Can pacemaker wearer work with 160 amp welding inverter?

Here in Brazil there are different statements from doctors in relation to pacemaker carriers to use low amperage soldering inverter. Some say you can, others say you can't. What would be the correct answer. Can or not?


3 Comments

Welding

by AgentX86 - 2022-11-13 13:04:27

160A is on the high side. Some welding types aren't an issue but I can never remember which ones are bad. The pacemaker's manufacturer will have limits published.

Welding with PM

by Pop - 2022-11-14 17:36:15

I lost my part time job because i told my employer that I was having a P M fitted. company insurers stated that I was an high risk as going near an inverter or a transformer emmitted a magnetic field which put me at risk. Alan

About the document here from Brazil that deals with this subject

by antonio miranda - 2022-11-15 16:59:36

What happens is that in Brazil the entity of electrophysiologists called DECA - Department of Artificial Cardiac Stimulation (DECA) of the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery (SBCCV) published a 1996 document saying that welding machines with amperage lower than 225 amperes do not affect the gadgets.

The text says: Pacemaker carriers are subject to the action of electromagnetic fields when they act under the influence of the following sources:
a) electric welding devices (arc): those that use up to 225A in alternating or direct current with low voltage, do not seem to interfere with the function of the pacemakers (in vitro tests). On the other hand, larger devices that use more than 300A have demonstrated temporary functional changes in a significant percentage of patients.

The problem is that doctors say they don't know or pretend not to know about this document and when I ask if I can use it, some say yes and others no.

http://publicacoes.cardiol.br/abc/1997/6802/68020013.pdf

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In fact after the final "tweaks" of my pacemaker programming at the one year check up it is working so well that I forget I have it.