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Apologies, I should have been listening ..........

When it does not apply to us individually, we tend not to read threads that we know nothing about or have nothing to contribute to. Or at least I try, and I think some people should try more. ;-)

It looks like I may have to get a pacemaker next week. I know this has been discussed in the past, but I would like to hear from people here with pacemakers, and how they have been affected. I know that some months have passed since the thread was here, so there are months of experiences to be reported and updated. I have been Googling, and it seems high magnetic fields are the worst things, and I wonder about the ratings of these fields when rated for

SMAW GTAW GMAW

and other things in the shop that can jump up and bite me.

I really don't know what the doctor will say when I ask them about continuing welding, as they said NO POWER TOOLS (it was in caps there, too) in the coumadin literature I got. Yeah, right, was my thought! I do have to say that in the last 7.5 years since surgery, I have not had a bad cut, but I have been very conscious when working with sharp stuff.

So, for those who'd like to chime in, I'd like to hear some things before I head out for a stay at Shady Acres.

From what I've seen and heard, pacemakers are no big deal to install, maintain, change, and they really make a difference on how one feels. Stories about that aspect appreciated, too.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B
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Reply to
RoyJ

Just for reference he got an ICD - Implanted Cardiac Defibrillator, not a pacemaker, a pretty substantial difference both in the function of the unit and the possible "failure mode". His research measuring welding E / M field strength will be entirely applicable, but the potential effect on the device and risks will be different.

Reply to
Pete C.

To me, having someone slice open my chest, and shove the equivalent of 4-5 silver dollars into a pocket cut in my chest muscle was a bit of a big deal. Having it replaced was not much less. It has made no difference in the way I feel most of the time, but I didn't really care for what happened twice before they put the first one in, and once when a lead on that one died. (Everything starts spinning and I pass out, then wake up with someone screaming at me) The hospital bills are huge if you don't have a good policy.

Mine only fires if my heartrate drops below 50 - almost never. I hate it when it does start firing. Makes me feel like I'm ODed on caffine. All jittery, Yukkk.

Since mine is only for emergencies, I don't worry about using equipment too much. When I told my doctor about the welder, he asked how big it was. I checked, and he said 130 A shouldn't be a problem. I never asked about the 225 amp one I got since, but I've never had a problem. He did say the failure mode from such things was to not fire for a moment, rather than to fire wildly or just quit working. If you need it all the time, you might be more concerned than I am about this.

The quick clincher when I was making the origional decision was when he said they would take away my right to drive if I didn't get it.

Reply to
Bob F

I had a Medtronic pacemaker fitted in 2007. Makes a big (positive) difference to my life. Not least it means I now don't have to take an anti-arhythmic drug with its unpleasant side effects. Only drawback is when I press on it when leaning over obstacles to get at parts when working on cars.

I still weld MIG, up to 160 amp. I wind the ground lead and torch lead around each other as far as I can, to minimise emission. I sometimes strap a piece of 16g mild steel sheet under my outer clothing over the implant but don't always remember. I used this software (freeware)

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model the likely fields and compared it with the Medtronics specs - IIRC it wasn't likely to cause a problem. I also investigated mu-metal to make a shield but didn't follow it up.

The hospital technicians who download the implant every 6 months have not picked up any interference. Once I asked them to look at the data for a specific time I had noted as a welding time and they found nothing unusual.

Ed

Reply to
Ed Kolmogorov

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