Thank you for taking on the task of sharing this information. While I am only as green as green can be with welding, this was great information as I dig deeper and grow in what I know.

I am a welding newbie and this video has cleared a lot of things out for me. I was deadly afraid to touch anything, even with the appropriate ppe, gloves and all. I have always wondered, watching people weld on youtube, how are they all still alive)) Now it all makes more sense. Thank you so much.

This I think is the most overlooked hazard in welding! Thanks for the good info. My only serious shock was when I was in weld school. We had big 240 amp breakers in the back of every booth that the welders plugged into. One day I was crouched down on the floor, chatting with a friend while clearing a birds nest. The machine was off, but I had neglected to turn the breaker off. I started pulling the wire out of the liner and piling it on the floor behind me, When all of a sudden ZAP! The wire found it’s way into a tiny gap between the plug and the socket, and shocked the hell outta me. Thankfully it was so hot that it instantly cut the little .035 wire, but my arm was numb for the rest of the day. Needless to say, I never forgot to turn off the breakers after that!

Thank you so much for this. This is one of my main anxiety factors in being a beginner

Should have been said that the reason you can weld with a lethal amount of amperage but not get electrocuted is because the voltage is too low to push that current through your body. Your bodies resistance is too high. Theres really minimal risk until you get above 50 volts. However there are circumstances that reduce your bodies resistance like being really sweaty or working in wet conditions or having grinding dust stuck to your sweaty arms. So just because most welders run a voltage low enough to be considered safe, you can get yourself into higher risk situations depending on the circumstance.

One of the first questions I asked when getting into welding. Until now I have NEVER gotten a good answer. Great video!

When I was a kid my Dad was stick welding on a piece that was grounded through the table. It is often hot as crap in Alabama. My Dad had on a white t-shirt that was soaked in sweat. I was also quite sweaty. I came up beside him and leaned/propped on the vise that was on the table and then put my arm around my Dad in a hug. The sky crashed, we hollered, I think I saw his bones like in a cartoon. Dad has a thing about being shocked. We finally got loose and I started running thinking he was going to kill me. Me as a 14 or so year old boy and him at 44 or so ran out of the back of the shop across the field behind. When I finally gave out I turned and grabbed my side...Dad ran right by me. He wasn't after me...he was just trying to get away!! HAHA

Yep....You answered the exact question I had and the demonstration was perfect!! Thank you. Going to practice my first weld this weekend!!!

As a past millwright I can attest to the "fun" of welding on equipment out in the rain on your wet knees. Some guys can "feel" the shock more than others. I remember once welding on a wet floor while holding a piece on the steel on the sawhorses. I felt a zap every time I struck an arc. I had my shift partner do it and he felt nothing. We grabbed a multimeter and went from the wet floor to the sawhorse proving my point. Being the guys to finish the job we swapped the electrode and ground leads and ordered new leads for replacement.

I got shocked so bad on a stick welder it burnt a divot in the back of my hand. I’m not sure what polarity I was set up as, or how I completed the circuit, but I sure as hell got seriously shocked, that experience keeps me watching videos on this subject.

yes, happens quite often. Doesnt hurt much. Might hurt a lot if you use yourself as groundclamp, Im not planning on finding out tho

Yes your video is helpful. I got plenty of questions answered by watching it. Thanks

This is great. I’m just always "afraid" of the electricity, which means I’m thinking about what is turned on/off and where my hands are, ppe, etc. People have still been electrocuted when sweat/water gets involved. Glad you mentioned sweat because it can be a real problem.

Great video! I just wanted to mention about being cautious when standing in a damp or wet area when welding, because you can get shocked very easily.

Electrocution actually means to get killed with electricity. This is a common thing for people to use the word electrocute when they mean shocked. I got “corrected” my first day at the electric utility I worked for 36 years, so that was a big deal for me. I hope I didn’t offend you it’s just one of my “things”. You did a very good job explaining why the current doesn’t go through you. Thanks for educating.

I just bought an inverter welder and figured I would teach myself with the help of KZfaq. I clicked on about 4 videos before this one and did not really get the clairity I was looking for in your video. So thank you very much. Just Subscribed!

Thanks for this. Had been considering getting into welding but after watching several other videos like this it was still kinda ambiguous. This is just plain and simple, down to earth while still covering all bases. I feel completely confident about avoiding the risks now

I caught a shock the other day when trying to tig-weld 5052 for the first time. REALLY caught my attention.

