Welding Advice

jumpster

New Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2010
Location
Denver Nc.
Ok i needed help from someone about tips on whelding.

I was wondering if it would be ok to wheld in the rain?...cause my garage has my girlfrieds stuff in it. I cant fit my Isuzu in the garage so i was wondering if i was whelding outside would it be bad if it was raining.
 
Not a pro welder by any means, But I would advise welding in a dry location. Fact of the matter is your handling a tool that is tied to a high amount of voltage which can lead to bad things in the rain. Regardless of the damage that can happen to your equipment, I my opinion there is no way I would do it. I sure there are ways to do it, I know guys weld under water, But I would say thats a whole different ball game.
 
water and electricity generally do not mix, and it's not the voltage that'll harm you, a DC welder isn't usually running very high voltage anyway, it's the Amps that'll kill you!

I've welded outside plenty, but not when the ground is wet. It's not the rain exactly, but the water on the ground that concerns me.
 
If there is water on the metal your welds will be :poop:. If you dont know what your doing and these are drivetrain or other important parts that could brake and get you killed let a pro do it and begin on something a little safer.
 
Is this a trick question? Nothing with electricity in the rain is safe. So move it inside or put a tarp over or wait for dry weather. If you were closer I would try to help. Surely there is some that can help you out.
 
Bah!

I've welded in the rain lot's of times. 220V welders, DC Mobi's, Readywelders, I laid in a flowing creek bed and welded up my steering once...

I was nervous the first couple times but it doesn't bother me anymore. I wouldn't set up and build a rig in the rain, but hey, when your broke your broke....
 
Welding in the wet isn't a big deal as far as safety is concerned. Welders run a low voltage (typically about 20VDC) which you will feel, but is not dangerous.

However, water causes problems in your weld pool, so make sure the surface is dry before you weld, and try to keep it covered. A good weld should be producing enough heat to evaporate any moisture on the surface.
 
mbalbritton said:
Anyone ever seen underwater welding?
Click to expand...


Bawhahahaha!!!

When there is water around your weld pool the water turns to staem & blows your atmosphere away thus causing perosity in your weld.
 
underwater%20welding.jpg


Underwater welding can be divided into three main types:
• Wet underwater welding, where manual metal arc welding (MMA) is the most common process. Flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) has been widely used in the former Soviet Union. Friction welding, which has the advantage of being relatively insensitive to depth, and which lends itself to robotic operation, has the potential for use in deep water repair.

• Coffer dam welding, which is carried out in the dry, in air, where a rigid steel structure to house the welders is sealed against the side of the structure to be welded, and is open to the atmosphere.

• Hyperbaric welding, using MMA (SMA), TIG (GTA) or FCAW, is the preferred process for high integrity welds, particularly for deep water welds, including tie-ins in pipelines and risers in the oil and gas industries.

The materials which are most commonly welded are microalloyed C-Mn steels of pipelines and offshore structures, and C-Mn steels on ships and harbour works. Extensive repairs have been carried out to offshore platforms following hurricane or explosion damage. Coffer dam welding is most likely to be employed in harbour works or ship repair, although wet underwater welding is also widely used. Semi-automatic FCAW has been used in the former Soviet Union for repairs to (shallow) pipelines and to the hulls of sunken ships, prior to refloating.


 
yeah those guys make the jack...had a buddy from hs that travels now welding underwater. Mostly dam repair work and offshore oil rig repair.

He makes ~250k per year and works no more than 6 months...
 
Aaron871 said:
Bah!
I've welded in the rain lot's of times. 220V welders, DC Mobi's, Readywelders, I laid in a flowing creek bed and welded up my steering once...
I was nervous the first couple times but it doesn't bother me anymore. I wouldn't set up and build a rig in the rain, but hey, when your broke your broke....
Click to expand...

hahaha

please don't shock me...please don't shock me!
 
SkyHiK5 said:
yeah those guys make the jack...had a buddy from hs that travels now welding underwater. Mostly dam repair work and offshore oil rig repair.

