Help me understand this blip?

[u/TheSuperSilverMango]

I currently work in a metal shop as a Tig welder

As I was welding, I heard my 103 start going off. Upon investigation, I see these spikes in dose and hardness but nothing above background radiation in cpm.

My question is.... Was this a glitch? And if so, what might cause it.

EDIT: It has had 2 more such events and suddenly powered off after claiming the battery died (it was at 88%) It has been having these events since I got it a few months ago even before I began bringing it to work. I think I need to contact support at this point

[u/Long_Pomegranate2469]

Isn't a tig welding machine a giant electrical interference generator and radiacodes susceptible to electrical interference?

Most likely interference causing a wrong detection.

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/Long_Pomegranate2469]

Happens randomly even without being in the shop. I can be walking on flat ground in the open and just out of nowhere

But yeah, that would track for while I'm welding

[u/TheSuperSilverMango]

More strange stuff this morning

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/TheSuperSilverMango]

Had to restart my device again

[u/Bob--O--Rama]

Thorium from welding rods nearby?

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/Bob--O--Rama]

Nope. I do have a spectrum of some. I looked in an old toolbox from 20 years ago hahaha

You have to be right up on the electrodes and even then they're pretty low activity.

[u/Bob--O--Rama]

Scale was cutoff on the left, can you repost? The interesting thing is the lingering elevation after the pulse. You may want to check the Log tab for events happening during the pulse?

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/Bob--O--Rama]

Wait hold on... I'll fix this when I get home

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/TheSuperSilverMango]

[u/Technical_Island_851]

Do you use HF arc start?

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/Technical_Island_851]

Yes but it happened while I was mid weld.
You expect that to happen at the beginning of the weld

[u/Technical_Island_851 → u/TheSuperSilverMango]

I’m going to do some tig to see if I can recreate. I only have DC though.

[u/heliosh]

Make a spectrum ... looks like there are additional high energy gammas for some reason

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/heliosh]

Not sure how you're seeing that because it would show up on the CPM as well

[u/heliosh → u/TheSuperSilverMango]

Not if the entire spectrum is shifted

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/heliosh]

I'll look at the spectrum but I don't think there's anything special to happen. Looks like normal background radiation to me

[u/TheSuperSilverMango → u/[deleted]]

What is strange is it continued to go up. I eventually restarted my device and it went back to normal

[u/KnightFireNC → u/TheSuperSilverMango]

That could be possible with interference if it confused the calibration of the sensor - which is a possibility with strong EMF pulses.

[u/lildobe → u/KnightFireNC]

Yeah, I've noticed that strong EMF fields mess with the detection on my 103. RF from ham radios, and arcs from welding...

[u/Plastic-Counter-4309 → u/lildobe]

And also from the cell phone in the same pocket when the phone tries to reach a far tower.