Hi Guys

I did a search and didn't see to much about welding on quads . I have done welding on street bike's while everything was connected and never had a problem .
But I know electronic componants are subseptable to basiclly burning out .
I have a new bumper to put on my 2004 700 prairie . I have to cut the old straight front tube out , in order to fit the new bumper . I can remove the front unit but I have a wench , so that has to come out ...I think it's better to be safe than sorry .
2004 700 Prairie
Thanks
Greg

 

I didnt unhook my battery and cdi on my sport quad when I had to weld on it... I ended up replacing the cdi and at that time only oem was availible so I ended up shelling out 300 bucks for stock.

I agree, better safe than sorry. I've heard stories of people getting away with not disconnecting things, but I wasnt so fortunate.

 

I concur that you should indeed disconnect the battery and... place the welding ground connection as close as possible to the actual weld site!

 

I've been a welder since 1983, and I don't remember ever unhooking anything to weld on a vehicle or motorcycle, and nothing ever happened. That's not to say you shouldn't, just to be safe

 

WarBaby beat me to it!!!! IF you don't unhook make your ground as close as possible to the weld site!!!!

A friend of mine told me a welder wrecked a several million $ turbin by clamping a ground down low and doing the weld up high. The current went through all the bearings and shafts to make the circuit!!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] How would you like to be the guy that did that?? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]
I've heard both "no problems" and "I burnt up 500 bucks worth of stuff. " Better safe than sorry. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Yeah, better safe than sorry[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

My father was doing the welding on my bike. He's a retired union iron worker and welder. Our clamp was about 3 inches from the weld point on the frame. Initially we unhooked the battery to weld on it but we ended up cleaning it up and welding on the spot again after we hooked back up and thats when the cdi went.

I've gotten away with it on cars and trucks, dune buggies and RV's but I still try to remember to disconnect the battery just to be safe.

 

Rule of thumb is always unhook the ground to the battery. I have seen many instances where someone will ruin computers on cars and trucks.
better to be safe as you said as it is not that hard to do.
Also I know they make a tool that you can connect to the battery that is supposed to the same thing but ot just clamps like jumper cables.

 

It doesn't take much to screw up electronics these days or when there are tight tolerances as with newer equipment. It was a standard at one time to put the ground anywhere on the machine just as long as you could get a good ground then spark away. Where problems will start is when you are trying to spark the electrode or start the MIG or what ever you are using. The spark that starts the welding process is the point at which the current is looking for the easiest path even though you may be within inchs of the weld area it could travel the long way around resulting in fried cdi or bearings. BEST to unplug the cdi and battery. Just a little fun I have always liked to watch Apprentices weld with wet gloves and the electrode holder has a bear spot where they are holding onto it, lol. Give this a try and see why things should be UNPLUGED!!!!

 

Thanks Guys
I stopped by my buddy who owns a kawi dealership and I dug around in his old metal parts pile and came up with a 700 Prairie front bumper section , the main tube is beat up , but where it connects to the frame is fine .
I needed to remove the tube and mesh in order to weld my brackets and mount my bumper ...so I'll do all my welding off and replace the stock one .
Thanks
Greg
2004 700 Prairie team Green