Thread: Welding

Yes, provided you disconnect the battery(ies) first. You may also want to disconnect the computer(s) on newer vehicles.

Originally Posted by Wongdai

Hi there

Is it ok to weld a tab on my bullbar, whilst it is still attached to the car?

I haven't yet blown up any car electrics by welding, however I always place the earth clamp right by, or on the item I am welding. Engine off, radio off, and possibly fit a surge arrester to the battery if you are worried. I'm not. Welding current is in the same order as starter motor current, and that's not suppressed.

just to be safe, i would disconect the battery/s and the alternator. I have weled a few things on my non electronic defender...I had the alternator die and the auto sparky said it was possably the welding??? always keep the earth closest to work piece...not only for the vehicle but for better welding.

For arc (stick) welding, just pull off the Negative cable to the battery, then you can weld.

For CO2 welding, it isn't required, just make sure the welder clamp is as close as possible to the weld point.

Hi,
I nearly had pink kittens when a mate slapped a mig welder on my new cab chassis to make up some brackets for a tray.
This was NOT recommended in the LR book of instructions to vehicle builders where it was advised that battery and electronics were to be disconnected.
As it turned out, nothing went amiss. He had been making trays for ages and on all sorts of vehicles. The earth strap always was as close to the weld as possible and away from the front of the vehicle, also if possible.
So why the severe warnings by LR?
Are they just covering their legal butt?
Any military welders on here? How is it done on a ship, tank or aircraft with gazillions of electronics if you need to weld a beefy bit on some very expensive bit of military hardware?
cheers

like I said I had welded a few times with the earth clamp right next to or onto the work piece. There didnt SEEM to be any problems after.....later when I had battery charging problems,ie the altenator, more so the part on the back of it??? the auto elec said there was a good chance that it may have been affected by the welding.

better safe than sorry I guess

Originally Posted by austastar

Any military welders on here? How is it done on a ship, tank or aircraft with gazillions of electronics if you need to weld a beefy bit on some very expensive bit of military hardware?
cheers

A ship is not earthed, IE the ship itself is not part of the circuit.
No aircraft are welded on. PERIOD. Or should I say there are a few older types that had welding done as a mod or upgrade, but this was done on striped airframes

MOD do not weld on tanks. any components that may require welding are removed first

they do weld on tanks...

they just turn the iso's off first then disconnect the primary earths from the battery banks.