Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi all,

I work in a shop with several other welders. Recently we have been trying to tackle the problem of forgetting to ground. Our machines are usually always grounded to the table, but we are supposed to use a jumper cable from the ground clamp to our actual piece of work. This is because the work rests on a mix of metal and plastic tooling, and if not directly grounded, can cause an arc strike somewhere along the part. Depending on how bad it is and due to the sensitive nature of our product, it usually scraps the entire piece of requires many labor hours to replace the section that was damaged. I should note that this usually happens when a welder removes the ground clamp to adjust the position of the part they’re welding.

Obviously this is just something you have to remember to do before striking an arc, but everyone slips up from time to time. Are there any tips or tricks you guys use to remember to keep grounded? Any processes that your shops have implemented to prevent this?

Thanks!

Two methods that come to mind is to completely insulate the table so it can't weld without the jumper cable. Or put a hanger for the jumper cable in front of the hanger for the welding torch. That way you can't get at the torch without moving the jumper cable.

Hope this helps.

A third one I thought of was make one of your fixture hold down points the ground and put a copper pad on it. (assumption being that you have hold down fixtures. That way, you get clamping you require and the ground in one go.

Mike - great idea with insulating the entire table. A good idiot-proof way of going about it. Thanks for the input!

No problem mate. Best of luck with it

Lose the second jumper clamp, insulate the table with a sheet of something.

We call it Bluetooth ground but it never seems to work no matter how many times we try.

Sent from my moto g(6) (XT1925DL) using Tapatalk

it's 'cause a lot of people lose their wi-fi signal, that's why the bluetooth ground doesn't work too well

Oscar wrote:it's 'cause a lot of people lose their wi-fi signal, that's why the bluetooth ground doesn't work too well

I had the same problem a week ago. A blue speckled U U bird sitting on the wire interfering with wi-fi.

Bluetooth is an ACTIVE protocol, so it won't work on the return side. It should be fine on the torch side of the circuit.