iv'e had my welder set up for 6-8 weeks now, but all of the sudden last night i started getting shocked, but not while welding, just any time i touch ANYTHING metal in the garage. if i keep in constant contact with my work or at least touch it every 60 seconds or so im fine, but if i get up to change the radio or get something as soon as i touch anything metal like the garage door, trash cans, parts im welding, light switches, etc.. i have a gas radiant heater in the ceiling that does dry the air out but i dont think this is from static electricity. iv'e seen multiple sparks hit my fingers with each touch and i cant figure out where its coming from as it happens even when my welder (sync 200) and the breaker its on is turned off. and it only happens once im in the garage (not when i open the door to go in).

has anyone experienced this or have any ideas what could be causing this?

 

Static shock or a full blown electrocution shock?

 

no its just like a static shock but more painful, i have seen 2 or 3 sparks per touch. and it will happen within just a few minutes of each other with out me moving around to create static. it seems like electricity is "leaking" from somewhere and charging every object in the room until i touch it and discharge it. then 45 seconds later its charged again.

 

It might be from the high frequency from your welder. I was reading my owners manual & it said to ground anything electrionic within a certain amount of feet from the welder. Just a thought.

 

yeah, i would say its a grounding issue

like my laptop, if its not 100% plugged in to the computer it still gets power but isn't all the way grounded, so it still works, but if you touch it you get shocked because you're the ground.

i'd have to say it is the same deal

 

but why would it happen even when the welder and the breaker is turned off?

the welder stays pluged in and is in all the way in and iv'e been grounding to good grounds so im not sure if that would be it. but when i say i get shocked by everything i mean EVERYTHING. i picked a socket up off the middle of the floor and it shocked me. its like something is giving me a possitive charge and anything i touch grounds me.

 

Do you have other tools plugged into the wall in the garage? I had a similar problem with my 80 y/o drill press ...

 

????


I would also have said the welder could be doing something but if the breaker and machine is off and its still happening you might be be related to the guy above!!?

 

you gotta love the old tools, lol. Ive got an old sears drill that isnt grounded and has a metal case. Id throw it out cause it hurts like hell, but the thing is a brute and I cant let go of it

 

HA! i remember being all suited up, hanging from a crane, miging up some duct work going up a building... it was big 24x24 (or bigger, dont remember)... it was sprinkling and i didnt notice until i shocked the crap out of myself 80 feet in the air.

In the shop setting make sure everything is grounded around you that is plugged in.

 

Heh I have a Sears/Craftsman grinder I was given, with the original manual from 1967 or something. Most reliable tool in the shop aside from my 1979 Sync 500, but it's got an arm for a lightbulb that is just there to shock you like a scorpion tail coming off the back!

 

you are welding too much. you are turning into:

 

i have been doing a lot of grinding lately and the floor is peppered with metal dust. do you guys think this could transfer enough electrons to build up a static charge that quickly that i would get shocked more than once a min.


hey weir, any updates on those B series flanges yet?

 

you don't clean your shop floor?

jimeny cricket i can't handle a dirty floor, walking on crap all the time...ugh

 

I am having a similar problem with my 55yr old delta bandsaw. i think the original 3ph motor has a bit of an internal short in it somewhere.

It runs perfectly but if i touch the saw and anything else at the same time i get a little shock lol. (it is not grounded)

 

Its mostly very bad static. Google a tesla coil - the big ones can hold huge amounts of static. I've played with a relatively big one in school, and the shock feels like a whip cracking onto your skin.

You might still want to check the grounding in your garage wiring & welder. If its an older 3-plug 220v outlet, it doesn't have a dedicated ground. Around here they are no longer code.

 

i know what a tesla coil is, and im also leaning more towards static. i have experienced the tools with bad grounds before like what you guys are talking about when touching the tool and a ground but this is different. i dont have to be touching two things and i dont have to touch anything that is plugged in. if i touch my work bench or an engine on a stand or pick up a socket off the floor, all things that are metal but not (or at least dont appear to be) electrically connected to anything and all without me touching anything else at the same time. this is why i was thinking it was more of a static problem, but aside from rubbing a balloon on my head (or a tesla coil) iv'e never seen a static charge build that strong or fast.?

the picture posted above of powder reminded me of a trick my dad taught me when i was a kid where you can get one person on each end of a flourecent light bulb and rub your feet on the carpet with socks on and the bulb will light. i wander if i could walk around my garage holding one end of a bulb and touch the other end to the **** thats shocking me until i find where its coming from.

oh and i pretty sure the outlet is grounded it had three wires going into it and they are all good connections

 

i think i might have an idea of what is going on. i was reading through the owners manual pdf on millers site for my welder (current syncro 200) and on page 30 and 31 (sorry for some reason i cant copy and paste it) it shows some diagrams for setting up your welding room and shows sources for REradiation of high frequency and says to ground EVERY metal object within 50 ft.. so my theory for what is going on is with the recent buildup of grinding dust and with my heater on drying out the air all these metal objects within 50 ft. (pretty much my whole garage) are holding a small hf charge even after i turn off my welder. but then again maybe i dont know what im talking about, can anyone confirm or reject this theory

 

If the humidity is over 60 percent it is not static. Check your safety grounds (green wire, bare wire) very carefully, and ensure they are not carrying any current. I used to get the type of shock you are talking about in my Mother's kitchen of all places. The house was wired originally before the 3 wire/safety ground standard, and my Dad didn't always get things right when he redid things... it was a ground loop between the 220 oven where he was draining unbalanced current thru the safety ground.

 

now that i think about it, it might have been raining one of the days this was happening. that would put the humidity over 60. i dont know this is getting confusing? maybe ill try my flurecent bulb idea when i get back from vacation.