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Grounding while welding-Newbie

6K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Apeiron 
#1 ·
Hi guys. I need some advice here. I recently purchased a cheap wire feed welder in an attempt to learn hobby welding.
Unfortunately, I dont understand the grounding process (tried to ground thru a 1 foot piece of rebar hammered into the earth.... and welder didnt work....welder fed wire when I pushed the trigger but no sparks, no welding was occurring)
If I want to weld outside what should I ground to?
I've heard its best to ground to your workpiece but my workpiece is small pieces of scrap metal
I've heard its 2nd best ground is to your table but I have no metal table.
Would it work to ground to say my wood burning BBQ pit (metal legs on one side, rubber wheels on the other side).

How do I weld w/o getting electrocuted :shock:

My understanding of electrical systems is poor to nonexistent

Any advice would be apprecited.

(I checked the power outlet itself that I'm using to power the welder...the light tester shows that the electrical socket is grounded).

(Also if you see anything unsafe in my pic please let me know)

Thanks!
 

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#3 ·
Apeiron said:
There has to be an electrical path from your work to the ground clamp.
Yeah thats the part that I dont fully comprehend.

In my limited understanding.....since the electrical outlet is grounded (as proven by my lighted receptacle test) then any device (including the welder) plugged into that outlet is grounded. Probably grounded to (hopefully) a long copper rod placed deep in the ground when this house was built back in '65.

I am guessing the Workpiece Clamp completes some sort of magic circuit. But it just seems inherently dangerous, almost insane, to be begin welding on say a metal rod, while the Workpiece Clamp is attached to the same metal rod. What if the metal rod gets hot? Will the heat affect the Workpiece Clamp?
What if you accidentally knick/spark/weld the Workpiece Clamp or worse.....the insulated cord attached to the clamp! I would assume that terrible, terrible things would happen.

Can anyone opine, elaborate, explain?
 
#4 ·
"Ground" can be a confusing term if you're not familiar with electricity. Technically it's just a reference point for comparison within a specific circuit. Just like you'd measure the height of an object as the number of feet above the physical ground, potential in an electric circuit is measured as the number of volts above electrical ground. Every circuit has its own individual "ground", too. Just like you wouldn't specify the height of your object on Mars by measuring from ground level on Earth, the ground on your outlet is different from the ground for the welding circuit.

It's not dangerous to weld on a metal rod with the ground clamp attached to it, it's essential. Sure things get hot, but the clamp is several inches away where the metal stays relatively "cool". Electricity only flows in a circle. To weld, current has to come out of your welder through the welding wire, then jump to the piece your welding (that jump is the arc), then travel through the piece into the ground clamp, through the ground cable and back in to the welder.

In normal usage ground is also a common return path for electricity. To power a light bulb in a car, you could use a long wire carrying power from the battery to the bulb, and another long "ground" wire carrying it back to the battery. However since the frame and metal parts of the car will conduct electricity, you can just run a wire from the battery to the bulb, and then a short wire from the bulb to the frame. Then back at the battery you can use another short wire to connect the frame to the battery. Then the frame is the "ground" and you've saved a bunch of wire.
 
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#5 ·
Wow! Thats pretty wild. I really appreciate you taking the time to drop the knowledge on me. Earlier today I had been reading about this stuff to no avail but you were able to explain the concepts in a way that made sense. Many thanks!!
 
#7 ·
Unless you're in the non-American-speaking world, where the terms are "earth, earthing and earthed" instead of "ground, grounding and grounded". Still doesn't necessarily mean a connection to the actual Earth, though.
 
#8 ·
I got the welder working (in the sense that it sparks and whatnot)!

All preconceived notions of welding being "easy" have gone out the window.

I may need to take a local community college or adult education class.
 
#9 ·
Nah, it just takes practice. Make sure that your scrap pieces aren't so thin that you are blowing them out when you start to weld. Also, make sure the gaps aren't too big- you want the two pieces to be pretty tight together. Pull the welding gun instead of pushing it. You can do a bead on each piece and then another bead to join the two OR you can do a long snaking 'S' motion to join the pieces. Some people like the circular motion. It's all about getting a feel for it.

Once you start making them look good, cut through your welds to check for penetration.
 
#11 ·
One thing I didn't see anyone mention, is that its best to clean the surface of what you are welding if it is scrap.

If there is rust or paint, you will not get a good ground and you will not get a clean weld. Take a wire wheel to the piece and clean down to bare metal.

Also, make sure you are adjusting your welder for the thickness you are welding. Welding thin to thick can get tricky, but like most folks have said, just takes practice. A good auto darkening helmet helps too.

Bart
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks everyone for the great tips (pun intended). I do appreciate the insight.

This morning and afternoon I got the welder working and tried a few passes. I had the wire feed set to the lowest setting. Sparks and molten metal were flying everywhere but not much was sticking to the workpiece, i.e. not much welding was taking place just sparks flying as I moved the electrode along the gap w/o much concentration. I tried this for awhile then took a break. Here is what the a.m. attempt looked like
2013-01-21_13-49-02_486.jpg


Then a few minutes ago I decided to try again and crank up the wire feed speed to 5 (or 1/2 of full speed). This time around I was a little less hesitant so I was able to pay more attention to the tip (i.e. I wasnt as afraid to look directly into the weld with the auto helmet, so I was able to focus on what was going on inside the weld as opposed to the periphery) . For whatever reason this time around I was able to see the molten metal and tried to gauge the speed of my hand to keep the lava flow intact and moving along. For a few seconds I was actually in control of the lava pool. It was pretty cool.
Its not much to show but the evenings work product is 100X better than the morning weld session. Here is the a.m (first pic) compared to the p.m. (2nd and 3rd pics)

2013-01-21_13-49-02_486.jpg
 

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#13 ·
Also - when I first setup the welder I put the lincoln grease on the copper electrode. Do I need to clean it and re grease after each day of use? Thanks
 
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