Can welding affect your heart? Got a little nervous

[hooda]

Here's the deal. I was messing around on Saturday afternoon, getting a handle on TIG welding an old cylinder head. Had my old transformer machine on AC TIG, cranked up to about 290 amps. here's what I was getting


So the circuot breaker trips, and at the same time my chest tightens up MAJOR and I can feel my heart beating kind of off kilter. I don't know if this is coincidence, but a few months ago I was doing the same thing on the same part at the same amps and when the breaker tripped, I felt the same way. The question is wether the radiation given off from an older machine can cross up the heart's electrical signals on an otherwise normal person, and if there are circumstances that can mitigate or aggravate it. No, I don't have a pacemaker. One other thing, the previous owner of THIS welder died in his sleep a few years back, he was 38 years old, and his heart quit for no good reason. I don't know if it's bad ju-ju, a valid issue, or my head playing games on itself. The logical part of me says that if AC TIG welding was generally killing people at random, it would be in the news, but the paranoid part of me interested in self-preservation, wants to know.Keep in mind this is a 35 year old machine, NOT a modern, proven safe, EVERLAST welder. Thanks for your input.

[kenwhite]

Any stong magnetic field can affect the bodies biorhythm. A magnetic field is generated any time current flows, and impulse current caused by the arc is rich is high frequency components which the body can absorb. So, it may not be a coincidence...

[geezer]

Under certain conditions all things are possible, why do people get car sick, and have seizures playing video games, if it affects you, stop take a break or avoid it all together. The fact that it is an older machine with a history of people dying young with heart problems leads to me to believe you may want to stay away from that machine if only for your own peace of mind.

[sportbike]

Dude, go get checked. You may be experiencing the pre-symptoms of a major heart problem. Maybe not.

There is never a time where you are supposed to feel "MAJOR" tightening of your chest, along with a feeling of an erratic heartbeat.

GO see a doctor and get checked out. You may be fine, but then again, you may have an issue starting that can end up either being fixed before it causes a problem, or fixed like the 38 year old you mentioned...

[DaveO]

Totally agree with the "see a doc" advice. If the doc says "healthy" then you need other evidence, maybe an EMF meter to see what the local emf is, and whether it's within the normal range when the welder is cranked up. Who knows, the machine may have an electrical fault that's browning out the neighborhood or interrupting radio and TV broadcasts without you knowing it. Did anyone else feel affected, or did TVs and radios act funny while you were welding?

I don't know where you'd get an EMF detector. You can get them on Ebay but they say "ghost and paranormal detector" and "just like on those TV shows" so those particular models would be good paperweights or wheel chocks. Got any friends at the power company?

[hooda]

Got a appointment on Thursday for a different issue. I'll for sure be bringing it up.

[DaveO]

Good on ya for seein' the doc!

This is odd: AWS says there's no direct link between EMF and health conditions, then goes on to give ways to limit your exposure.
http://www.aws.org/technical/facts/FACT-17.pdf

[kenwhite]

A couple of things.

First, the paranormal EMF meters won't measure the short wavelengths that the body can absorb so don't waste your money.

Second, the body is susceptible to magnetic fields. Long wavelength fields that eminate from 60 Hz power lines are not easily absorbed by the body. However, impulse noise is rich in very high frequency fields, and these signals have a very short wavelength that the body can absorb.

So, when in doubt, play it safe and limit any exposure that you think may be harmful...

[Wookie]

your old machine and a new machine (any Brand) would be both putting out electro magnetic waves

[Canada]

Hooda

Glad to hear you are going to your doctor. I agree chest pains are not something to second guess.

[hooda]

One other detail, I had my cellphone in my front pants pocket, and it was vibrating like mad, and no calls/messages came in. Yikes!!

[jakeru]

That sounds like some bad mojo with that machine, in AC mode, when the breaker trips!

I hope I never experience anything like that. I scared myself pretty good welding a couple times, but relating to ground clamps. (More specifically, forgetting to hook them up...) On one occasion, I was happily welding, and then when I was about done with my weld bead, noticed a funky smell. Lifted my helmet, and noticed a rubber spring bushing on my ground clamp was on fire! I had the clamp sitting on a metal table, and it was arcing right next to spring and set the rubber spring bushing on FIRE!

