Welding on TT

I've never disconnected any batteries on any vehicles I've welded on and never done any kind of damage.

Oooooooo, this is as juicy as reading about floor fights in Foggy Bottom. Ain't got no dawg in thissun, but it sure is fun watchin'.

As usual, the answer is somewhere in the middle. You will find people who have had damage when welding was done on their RV. It's likely that the ground was not cleaned and was poorly selected in those cases, but who knows for sure. I tend to agree with SDcampowneroperator, but if you weld once a year, the time it takes to disconnect the battery is probably worth it for peace of mind. I don't disconnect anything, but I always select the position of the ground carefully and I hit it with a grinder to get good clean contact. I also prefer to do my welding in the Spring - before I reconnect my battery system. :)

And here we have the usual miriad of electrical misinformation.

SDcampowneroperator is right on. Just weld it and go on. You aren't going to weld the hinges on your doors by welding on the frame. Are you kidding me? I've had welding mods done on my trailer frame, nothing disconnected, nothing damaged.

Thanks for the replies. I was planning on removing the propane tanks as a safety precaution. It was the possible damage to electronics I was worried about. Again thanks to all.

Joe

I guess to isolate everything perfectly, you could disconnect any frame grounds. That would remove any electrical path to the better part of your TT. Remember to fasten them back to the frame before powering up.

I disconnect the battery.Also move the propane tanks if they are close by. Better safe than sorry way more electronics than before.

69 Avion hit the high points. One thing to emphasis when welding on a trailer or anything else. THINK when you hook up the ground clamp. You NEVER want the welding current to go through a hinge, bearing, or ANYTHING that Moved. I say MOVED because, after your done it MAY not move!. Those moveable points aren't meant to have literally HUNDREDS of amps flowing through them!! So you never want any such joint between the ground clamp and the stinger. In fact I don't like welding current even going through joints that aren't welded, even if they are bolted and/or riveted. Unless of course that's the joint I'm trying to weld.

It is simple. A good welding ground, clean weld area. No need to disconnect anything, unless your rig is grounded in some other way. That aint likely, it is on rubber tires.
40 years I've been welding on vehicles and still hear what I think is a myth.
Its an engineers cya ,in my opinion.

69 Avion hit the critical points. I like to get the ground close to the work, and between the weld and the electronics. Make sure you grind down to bare metal for the ground clamp.

What are you welding?