Mig Welding

My dad received a 4 chamber pacer with a defibrillator, about 2 weeks ago. Will he be able to do welding with a mig welder? Also a plasma cutter? Any advice?

2 Comments

Another Welder

by PJinSC - 2015-07-01 07:07:38

The brother-in-law mentioned above is a welder, and he had concerns prior to getting his PM, and discussed it with his doctor (at my prompting) and his doctor implanted a Boston Scientific CRT-D, one lead. As far as we have been able to determine, arc welding has no effect. He is being cautious with MIG welding because it is reverse polarity, and he found several years ago that if you make contact with the metal while an arc is in progress, it will knock your socks off. TIG is similar, but plasma uses gas and an electrical spark to create superheated gas, When he uses either, and tells me its effect, I will update this forum.

Regardless, your dad should talk it over with his doctor and then experiment with what works and what might not, depending on his Medtronic device. some things will go completely unnoticed, but there might be something that will make him say "that was interesting". Personally, I have a CRT-P, three leads, and have been in all sorts of power plant electrical environments and used a lot of large electrical equipment with no effects. See my postings and comments. The precautionary information out there is to allow them to say "see, we told you so", but in reality, it is up to the person to determine his/her limits.

I hope he does well. PJ

You can use the search feature

by Theknotguy - 2015-07-01 08:07:29

You can use the search feature on the upper right corner of this forum and use it to find PJinSC. PJ and I have been trying to debunk a lot of misinformation about pacemakers concerning RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) and EMF (ElectroMagnetic Fields). Send PJ a private message asking the same question. I don't do welding so I can't answer your question directly.

What PJ and I have found is a lot of warnings are just that - warnings. We haven't been able to find good solid evidence that says the newer PM's are as sensitive as the earlier models. PJ's brother just got a PM and was arc welding with a 60amp arc welder. So that would indicate TIG/MIG welding would be OK for someone who knows welding.

I volunteer in a woodshop, run all the woodshop equipment including the 220 volt table saw with no problems. Was drilling Kreg Jig pocket screw holes, forgot about my PM, and was leaning on a large DeWalt drill while it was running. My PM was actually lying on the drill as I was pushing down with my shoulder. No problems.

So the warnings about EMF that says we should keep the PM six inches away from a running electrical doesn't always hold true. However, I'm not about to go out and hug one of those big industrial motors while it's running. Nor do I suggest going out and using your shoulder on the PM side to push on one of those cheap-o Chinese drills. Not as much shielding as the DeWalts and the results may be different.

Hope you can get a quick answer from PJ.

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