Quote Originally Posted by CraigJ View Post
MacGuire: As you said in the first paragraph, if the torch output shorts to the case (which is connected earth ground through the power cord) the work lead will be hot -- 60-80 volts above ground. That fault alone would make the work table dangerously hot; no other fault is needed. And since the welder's outputs are floating with respect to chassis, the welder would not see a fault condition or trip out. If the table were separately grounded to earth, it would short out the welder's output but protect the person touching it, a better outcome in my opinion.

I see where you're going with that, but if the torch output shorts to the case, it should trip the breaker. if it didn't, to realize the potential you're talking about, you'd need to be touching the case and your welding table.

you shouldn't have any issues if you bond your table to ground separately from your electrical system ground. same protection, no possibility of noise contamination.