the same distance is much greater with a transformer than a single wire.
Two comments from personal experience.
- mount an E core ign coil under your dash & you will hear it 'vibrate' as the windings clamp/unclamp on the iron core.
- 3M marketed a library theft detection system in the 1970s that picked up books about to be stolen. They had to alter the operating frequency because it interfered with pacemakers.
- mount an E core ign coil under your dash & you will hear it 'vibrate' as the windings clamp/unclamp on the iron core.
- 3M marketed a library theft detection system in the 1970s that picked up books about to be stolen. They had to alter the operating frequency because it interfered with pacemakers.
That is not correct and if you want to weld asking your doctor is a lot more sound advice than asking guys on here. My friend Keith just went through this with his doctor because he's having a pacemaker installed. They even contacted the manufacturer of the pacemaker he's going to have installed and they told him that he could weld so long as it was under 175 amps. So to say that you can't weld is an incorrect answer. You need to do your research with individuals qualified to answer those questions.
Tom
Tom
DrCharles
Well-Known Member
The problem will always be legal liability. No manufacturer is going to guarantee that you can't possibly be hurt doing [insert activity here]. Especially since people with pacemakers/defibrillators are already not in the best of health. All it takes is one guy to have his final MI who happened to be welding and everyone gets sued to hell and back. The manufacturer, the hospital, the "rich" doctor... any handy deep pocket. Causation does not equal correlation, but try explaining that to 12 people who see an award as the life insurance lottery...
So it's safest to just say no
in a country with 700K doctors but 1.33M lawyers.
Edited to add: I just saw Prostock Tom's comment. Frankly I'm surprised that they said "up to 175 amps". That sounds entirely too logical.
So it's safest to just say no
in a country with 700K doctors but 1.33M lawyers.Edited to add: I just saw Prostock Tom's comment. Frankly I'm surprised that they said "up to 175 amps". That sounds entirely too logical.
If they would tell me I need a pace maker I would say No! The only pace maker a man needs is his wife. She always seem to get my heart racing in more ways then one
Is is possible that the newer inverter welders do not create as much magnetic field as a transformer welder ? I have a Miller Multimatic 215, that weighs 36 lbs. Compared to my Hobart Beta MiG or my Lincoln Tig welder, which are very heavy
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V2XPNV9/?tag=fabo03-20
How about a detector? $25 on Amazon.
Trying to make sense out of the readings may be hard when comparing them to what a pacemaker can handle, but this should give you an idea of what the danger areas would be.
I am not sure what part of the frequency range this covers. Electromagnetic field calculations are pretty much black magic to me. Will do some more research.
How about a detector? $25 on Amazon.
Trying to make sense out of the readings may be hard when comparing them to what a pacemaker can handle, but this should give you an idea of what the danger areas would be.
I am not sure what part of the frequency range this covers. Electromagnetic field calculations are pretty much black magic to me. Will do some more research.
That is a really relevant and interesting question.
In a transformer welder the primary frequency is 60 hz. There are harmonics (multiples of the frequency) that are lower in strength, but they fall of quickly as the frequency rises.
In an inverter welder the 60 hz is still there, but now you have the inverter frequency (often around about 20,000 Hz).
I would think the electric and magnetic fields would be much different. Not smart enough to determine the real differences.
I have an inverter style welder, but not sure exactly how it works. An inverter in electrical parlance converts AC current to DC current. So I presume my mains operated welder converts the current reqd for welding into DC. Both AC & DC produce magnetic fields.
I farted.
All this has got my interest up. I bought a detector off Amazon. I will fool with it and post results.
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