Hello: Do not stand in damp or wet grass and pick up the part with the rod in it.

I’ve always been pretty good about wearing PPE while welding (lost a lot of family to cancer) but can’t really think of a time I’ve been zapped. Getting burned on the other hand is a completely different story😂

Great video! Actually all great info for us newbies- thx! Lake Havasu 🌞 Az

Omg I got that 9v shock tig welding and it scared the shit out of me the first time. Thanks for the video cause I stopped welding for a couple weeks thinking the machine was faulty.

My MIG welder has a voltage potential of around 33 VDC from tip to ground when you pull the trigger. In contrast, my 3 vintage stick welders have OCV's ranging from 60 to 80 VAC. 33v can be felt but is not necessarily lethal. 60 to 80v certainly can be if you're not careful and mindful. Welding is not for the foolish or careless. Add to the possibility of imminent harm, burns and blindness are likely hazards unless you protect yourself

Probably the best explanation ever! Excellent!!

Thanks for this video. Started Tig welding last week. In my excitement forgot ground clamp the first time. That hurt, like a lot. Second time was when I touched the tungsten with the filler, that hurt a little bit less, but I still knew about it.

Thanks Chris. Really appreciate you taking the time to demonstrate this, cheers Jake.

Very timely. Thank you. Just bought my first welder this past week and full gear. But always thought in the back of my mind how hard it would be to shock myself. I do appreciate you taking one for the team!

Thank you for advice and very informed video.

This instructional video is worth watching twice or more times. Well done and thanks for sharing. Ring of Fire…

I do steam repairs for a local school district. We go underneath some of them and the crawls can be really really nasty, in between or great. The worst ones you have to crawl on your belly. Sometimes through mud and water. Rule #1 Proper PPE Rule #2 Always stay dry! Especially your hands! Rule#3 always bring a bucket for tools to stay dry, and always bring something to lay on if you need to. 10 years of experience pays off. I’ve ridden the lightning many times 🤣

Thank you. I got the answer I have been searching for. Great information.

Enjoyed the information for a new DIY guy

This whole video makes me nervous haha. Thanks for the video makes me feel a little safer when welding.

much appreciated - exactly what I wanted to know

You answered a question I had yesterday. Very fortunate that you immediately made a video.

Inverter machines are much safer than non-inverter machines. when indoors, the examples apply, being indoors and dry will increase the safety of AC only transformer machines and ac/dc transformer machines as well, but get good and sweaty in a shop after 10 hours or more in the heat and more dangerous shocks become possible. in all the production shops I worked the fixtures were grounded to welder and the soil. Outdoors, welding on cars, farm equipment and other projects where you are in contact with soil, or potentially in contact with soil, the dynamics change substantially, especially if using a transformer machine, especially when using ac only buzz boxes. always make sure you are either fully isolated from the dirt when welding outside or the workpiece is in full contact with the dirt or both and always have dry spare gloves when sweaty and running AC stick your sweat will cause you to get a very bad shock if you are touching the workpiece and putting a new electrode in the stinger. even with a dc process on a transformer machine, electrocution is possible if you are not isolated from damp soil and the working voltage of the machine.

i was tig welding once and managed to touch the feeding rod to the tungsten and then touch all that mess to the piece i was welding, thankful to be alive right now

Thanks for very good and important episode. There are so many welder YT-channels that talk about electricity and electrode polarity in a such confusing ways - which just shows they have not grasped the correct terms and physic about it at all.

Thanks for the video. Looking to weld for the first time and this was immensely valuable.

Thanks so much for this, i started Big a while back and had several Zaps... I thought it was just me. I put it down to beginners bad habits. This cleared up all the mystic.

Brilliant - finally a video that answers all my questions regarding shock risks without all the theory! Theory is important but some simple examples are priceless! Thanks.

Thanks man!

I got shocked adjusting my ground clamp today during my welding class. I think it had something to do with touching the ground clamp to another clamp that holds the little table up on a vertical pole.

HAHAHA I can't believe you purposefully shocked yourself with HF!!! right on you just earned a subscriber!

Excellent lesson. thank you!

