Welding / Electrical question please??

[mikewilkes]

<both Mike and myself work on offshore platforms/rigs (well he DID) >
Glad you remembered I was retarded now!!! - and a hell of a lot warmer than you are mate!!!!!

 

[damo]

Presume you have Permit To Work from Marina? if not, it will be the manager that blows a fuse!

 

[mikewilkes]

[ QUOTE ]
Presume you have Permit To Work from Marina? if not, it will be the manager that blows a fuse!

[/ QUOTE ]
Is there no peace from HSE even when retarded????

 

[damo]

I'm sure there are Terms and Conditions for marina customers. For example mine say:

'No "hot work" , eg welding or grinding is to be undertaken without the written permission of the marina manager'

I think that is fair enough when someone else is responsible for the facility, including safeguarding the neighbouring boats. It has nothing to do with the HSE, (who don't even have any jurisdiction if the boat is in Barcelona!). Permit to Work is standard practice in most commercial premises.

 

[cliff]

[ QUOTE ]
Cliff,

Now you tell me why every man in the world who gets a welding cource (electrical) is kindly advised in capitals bold and as big as they can print it :

"UNPLUG or DISCONNECT ALL POWER SOURCES THAT ARE IN CONTACT WITH THE METAL YOU ARE WELDING"

Not for the fun of it, i think... talk to a body repair specialist, you'l see what he says...

Weld a piece on to your car without disconnecting the battery and you are about to see you meters and bulbs jumping out of their sockets...

[/ QUOTE ]O.K. now pay attention as I will only go over this once for the amateurs amongst you.

If the metal you are welding is a conductor in a medium or HV system then it needs disconnecting to protect the welder from getting a shock.
The steel hull in a boat should not even be used as the -ve 12 or 24v return and most certainly will not be part of the 240v circuit.

Body repair specialist? Yep that was me several years ago - never bothered disconnecting the batteries nor ever blew a bulb or anything else for that matter. Some "modern" cars with built in micro chips in the EMS do recommend the EMS be isolated however this is more a let out clause rather than a mandatory requirement.

The main thing is to have the welding return lead clamped as near the weld area as possible to avoid unnecessary resistance in the circuit. ie if welding on the chassis have the welding return lead connected to the chassis not a body panel.

As for the warning on welding sources that is a HSE requirement as too many machines are bought by numpties or over enthusiastic amateurs with little or no common sense.
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"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"