electrical tool

Hi, I have just had a pacemaker fitted 2 weeks ago, can anyone tell me about using electric drills, grinders etc, also I have read that chainsaws are a no no ? Does anyone know if cordless tools are any safer to use ? ?

8 Comments

Common Sense

by PacerRep - 2013-11-02 08:11:29

To: Rfassett

You will have to use common sense here...First off your not going to break/damage/destroy/short circuit/ your device with any power tools, so that's not an issue.

So use the tool....If you feel dizzy or funny....take your finger off the trigger and put it away. If you feel fine, drill away.

I would just sit on the couch with it and play with it (the power tool) for a while and see if you notice a difference, if you are truly pacer dependent...then you will know pretty quick if it's inhibiting your device.

The pacemaker will correct itself automatically once the interference goes away, so don't worry about the integrity of the device.

Cordless Tools

by PacerRep - 2013-11-02 09:11:27

The only tool I have consistently seen cause "noise" on a pacemaker are those Yellow Dewalt power drills. I've yet to make any correlations with other tools consistently (minus arc welders). If your not pacemaker dependent than don't even worry about it at all.

no problem

by BillMFl - 2013-11-02 09:11:34

Just keep them away from your chest. The newer devices are much better shielded than the old days. I use chain saws and hand tools all the time and never had an issue.

My 2 cents worth on tools

by donr - 2013-11-02 10:11:16

I started out wary of power tools, just like the lawyer's advice that came w/ my PM in its manual. At the time, we were building a house, so had lots of opportunities to use them.

Through experience w/ them, I became more comfortable with them all. Mattered not whether they were battery powered or corded. I realize that you live in Australia, so your line voltages are in the 240 V range & mine are in the 120 V range. I suspect that your Battery powered tools are the same 24 V max as ours.

There are two electrical phenomena that can affect your PM/ICD - 1) magnetic fields 2) electromagnetic radiation. All electric motors can generate both effects.

If you look into the brush area of the motors, you see sparking. A spark generates every EM wave frequency known - but at such low power that it should NOT penetrate the shielded PM guts. The Titanium case is hermatically sealed & just won't let that kind of radiation in. You can discount that issue for all power tools.

Ah, but there are magnetic fields to contend with. Any well designed motor controls the loss of magnetic field to the outside world as a loss of efficiency & a decrease in available power delivered to the business end, so generally speaking that is also a "Not to worry" issue.

I have successfully & routinely used every portable power tool known, whether battery or corded. No ill effect. Table saws, routers, drill presses, air compressors, reciprocating saws, biscuit joiners, circular saws, cutting both wood & concrete, bench grinders, hand drills, planers, - just to name a few. I've used a rotary hammer for boring in concrete. I have not worried about how close they came to my PM. I've had the sparking commutator of a battery operate hand drill right against my sternum adjacent to my PM. It does not seem to care.

I just read Pacer Rep's comment about DeWalt drills. All my experience has been w/ Bosch tools & a few other brands. I only own Bosch - I've grown to like them.

Now about gasoline powered yard tools. Chain saw, lawnmower, blowers, used them all, no ill effect. I know the main concern is ignition problems w/ the engines. Most of them have magneto provided high intensity sparks. Get a foot or so away from that & again, the fields are too weak to affect the PM. One bit of reality - if your Rate Response feature is turned on, the vibration of these tools may affect it & make your HR go up immediately. For that reason, I avoid the Chainsaw & reciprocating saw - too much vibration, although it has yet to affect my PM. I have always liked the comment by a passed on member ElectricFrank. He said that He gave up chainsawing the day he ran out of chains that needed to be sawn. He then restricted all that work to trees.

I can give you a single data point from experience. I had mu Pm pass w/i 3 inches of a cable feeding an electric water heater. It was carrying 30 Amps at 240 V, 60 Hz. Temporarily put my PM into TEST mode, but as soon as it moved away, PM went right back to operating normally.

Good luck w/ your power tool experiences.

Don

But PacerRep,

by rfassett - 2013-11-02 10:11:29

what if one (like me) IS pacemaker dependent? Obviously the opposite response is that we SHOUlD worry about it. But why? Your comment got my attention that maybe, because I AM dependent, I need to be more careful and diligent?

Thanks PacerRep

by rfassett - 2013-11-02 10:11:47

Your last sentence gives me peace. And your advise is sound. Thanks!

tools

by mike thurston - 2013-11-02 12:11:26

Should be fine other than the chain saw (gas), welding equipment or high powered stuff. Check your manufactures web site they will have their recommendations. I have used a chain saw before but generally avoid it. Definitely wait a few more weeks.

Thanks to everyone

by pace-man - 2013-11-03 01:11:12

Thanks to everyone for all of the information that you have provided, this is all new to me , I didn't think I would be a member of this club a couple of weeks ago, so any information that you guys can share would be great. Thanks again. Rick

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