Very well explained. Thanks

Been looking for exactly this for a while - comfort level increased - thank you for sacrificing your thumb for our edification :-)

Great video. I've been an electrician for 22 years (4 years apprentice, 18 years journeyman). I've worked on new and complete residential re-wire to coal fired power plant industrial and many commercial projects. Don't know anywhere close to as much about welding as you know. But, from an electricians point of view, I know that if I'm working on something hot and only come in contact with one point, I probably will only feel something like a bee sting, because, the current doesn't have a path to flow. But, if both hand are in contact with a panel, then I come in contact with current, then that current has a path to flow, which is up one arm, across my chest and through my other arm, therefore, crossing my heart, which will probably kill my on the spot. In this video, I notice that while you pulled the trigger on the whip, and the MIG wire began to feed out onto one of your 'ungloved' hands, your other had was also 'ungloved'. I wonder what would have happened if your other hand had been in contact with the table when you pulled the trigger. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. But, when I see something like this, the 'electrician' side of my thinking is automatic. As an electrician, I think 'Safety at the start, Safety in the middle, and Safety at the end". Anyone that pressures me to speed things up by taking safety shortcuts, I pick my tools up and go find someone else to work with. As a journeyman electrician, I never have trouble finding work that pays more that enough to provide for my family.

Thanks for your video, other youtube teachers get people terrifyed welding and turn people away from welding as you just proved in fact its very hard to get electrocuted. Well done thank you.

Good vid! I used to weld structural steel (think large I-beams). It was a really hot day (100+ degrees with gloves, leathers, helmet, etc). I was sweating my ass off. I had to weld on purlin brackets (mig). I climbed-up on the I-beam with the ground clamp behind me. Sat my wet ass on the i-beam & struck an arc. Whew I got a nice little zap out of that lol.

That was helpful, thank you!

Great vid for newbies like me, thanks 🙏

Yup. Sure can. It happened many times in my weld booth in school. When it’s 100 and 97% humidity in leathers things get sweaty.

I've been zapped many times by a TIG torch and stick electrode. What usually gets you on TIG is the high frequency start when running DC, and the continuous high frequency when on AC. A stick will also bite you, especially when sweaty and when welding in damp places. Doing outdoor stick welding in the mud and water is the worst.

Great demo- very helpful for new welders

Hell yes! Many times for me almost always from sweaty gloves. Sometimes wet ground.

Long time welder here with a focus/specialty in aluminum welding. I've wacked myself with the full current quite a few times at 200+ amps and nearly daily with at least a little tickle (I sweat a lot). In the first shop I learned in and many since it was quite a fun game to stick a ground to a man's stool so he gets a good wack after break, stick a tig rod in the cup and touch someone with it, and many other extreme safety violations. With all of this being said I have never had any lasting problem or seen such. I'm not saying its safe, infact I'm almost sure its not, but in 9 years of AC welding I have yet to see a serious injury from the current despite some really stupid shit going on.

Very good explanation. 👏👏 Thanks very much.👍

Thx for the explanation! I never been zapped yet, and honestly I'm not much worried when I got the welder plucked into 110v. But when I got it plugged into 220v, I get real careful!

“Belligerent observations”, priceless! Good info, thanks

Thanks. I always wondered this so helpful to know.

This is what I needed. Also this guy is going above and beyond by literally zapping himself to show us whats up. KZfaq Grammy nomination right here.

We have a old tig welder at work we call it old sparkey if you lean hard into the table it won't give you a shock but if you forget it will nail you .

Very informative video...thanks for posting it.

Watching this was terrifying lol. Glad to see I am being overly safe though, as should everyone! Thanks for the video!

That HF arc start uses high voltage and arc gaps with a loose coupling transformer to work. Being a high voltage field is why you're feeling it. Glad you took one for the team to show everyone. xD

Yea, I've been shocked

When your hands is wet it's quite sensitive when you're touching both wires. Also on some machines using with long welding cabels (especially standalone welding generators) voltage can be really high like 120 or even 200 Volts or so and it's really dangerous. You can face this machines for instance in ship production. High voltage needed to achieve a required current with long welding cirquit. There're cases when welders even been killed working in some wet areas.

Answering the questions we were too afraid to ask. Thank you.

Wow you just ansxwer questions i was wondering for my entire life thanks a lot sir !! cheer from France

My first time tig welding Made me feel the shock instant. And to me it hurt 😂😅 tbh i was kinda scared to do tig again but this video realy helped me out thanks man!

I've been shocked mig and tig welding. Made my hand and arm go numb for a moment.

