problems with radio when welding

[kenfusion]

Hi, I have a cheap old radio that I use at work and decided to upgrade and buy a radio with a CD player well problem is when I struck up my arc the radio shut off. I was welding alum. so I thought the high freq. was interfering but when I switched to start only for steel I had the same problem. I brought the radio home and went back to the old radio but now the new one craps out on me all the time.

ps just a side note, I have a Larry the cable guy doll and smoe times the high freq. will set him off... Any input would be great. thanks, Ken..........GITRDONE!

[hankj]

If the CD player is still under warranty, I'd take it back.

Check the power grounding system on the welder. It may also help to bond the welding table to the building ground.

Hank

[EvanK]

Mine does the same thing, if you watch the lcd on mine while i weld it flips out but it still plays while im welding, Im pretty sure its the hf.

[TJJ]

Guys, that HF can damage solid state electronics. Especially if it uses IC's in the circuit somewhere......which most things do now days. That Cd/radio has been damaged.

I have my ham radio equipment a few feet from where I weld but I never have anything powered up when tigging. The only time I damaged anything was when I forgot to turn off a 12V power supply and the voltage regulator chip got fried. Luckily I was able to repair it because I had a spare chip.

The HF spark from the gap emits a wide spectrum radio wave with pretty hefty amplitude a few feet from the welder and leads. Those electromagnetic waves induce electrical voltages in any conductor. Just as a lightning bolt (from the big spark gap in the sky) can induce voltage in power line wiring to eat your phones, TV's and computers, if you were to induce several volts into a circuit that normally operates between 0 to 5 volts you can see why things can go hay-wire. If a network of conductors were remotely resonant to the frequency band of waves then damaging current can be induced into the circuit and normal operation is interrupted or a sensitive component could be destroyed and render the circuit inoperative.

So heed the warnings in the instruction manuals. No sparking close to electronic equipment. It can get expensive.

[moody2.0]

Interesting...

Does this mean HF will kill my cell phone?

[TEK]

What kinda range we talkin about to be safe?

[TJJ]

Interesting...

Does this mean HF will kill my cell phone?

Possibly. If your actually talking on the phone while tigging AC. Cell phones operate around 800 MHz. Sat phones in the GHZ range. So they're way out of the frequency spectrum of your welder's arc stabilizer. However, when the phone's audio circuits kick in as when you are actually using the phone, all bets are off. It may or may not be affected. So why take a chance. Use your mom's phone and do a test for us.

Tek

I wish there was a definite answer. I know that when I tig AC in my shop the wife and kids hear the buzzing on the TV's in the house but no damage so far. They are about 30 to 40 feet away with two stud walls blocking. If there was a grounded sheet metal wall they probably wouldn't hear a thing. RF can be coupled to nearby electrical wiring also so don't forget that route for potential problems.

tjj

[tailshaft56]

I haven't yet tried ac tig with my TA but the hf start does cause some of the flourescent lights to flicker. I am also running a tv with satellite rcvr but it doesnt seem to bother them.

[TOMWELDS]

'magine what it's doing to your brain...

[hankj]

Dennis,

Inverter technology doesn't use the "spark gap" to chop up the DC. Inverters do it all electronically. My TA doesn't interfere with lights, CD player, or the scanner I have on all the time. Very clean.

Hank

[tailshaft56]

Seems the HF only screws the light fixture right above the TA.

[out in the shop]

i have a ?. none of the dreaded hf symptoms happen on my squarewave 255. i alway have the stereo on, i have flor. lights nothing wierd happens, i dont even have the machine on a earth ground like the manual suggested. why do some achf give you problems and others dont. is it spark gap curious thanks oits

[chiliuno]

i had a similar problem. i walked over to the offending radio and smashed the ever living **** out of it with a 3/4 inch drive ratchet that happened to be within reach. it plays only one station now, i think it's tejano music (i'm not spanish, i don't speak much spanish, and i don't know what the **** these folks are singing about, but they do seem to be having a good time). it was satisfying and it makes me laugh every time i look at it or think about it, and the music is a riot. i don't regret it at all and it's a shame that the ****ed thing won't work in north carolina (it's stuck on a radio station that will be too far away to get).
i say smash it with a hammer.

[Liquidmantis]

You could just make a Faraday cage for it. Make a cage out of some hardware cloth for it and ground that. Should eliminate any EMI. Radio reception won't be that great but you've got a CD player now anyway.

[kenfusion]

thanks for all your input. I especially liked the responce of smashing the radio, something I sometimes wish to do. thanks again.