It can happen very easy.  If your ground was in a location where the current was able to pass through your gear set it can arc the gears or the bearings very easy.  The way to prevent this from happening is to always place your ground as close as possible to the area that you are going to be welding, and look at the path the current will be taking, (for instance-if you are welding on the rearend housing, never ground on one side of the gear set and weld on the other).  If you were welding on the rear of the car and the ground was somewhere in front of the rearend housing, it is a posibility the current can go through the gear set and arc the gears or bearings.  Anybody ever had ignition trouble after doing some welding on their car ??  I'll save that for Welding - 101 lesson #2..........

Quote:

The problem was not that you were to close to the gears, it was the placement of the ground. You can weld a half inch from your gears or bearings if the ground is in the right position.  AGAIN- always trace the path the current is going to follow..........(arc to ground)

i do it to my shocks on accident all the time, the shaft to the bottom of the body. sucks about gear though

This is something that everybody should be very carefull with.  There are bearings in your "U" joints, there are moving parts in your transmissions, and lots of moving parts in a motor.  Arcing can occur in any or all of these places.  Many motors, transmissions, or drive lines have been lost due to this and most folks never even knew it.  "Beware young Jedi welders, the Arc Monster is lurking"......

What do you know about welding anyway?  

Old School-

Thanks for the education. Sometimes A guy gets in a hurry and doesn't think about this kind of stuff.

imracin68j wrote on 09/18/08 at 11:57am:


The Capt. has forgot more about welding than you ever knew ...........

LOL.

hogracer3d wrote on 09/18/08 at 10:39pm:

I was thinkin the same thing.....

OLD SCHOOL#6 wrote on 09/18/08 at 3:55pm:



you didn't hear that in a pool hall did ya? LOL