Welding may conjure images of sheet metal, butt joints, and steel frames, but that’s not all there is to it. Sometimes, it involves working on projects where you have to weld near sensitive electronics. So, does welding affect electronics?
The electromagnetic radiation or interference and current flowing from the welding equipment are common causes of issues with electronics. They could short circuit the devices, disrupt their regular functioning, or cause damage.
This article delves into how you can protect electronics when welding and whether welding affects electronics. I also consider the possibility of welding harming computers and what you should do before and after welding.
How Do You Protect Electronics When Welding?
When you weld around sensitive electronics that need to stay in place or you cannot move, you must consider ways to protect them from the effects of welding. Welding close to cars, computers, radios, watches, and even pacemakers have consequences.
They don’t have to be connected to the welding circuit to risk malfunction or damage. Therefore, you should be extra vigilant and take the proper precautions, including:
- First, increase the distance between the electronic devices and the welding circuit as much as possible.
- The second most important thing to do is ground the welding circuit properly. Grounding ensures a safe route for the currents passing around during welding and prevents them from finding unwanted routes that could cause damage.
Ground the welding circuit and the welder separately. You can ground the welder to a metal building frame or large metal worktable to put it on the same level as other grounded components. Keep your grounding clamps as close to your work area as possible.
- For welding units that generate High Frequency (HF) signals that affect surrounding electronics, follow the manufacturer’s grounding recommendations to reduce the electromagnetic radiation.
- You can disconnect car batteries before welding on them or around them. If possible, remove sensors, modules, wires, and other electronic components from your welding area. You should remove them if they are within 300mm (12 inches) of the welding area.
- Although rare, you might set off the airbags if you are welding around a car, so disconnect the airbag fuse to be safe.
Does Welding Affect Electronics?
While permanent damage may not occur with the electronics, welding can still affect electronics. It has caused watches to malfunction and tell the wrong time.
Televisions, radios, Wi-Fi, and speakers that use frequencies can experience interruptions from the electromagnetic radiation welding emits.
Besides these, the voltages you use for some welding processes can affect entire power grids, indirectly affecting all electronics connected to the same grid.
Sometimes, welding shops or operations need to have a separate transformer set up to prevent power trips in residential areas.
Can Welding Harm Computers?
If you connect your computer to the main power supply unit directly, fluctuations in voltage can affect the computer system or cause damage. Welding can cause these voltage fluctuations and damage your computer.
Browning is worse for computers than blackouts, and it occurs when the input voltage is lower than the voltage the computer needs to function. Data corruption or loss occurs, probably as soon as the brownout occurs.
Get an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) to protect your computer, particularly one with Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR).
What Should I Do Before and after Welding?
Welding is a fundamental part of metalworking projects and construction, and you must make all efforts to minimize the inherent risks and dangers it brings. When you take the appropriate safety measures, you protect yourself, your co-workers, and the surrounding property.
Because of the various potential hazards, you need to practice these safety measures before you start, during, and after welding. Here are the precautions:
- Before welding
- Know your equipment—read the instructions, familiarize yourself with how it works, and keep up with updates and changes when new machines come out.
- Evaluate and inspect your equipment before use. Even though your machine was safe to use yesterday, don’t jump right to using it today before a proper inspection.
- Check your work area and ensure it is well-ventilated (natural or mechanical) to eliminate toxic fumes. Look out for flammable materials and put them away before you begin.
- Please have a good understanding of the material you will weld before starting on it. Your welding surface must be safe before you begin your work on it.
- Set a good emergency response or escape plan. Always have a fire extinguisher handy, know where the fire alarms and exits are, and maintain access to an emergency phone.
- Inform the people in your vicinity about your work to protect them from dangers like flashes, fumes, and sparks.
- During welding
- Wear the proper safety apparel—helmet, gloves, goggles, boots, and fire-resistant clothing.
- Keep a shield up when necessary.
- Keep the electrical wires from wrapping around your body.
- After welding
- Turn off all equipment entirely before you exit your work area. Double-check to ensure that you have turned off and stored everything properly.
- Dispose of waste safely and correctly, like scraps from your project, electrode butts, etc, place each garbage in the appropriate containers for correct disposal.
- Keep an eye out for errant embers or sparks that may remain after you finish working. For the brief period after your work ends, there is the risk of these components causing a fire, so be vigilant.
Other safety practices for all times include reporting all accidents to supervisors, keeping your workstation tidy and clean, and avoiding playing pranks because they could increase the risk of accidents and injuries no matter how “harmless” they are.
Remember to stay dry, don’t work on materials that have held combustibles, and never leave your equipment unattended or place them carelessly when you stop for a moment. Leave the welding electrode in the stinger or electrode holder when you aren’t using it.
Although many of these safety measures seem basic, it is easy to forget them and treat them as trivial over time. Routine may be boring, but safety routines save lives, so ensure you cultivate and maintain good welding practices.