Been Shocked pretty good when arc started on ac tig, 200 amps. Had a good burn on my left elbow and put me on my butt for a minuet. Jig I was using was made of wood and had no good ground parts moved due to heat warping. Speak up for yourself, i knew i shouldnt have been doing it but i was getting paid. Keep yourself safe.

While learning to Tig, I touched the tungsten to the work and when I pulled it away the arc jumped into my torch hand. It messed me up so bad that I had to drop out of welding school. Glad this topic has finally been addressed.

I have been bit many many times welding. There are so many variables that dictate whether it is a hazard or just a nuisance. Working for an irrigation company I have welded standing in knee to waste deep water many time & in pouring rain.

Shocking good information. I feel better now about resting my stick on my glove from time to time.

I've only managed to shock myself once. Packing up at the end of shift, standing in water on some checker plate flooring, with wet gloves/boots. I grabbed an electrode holder that someone had dropped, with no thought to that welder still running. The floor was earthed at that point and I got a bloody good shock. Pretty much the perfect scenario for it to happen, and the sort of thing that is covered in the JSEA at the start of every shift. Lesson learnt...

Thank you for this video! Well explained

Yeah, Chris kicks ass. Hell yeah Chris.

One other important thing we saw Mr Ewing complete a circuit through his hand, but your hand doesn't have vital organs in it. What can kill you is a few milliamps across the heart for that to happen you really need a circuit where the points of contact are hand and foot/leg/lower torso or hand and hand

I've been shocked more times than I should have. So much so when I strike an arc I expect it. Living on the edge..

Awesome video!! explains with practical example - loved it!!

awesome. Start on the 7th.

Where's bob? Where's redbeard?

I got the gear but no idea 😂 so this has been very helpful to know before I make a start for the first time. Thanks for your time and knowledge

Great Vid man! Very informative!

I tig weld stainless exhaust for dirt bikes, side by sides, and ATV’s for a living. I don’t know how many times I’ve been tacking things up and pick the piece off the table but still have my arm on the table… 100amp flash tack will quickly let you know you messed up 😂

Thanks for this!!!!!!!

wow I love this guy and his way of explaining things. Thank you so much

Thanks. That definitely answered my question about the wedding ring.

As a teen, I spent a lot of time doing oilfield welding for my Dad. Most of it was outside, on all-metal machinery. When the ground, the knees of my pants, and my cotton work gloves were all wet, I was often reminded that my steadying hand was too close to the rod clamp. It was a real shock - but I was always able to move my hand away.

Thank you! This was an excellent explanation.

Grap a arc gauge rod with wet gloves. It will light you up like a lightbulb. Ask me how I know lol

And the answer is YES!!!!

I've been shocked by both MIG and stick while holding parts for the person doing the welding. Bridging the gap between 2 (probably dirty) pieces with sweaty hands made me a better path than through the 'joint' of the metals. It was never fun. Also, being 'electrocuted' means to be severely injured or killed by electricity - small shocks don't count. The word comes from a mash-up of 'electricity' and 'executed' in case you're wondering.

Great video 👍 thanks

Been since I was 15 years old they were having a certain circumstances when the humidity factor in the air is just right I said you can actually get shocked welding. Am 67 years old.

excellent! thanks

Bob

When I was learning tig welding I once welded with no glove on my filler rod hand and had my elbow of same arm on the weld table, that was the last time I tig welded with no glove on my filler rod hand. When I inadvertently got my filler rod in-between the work and the tungsten and likely touched the tungsten my hand to my elbow felt like it was in a vice and my worst enemy was tightening it with great strength and anger, I instantly jerked my arm away and dropped the rod and my lower arm hurt for about twenty minutes. I have felt the high frequency ark on my hand before this without touching a grounded surface and it tickles, my guess is this went from the high frequency ark to the full welding ark because it detected ground. With the intensity I felt I am glad the elbow touching the table was on the same arm, I would not want that current crossing my chest through my heart, could be like a taser where is hurts but no real damage but I have felt a taser before when I was younger just to see if it would pass through a boot and it did, that did not hurt more than a second or two after the shock, this was different. Now that I always wear gloves tig welding I can still get a very small shock if I am wearing a tight knit glove as I sometimes do if there are and metal chips that happen to be stuck in the glove but this is nothing compared to the huge shock as stated before. Never felt a shock stick or mig welding.