Welding on a vehicle/machine with electronics...

[flusher]

Welding on tractors--disconnect the battery and ECM if possible
Welding on cars/trucks--disconnect the battery and ECM if possible. For late models it's advisable to use a memory saver to prevent loss of learning data in the ECM(s).

 

[muddstopper]

muddstopper,

OUCH! What is the old adage, don't kill the messenger.

Twice in a row to the same poor guy. Would have thought he'd have been SO gun shy about doing any welding around that 1st machine. :ashamed:

Funny how if you are in charge you get blamed for everything.LOL

Luckly they have since started switching out the computer systems on the older equipment. Most of those old electronics arent even available anymore. The old electronic cabinets where as big as refridgerators, now they are about the size of a lunch bucket. Now if you blow out something, you just unplug the the old and plug in the new. They hardly ever scrap one of those machines, just rebuilt and retrofit ever few years. The machine in question was a 84 model and is still operating today.

 

[Tiny Tym]

Tiny Tym,
I like the lead twist idea. They use twisting of conductors inside Ethernet cable to eliminate cross talk. Certainly makes sense that it would work on a ramped up scale.

Yes - it's all about minimizing the cross sectional area of the loops. If you have one great big loop formed by the electrode cable, the ground path through the thing you are welding, and the ground lead, it works like a great big antena. The closer the cables are, the smaller the area, and if you can twist them a bit, the areas created within each twist tend to cancel each other out.