06/18/2020
Where's the Ground Lead?
Another time I was called out to help another department, I had to rely on teachings from Dad, specifically, how to weld. The Hull Technicians (the welders) had gotten a new welding machine to replace one that had burned up a few months earlier. The new one was not working. I grabbed my bag and went out. They'd mounted it in a large cradle on the weather deck which was in turn mounted to the deck of the ship. I looked at his kit, and that's when something struck me as strange; he only had one lead coming from the welder, the stinger, the clamp that holds the welding rod. It's what generates that bright light you aren't supposed to look at unless you like walking around with a white cane. But . . .
"Where's your ground lead?"
"My what?" he asked.
"Your ground lead! Your ground lead! You have to have two leads, your stinger there and a ground lead."
He looked around and scratched his head. "I've never had to have one before. You mean I have to have two leads with this welder?"
"What do you mean with 'this' welder? You always have to have two leads! Here, let me show you."
I pulled the front cover off the control panel and pointed to the two connection points. Only one of them had something connected, the stinger lead. "There's supposed to be another cable hooked up here."
"Bont, I've been welding on the Portland for three years. I've never had to have two leads."
Now, I was scratching my head. "Show me these other welders." I wanted to see this so-called different type of electricity he talked about.
He took me across the ship to another welding machine, and we pulled the cover off. The stinger was there, but the ground connection was welded to the ship.
"Of course!" I pointed at the welded connection.
He scratched his own head then, but he welded the ground on the new machine to the hull of the ship. He was in business.
As I walked back to the shop, I thought back to all the times I'd seen the hull techs welding. They only ever had one lead. I guess I just assumed they had the other one somewhere handy. And they did; as the ship was all metal, everything you touched was connected to everything else on the ship. The Mighty Warship Portland was one big ground lead floating around in the ocean.
Excerpt: "Transplanted Yankee: Lest All My Balderdash Be Forgotten" (version 3)
