I was talking with the welding instructor at school tonight, and the subject of him not having a prostate came up. He had to have it removed about eight years ago due to cancer, and he said that in addition to the normal lessening of bladder control, he found that when he heli-arc welded aluminum (and only when he heli-arced aluminum) he’d let loose with a pretty continuous stream of urine while he was doing it. Any other type of welding caused normal leakage associated with activity. He had no idea what could be the reason for that, nor did his doctor.
So, anyone heard of this or have any idea what could cause it? (The guy’s a terrific bullshitter, so I wouldn’t put it past him to be spinning a yarn.)
Do you think it might be the position in which he holds the equipment? Maybe he is activating a pressure point that leads to the bladder when he does that particular kind of welding. Maybe the vibration?
Normal could mean just what his “Depends” can hold.
I’m going to attribute this to either an accomplished bullshitter or the parasympathetic nervous system. Some people don’t see that there’s much of a difference, but that’s a different post.
People recognize the photic sneeze reflex, that is, the propensity for some people to sneeze when they first look at a bright light. Obviously (handwave), this is caused by some crossing of the wires in a neurological sense: The optic sensors have too much impact on the sneeze reflex nerves, so a too-high stimulation on the optic centers will tickle the wrong bunch of nerves and cause a spasmodic sneeze. (For the record, I’m afflicted with this very disorder. It’s mildly annoying, especially in the winter when the ground albedo ramps up to near 100%.)
My little theory states that maybe his optic nerves are altering the state of the nerves that should be controlling his urinary sphincter, causing an untoward laxness and causing his unscheduled micturation.
So, does heli-arc welding of aluminum cause brightness above and beyond that of other kinds of welding?
The brightness should be no greater but the spectrum of the arc might be different. Remeber he said aluminum welding, which means there is percentage of Helium in the shielding gas. Normally GTAW uses straight Argon which is fine for steel. Sorry but I haven’t done any aluminum welding myself so I can’t compare.
*Heliarc is actually a trademark, not a generic type of welding.
I totally missed that fact that there may very well be urine leakage associated with prostate removal and tried to come up with some association between welding and leakage.