He makes ~250k per year and works no more than 6 months...
Click to expand...


but the life expectancy is like 40 years old!!!

I looked into doing that a few years ago and figured it was much safer for me and my family for me to just have a land job :D



Back on the subject...

For anyone inexperienced (read: not a professional or with multiple years of experience), I'd not recommend welding in the rain!

First, getting shocked sucks! Getting shocked multiple times sucks! With weg gloves, ground, clothes, etc., it sucks even more. Most guys that have been shocked while welding haven't been shocked when WET! Its much more intense and sucks!

Second, weld quality will suffer.

Third, did I mention getting shocked sucks!

I've welded in 2' of water, wet from head to toe, in a hurricane during a plant shutdown and it flat out sucks! I had rubber gloves on under my leather gloves but after a certain point, the rubber gloves don't do any good. I couldn't get the rod in the stinger without getting lit up really bad. Really, I couldn't even hold on to the stinger without some tingle! I eventually had to get my helper (who was standing inside the penthouse, dry!) to load every rod for me because I was getting shocked too much!


Knowing the risks and being able to combat them is one thing. But, not knowing and doing something wrong can be harmful. Don't do it!
 
i have to say im with rockcity getting shocked sucks i have weld outside all my life to broke to buy a building and standing on wet ground putting the rod in the stinger shocks you real good but6 thats just me had to ge5t it done but i agree getting shocked sucks
 
jeepinmatt said:
Welders run a low voltage (typically about 20VDC) which you will feel, but is not dangerous.
Click to expand...


no one dies from voltage...its the Amps that get ya.
it takes .6 Amps to stop the human heart (thats not to say that .6 will kill you every time, but if .6 flows through the body to the heart its over...luckily your skin,blood and other organs disolve some of it)

Most welders, even cheap ones will go 200+ amps?

By contrast ever been hit by a spark plug wire?
That was probably 25,000volts.....not gonna kill anyone with its milliamp dischargee
 
SkyHiK5 said:
By contrast ever been hit by a spark plug wire?
That was probably 25,000volts.....not gonna kill anyone with its milliamp dischargee
Click to expand...

:raiseshandwithheaddown: After installing an MSD I had engine run-on. Couldn't shut the engine off with the key. I reached up grabbed the coil wire at the distributor end and pulled it off not thinking about my legs laying against the front bumper.... DUMBASS!!!! :shaking: According to MSD, there's about 40K volts running through that system. To hell with Coffee, THAT'LL GET YOUR DAY A JUMP START!! pun intended.

add to the dumbass factor, it was a stick shift, I could've stalled it out. :shaking:
 
SkyHiK5 said:
no one dies from voltage...its the Amps that get ya.
it takes .6 Amps to stop the human heart (thats not to say that .6 will kill you every time, but if .6 flows through the body to the heart its over...luckily your skin,blood and other organs disolve some of it)

Most welders, even cheap ones will go 200+ amps?

By contrast ever been hit by a spark plug wire?
That was probably 25,000volts.....not gonna kill anyone with its milliamp dischargee
Click to expand...
I know its the amps that kill ya, but its the voltage that determines how far the energy can jump. Low voltage can't jump more than very small fractions of an inch. That's why you can feel it when you are wet, it moves along the surface, but your body is only a mediocre conductor, so it doesn't flow all through it. Big voltage goes whereever it wants, but things like stun guns don't have any oomph behind the big voltage, so they don't kill you (generally).
 
A few years ago I did steel erection and when we were putting bridging in the bar joist and got caught in the rain and needing to finish the job we kept working. I was setting on the barjoist holding the bridging for it to be welded and when he struck the arc it lit my balls up big time. I almost fell 30 feet to the ground.
 
lockedup5 said:
A few years ago I did steel erection and when we were putting bridging in the bar joist and got caught in the rain and needing to finish the job we kept working. I was setting on the barjoist holding the bridging for it to be welded and when he struck the arc it lit my balls up big time. I almost fell 30 feet to the ground.
Click to expand...

LMFAO!!!!:lol::lol:
 
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