A "Shocking" question....

[CGCINC]

Why is this?:

When I weld at night school And at my shop on welding the tables, I sometimes get a slight zap while resting my Protected arm on the table. It doesn't happen everytime but I'm just wondering Why it happens and How do I prevent it?

[zoama]

Why is this?:

When I weld at night school And at my shop on welding the tables, I sometimes get a slight zap while resting my Protected arm on the table. It doesn't happen everytime but I'm just wondering Why it happens and How do I prevent it?

Put your ground clamp as close as possible to your work piece and try not to position yourself where current can pass through you.

[CGCINC]

lol.... Guess that makes sense! My instructor taught me to just clamp it to the table out of the way....

[parkour]

Are you using a high frequency arc starter such as for TIG, or are you scratch starting TIG or stick?
You may need to look at a better glove for the welding hand, and better sleeves for the arm.
Regardless, a better "picture" of the situation will help us make a better determination of what's going on.

[CGCINC]

Are you using a high frequency arc starter such as for TIG, or are you scratch starting TIG or stick?
You may need to look at a better glove for the welding hand, and better sleeves for the arm.
Regardless, a better "picture" of the situation will help us make a better determination of what's going on.

Yes... Tig, HF start for both welders and running in AC.
I ditched the basic jacket they give you at school and bought a nice heavy jacket. The glove are Revco Tig gloves, pretty thick.
I have been wearing long sleeve shirts and also have the welding jacket on. I just feel a slight "zap".
I ground the table to the side and have been mostly practicing on Aluminum.
The welding table I built at my shop has a ground tab under the side of the table to keep the clamp out of my work area...BUT, I was also going on the thought that you just ground the table to the side. Shouldn't a "teacher" know these things!? lol

[everlastsupport]

Are you on concrete when you get zapped? Also, are you perspiring in the jacket or gloves? If you give a path, does not matter where the clamp is, it will use you as the path.

http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...ighlight=sweat

[bobwills]

I would try putting the ground on the other side of the table to where your welding so the current is going towards the other side so it would then make it very hard to make you a quicker path to the machine than through the table

[CGCINC]

These are pics of where my ground is located.
I am left handed so my torch is on the left as well so I don't get between positive and negative.

[brianscott]

Just curious, what size argon tank
is that in the picture?

[jerky]

heres a thought, if your getting shocked at BOTH school and work, then it stands to reason that its not really the table, and more or less something your doing. as far as ive read, your the only variable thats in both cases. maybe your just prone to getting shocked. like how some people kill watches, there electrically charged.

[Spike]

heres a thought, if your getting shocked at BOTH school and work, then it stands to reason that its not really the table, and more or less something your doing. as far as ive read, your the only variable thats in both cases. maybe your just prone to getting shocked. like how some people kill watches, there electrically charged.

You know, jerky, you may be on to something there.
I get that little zap (kind of like a tingle in my skin, not enough to hurt, just to tickle a little) when i'm welding and rest anything other than a THICKLY gloved hand on the grounded work area. It happens when i'm well insulated from the floor, or not, whether i ground the table, the part directly, or sitting or standing at a fixture any kind of shoe (thick soles, thin soles) or if i'm wearing my welding jacket or not, or just a long sleeve hoodie. And, it happens with different welders: miller, lincoln, everlast... ac/dc, pulsed... everything.

I am one of those 'electrically charged' people. I can kill a 'lifetime' watch battery in about a week if i wear it on bare skin, and i have to use a phone holster that clips on my belt and holds the phone away from me, otherwise it'll get toasted in a couple of months. I spend a fortune in batteries...
... and oddly enough, i build up 'static charge' all the time.

I can't help but think that my electromagnetic field may be at a different frequency than the welders' and i get a sort of 'feedback' when i become part of the circuit.

... we should start a study on it, and apply for grants. We'll need lots of welders and materials to conduct our study. We can call it "Effects of Human Electromagnetic Interference in Welding Practices"... and then add "... and it's effects on global warming." We'll get millions.

[CGCINC]

Just curious, what size argon tank
is that in the picture?

It is a 300

[zoama]

It is a 300

Did you have to do a five year lease and whats it cost to fill ?

[geezer]

Very nice table, the difference beyween yours and mine would the castors, mine are cast iron, yours are composite, isolating you from the concrete, perhaps if you hung a small chain to the floor some of the build up in the table could be sent through the chain instead of you.

Not everyone has the ZAP problem, trick is to find out what is different about your setup from everybody elses.

Hope this helps.

[redbeard]

As part of the process of elimination, try making sure that the stool is well insulated from the floor.

[CGCINC]

Never thought about the castors but that's a good idea! Thanks geezer

Just thought of this..... The table at school is just pipe, no castors, and it shocks me more than my table.