The other occasion, something pretty bad mojo happened with a lack of ground, and welding current somehow traveling into the palm of my (thankfully gloved) hand, then I think exited the glove and went through the metal pin of my TIG torch switch, then made its way elsewhere. I remember being really thankful the current didn't go through my arm. My hand was sweaty and I think that's why it went through my glove. I remember it sure got insanely hot on the palm of my glove! (and there is a scorched part of the glove to prove it.)

I almost always wear long sleeves when I weld now. Just not worth the risk of having electrical current flowing through me. I have a vision of a sweaty arm, propped against a metal conductive surface, with my arm completing the welding circuit. I've got those leather sleeves you can just throw on to weld when its hot out and then I can still wear short sleeves.

On a side note hooda, your aluminum welding is getting much better!

[welderdude]

Maybe its the high frequency thats mixed in with the AC current causing the issues.

[SeanMurphy265]

I worked for a family machine shop/equipment company for a couple years. The son was a volunteer fireman and so he had all this pager and handheld radio that he carried around, and whenever he would tig weld both of them would be going crazy, it was something with the frequency.

[Rugar]

Got a appointment on Thursday for a different issue. I'll for sure be bringing it up.

What did your Doc have to say?

[bigjoeinkg]

Do you have an HF ground for the machine. This is seperate from the earth ground in the power lead. You may have High Frequency power radiating in the shop. Check out the proper EMF grounding for welders. Also, don't loop any cables around body parts while welding. Spasms of the heart are not normal. IF you feel them don't wait to see a Doc. Call 911 and get someone there.

[hooda]

Well it's been a month or better since I last logged in, (yeah I'll have a thread explaining the giant dump the world has taken on me). Anyway, I had a major project going on, and I was suddenly notified that I was to stop what I was doing, get the piece that I was working on out of my dad's shop, and get my stuff out, ASAP. So, I had already decided to get rid of the welder and buy EVERLAST. My ad had been on CL for 5 weeks, and gotten no calls. As I was returning from dropping off the guy's unfinished welding job, I got a call. The guy showed up, watched me run a foot if FLAWLESS welds on aluminum, reached into his pocket, peeled off 7 crisp 50 dollar bills, and said "I'll give ya' fifty more to deliver it". I wanted to tell the guy to pound sand, but the memory of what this thing did to me at the 300 amp range had my lips uttering "OK, but I keep the ground cable" (25 foot, 4/0 with a solid bronze jackson clamp). So, sad as I was to see it go, at least I have eliminated any possibility of that particular machine causing me any undue harm. BTW, the doc said he didn't know, and ran a ekg and told me that was normal, but to get away from that machine just to be sure, as it could just be that I as an individual was sensitive to that particular situation.

[everlastsupport]

WOW, I would have unplugged it and waited longer for a higher bidder. Sounds that guy got a deal. But the economy and all, and health issue, I can see why you did. And $50 to deliver it. With gas prices and the weight. Sorry you took such a bad hit.

Hope all is getting back to normal for you.

[DaveO]

Welcome back, Hooda! Sorry to hear you've hit a rough patch of road. Are you and Mikeymetal still demolishing those trailers?

[worntorn]

Hooda, you might be experiencing Atrial Fibrillation, the most common of all heart Arryhthmias.

I have this problem and it is a real nuisance. Welding does not cause the problem for me, but I have heard of other people with afib being affected by EMR and also by microwaves.

We are all a mass of electrical circuitry and Afib happens when the main timer for the heart pulse is derailed by errant electrical currents within the heart.
A huge number of people suffer from it. There is lots of info on the web you could research to see if this is your problem.

It's hard to get a diagnosis from a Doctor because you will likely be back in Normal Sinus rhythm by the time you see the Doctor.
High stress of one form or another is one of the main causes of Afib. Also some food types, ie excess caffeine , alcohol or anything containing MSG can also be triggers for a lot of people.

Glen