welding question regarding electronics.

[avenue]

After staring at my project for a few days, I finally figured out what I think is a clean solution for hanging two coils, the reg, and capacitor short of having a fake oil bag.

my question...can I tack weld the small bracket I've fab'ed with coils in place? or, do I need to make a fixture in place of the coils?

and in general, does welding on the bike with electronics in place threaten to fry any of said electrics? pamco, pma, coils, capacitor. nothing is wired up, yet.

thanks,
avenue

 

[5twins]

Yes, you can fry electrical stuff, especially if the wire or rod sticks and all that juice goes surging through your frame. A quick tack weld would probably be OK, just make it quick, lol.

 

[gggGary]

Probably no damage on an old points bike. You WILL fry a TCI and probably a pamco or any "electronic" ignition, fuel injection components on more modern machines. I have seen it (unwittingly) demonstrated. The safe course is to disconnect voltage regulators and anything else it would be expensive to replace.

 

[avenue]

so, does this mean I need to pull the pamco and pma before welding the last few tabs/brackets? again, nothing is wired up, just installed for mockup purposes.

thanks for the help,
avenue.

 

[XSLeo]

With nothing wired up, especially grounds, no power from the welder can reach the components. You should be ok, but to remove the Pamco won't take much and will definitely protect it.
On the coils, a quick tack shouldn't hurt but again removing them wil be safer. Putting in a spacer in place of them to hold the bracket the same as the coils is a good idea.
Same with the reg.
Leo

 

[jd750ace]

I wouldn't personally risk the parts. Too easy to make sure they don't get fried.

 

[avenue]

thanks for the clarification.

avenue.

 

[racerdave]

Unhook all electric's to be safe. Battery ground also.

 

[avenue]

I completely understand unhooking everything. The thing throwing me for a loop is if the welder's power would be able to get to the pamco or pma even unwired. I don't think so but also don't want to make a simple, frustrating mistake.

in other news, i just finished welding the coil/reg bracket. I think I might even be able to squeeze a small fuse panel into the same area.

thanks again,
avenue.

 

[livingdeadmc]

I've welded multiple tabs and such on multiple bikes with pamcos installed with no issues.

 

[avenue]

perfect. thanks for the reassurance.

avenue.

 

[pamcopete]

Well, you don't have to have wires connected to an electronic device to damage it with a welder. The electronics have integrated circuits in them, like the Hall effect sensor in the PAMCO, that has internal "wires" or connections in the micron range, like 1/10th the size of a human hair, so it's the magnetic field generated by the very high current from a welder that does the damage. Not necessarily any actual external current flow. The strong magnetic field induces destructive currents in these micron sized wires, and can also induce actual movement of the micron sized wires as well. Kinda a shake and bake effect...

So, the best advise is to remove the electronic parts. Even your electronic voltage regulator, to prevent the destructive magnetic field from the welder from destroying them.

If you have been lucky enough to have welded with electronic components installed on the bike with no problems, well, you were just lucky...

It's also a good idea to take off your quartz watch as well.