TIG electrical shock question

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Couple days ago, my bud was using my tig trying to weld two beer can together....I had loaned out my spare helmet, so I couldn't watch his torch/arc/filler/puddle myself.He had first DC tigged some scrap steel plates, but when decided to play with the cans, I shifted over to AC and let him play.Yesterday he tells me when he was welding in AC on the alum cans he felt a electric tingle goin up his filler rod arm, but not when in DC on the steel.In both cases we had work clamp attached to the materials, not the table....He was wearing tig gloves and wearing work boots....he had both bare forearms resting on table to steady his hands.I've only used my tig to run stick DC, and just a few beads DC fillerless in steel, but never noticed any tingle in my arms.Is there any precautions we should be aware of to prevent electrical shock?
Reply:I don't get all tingley electrical shocks doing tig at all..But sometimes I like to freak people out...Lots a fun......zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:give yourself enough filler rod slack... meaning don't let your hand get too close to the fig torch or the work. this works for me. Try and weld with long sleeves even if you are tigging. remember AC wants to go back and forth electrically speaking. DC not so much!VictorPraxairAir LiquideMillerLincoln Electric
Reply:I don't get all tingley electrical shocks doing tig at all
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterI don't get all tingley electrical shocks doing tig at all..But sometimes I like to freak people out...Lots a fun......zap!
Reply:Originally Posted by IslandWeldingKidgive yourself enough filler rod slack... meaning don't let your hand get too close to the fig torch or the work. this works for me. Try and weld with long sleeves even if you are tigging. remember AC wants to go back and forth electrically speaking. DC not so much!
Reply:It's becuase your forarm is on the table. The table is now grounded sense the can is grounded on the table.
Reply:Originally Posted by motolife313It's becuase your forarm is on the table. The table is now grounded sense the can is grounded on the table.
Reply:I do all the time. I have gloves that go about 4 inches up my forearm and I rest that part of the glove on the bench. Only reason I use gloves on DC is becuase the dang 17 torch gets to hot. Somtimes it will give you a little tig tan tho lol.
Reply:It's a hassle to put on a coat lol
Reply:No one with half a brain intentionally lights up a torch on themselvesHave your friend wear a jacket or arm sleeves thats what i do.
Reply:THanks guys, yeah I agree prolly best to wear thick sleeves with tig.He visited last night again and we discussed it in more detail...He remembered that yeah, he was resting his bare forearms on table edge....BUT, it only occurred when he stuck the filler in the ARC, not the puddle....at no time did he touch tungsten to base metal or filler...Just whenever the filler got in the arc..LOL, I told him it was a built in training feature sorta like a bark collar
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterI don't get all tingley electrical shocks doing tig at all..But sometimes I like to freak people out...Lots a fun......zap!
Reply:Volt don't hurt you, just reach out to make the arc. A static charge from a blanket is 5000v min. Noen transformers are 7500-15000v @30miliamp. 7500 is barely noticeable but 12k+ will jerk your arm away. Older 60ma will kill you or burn a building down.esab 260 multimasternew tech 150 invertorlincoln 140 cheapo
Reply:I had a tiny water leak at the torch end of my tig hose and didn't know it until the tingling started in the hand that was holding the torch.Miller Syncrowave 350Millermatic 252/ 30A spoolgunMiller Bobcat 225g w/ 3545 spoolgunLincoln PowerArc4000Lincoln 175 Mig  Lincoln 135 Mig Everlast 250EX TigCentury ac/dc 230 amp stickVictor O/AHypertherm 1000 plasma
Reply:That tingle thang to me is like hearing a rattlesnake warning-like a whispered warning that is about to scream-Like a lion licking my face and sayin, "Man, you taste GOOD!"When I was a kid, there was this farmer that got lazy and began feeding his cows up next to the barn. He would drop the bails in the feeder and they milled up around it crowding each other. One day he found a cow layin dead tween feeder and barn......he drug it off and buried it...next day same thing, so he calls the vet.The vet examined the cow, then noticed that a galvanized metal electrical conduit that ran from underground and up the side of barn had been knocked loose from LB higher up..It was just 120V feed for barn lighting.....They metered it to ground and only measured 6 to 8 volts until they wiggled it and got higher voltage....Up on the ladder they discovered where the conduit had pulled out of the LB the sharp edge of the conduit had cut thru the black conductor insulation and whenever a cow rubbed up against it hard nuff, he got a good jolt.Farmer learned to carry the bails farther from the barn, and sunk a fence post near conduit to serve as a rub rail
Reply:That sounds like an average farmer. A couple cows dead would encourage him to move the cows. It wouldn't occur to them to repair the wiring. I don't understand the why, but I know cows are much less tolerant to electrical shock than humans. On the low end a voltage as low as .1volt is enough to cause serious health problems. Vets, and dairy processers measure leucocytes. I believe that's a white blood cell count. 100,000 is good, 80,000 farmers brag. Ongoing exposure to .1 volt, leucocytes might approach a million. High leucocytes can be caused by a number of things. Usually it must be tested to find stray voltage. One farmer could feel it himself. He'd stand barefoot on the wet floor, and touch his tongue to the stainless milk pipe. Sure enough .1 volt! We eventually tracked it to a bad wire supplying a neighbor's well pump 900 feet away. Voltage and in turn current through a cow puts them under stress. They get nervous, have higher incidence of milk fever, and mastitis. Milk production falls sharply. In old barns they can't move away from it. Even modern barns, they are restrained while being milked. They don't release the milk. Natural processes say "I didn't empty the milk, I don't need to produce as much." Milk stays in her longer, making it less fresh, more prone to illness.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Reply:Originally Posted by Willie BOne farmer could feel it himself. He'd stand barefoot on the wet floor, and touch his tongue to the stainless milk pipe. Sure enough .1 volt! We eventually tracked it to a bad wire supplying a neighbor's well pump 900 feet away.
Reply:Originally Posted by MinnesotaDaveOk, I've been in several barns, and I've never once seen a farmer standing in bare feet with his tongue on a milking pipe What....the....hell....????? At what point do you tell a guy: "bud, that's just weird...." Weldermike is probably thinking it's totally normal based on what he sees in his work apartment neighborhood
Reply:Originally Posted by Willie BI've told this guy what he does is weird since shortly after birth. He ain't normal, but he is rich. I'm normal, but not rich.
Reply:Gents, thank you sincerely for your responses and suggestions. I agree and suspect his shocking experience was due to the fact he rested his bare forearms on welding table...All I could do in response and perhaps keep one of my best buddies alive and continuing to visit to use my equipment was to attach this warning sticker....I attached exact same to my new Harley gas cap to remind myself I'm too danged old to survive stupid stuff.Last edited by wornoutoldwelder; 04-13-2015 at 12:32 AM.