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safety warning for you welders

34K views 29 replies 25 participants last post by  Ed Mc. 
#1 ·
#6 ·
:shock: Yikes!

Note to self...
Grind & weld everything DRY!

Cheers!
Smiley
 
#8 ·
That is like the perfect storm of chemical reactions. He really is lucky to be alive!
 
#10 ·
yeah man... I used to work at a pool. In the back room is where all the chems were stored. So messy.. bromine tablets.. chlorine tabelets and powder all over the floor. Someone left the the top of a hydrochloric acid bottle open. This was common with empty bottles of the stuff, as an indication for the house keepers to throw them out. Anywho, I tripped over one, all this HCL acid starts pouring out.. Just seconds. I cannot explain this! Just seconds! I flipped it back up, and as I took a normal inhalation I began suficating. I just could not breath. Everything burned. I ran out, and I started breathing the ****ty indoor pool air like it was fresh air. I looked back and it was like a freaking trench war image. I had never seen actual green gas like that. Sure a few experiments here and there in Chemistry, but this was different. So I filled a bucket up with water to dilute the solution and kind of just get it to go down the drain, and I took a breath in and held it as I went in but the technique did not work well at all as fumes still went in.

And the ****ed up thing is, I went inside the office on the comp to look this up as I was worried and the manager comes in yelling at me in front of everything, I tell her what happened and she didnt even care. An hour later she asked if I was alright and apologized. That day I realized I need another job and quit. But yeah.. I take these things very seriously my self. Good to know this though!
 
#11 ·
Great Article! A 'flame' and anything that is coming out of a pressurized can take you out. Since seeing the NHRA 'big-guns' using brake cleaner to de-oil I use it quite often, but almost always outside. Thanks for this life saving tip!
 
#12 ·
Look for the non-chlorinated brake cleaner, it does not contain tetracholorethylene.
 
#14 ·
When I was in the Boy Scouts we used to use a mix of brake cleaner, brake fluid, and pool chlorine tablets in a cast iron pan to start campfires for ceremonies. When put in the proper permutation, the old timers almost knew to the second when it would combust. It made a cool effect for the younger kids. It was definitely nasty stuff and you wouldnt want to mess around with it.
 
#15 ·
Very interesting. I learned a lesson about welding after cleaning with brake cleaner. I was using flux core so I think I luckily avoided this particular problem, but I had cleaned off a part of a frame and some of the vapors from the cleaner were still lingering inside and POOF a hugh flame shot out and scared the crap out of me. I guess its good I learned that brake cleaners and welding don't mix before I got the argon/CO2 tank!
 
#16 ·
There are alternatives that are safer. At advance auto they sell a brand called wearever. The brake fluid does decent job and isnt chlorinated. The main ingredient is heptane, CO2, isopropanolol or ethanol. I accidently took a whip of this stuff through my nose and dropped whatever I had in my hand. I did some research on it, and fortunately I'm going to be okay. I feel like if I had gotten a chlorinated brake cleaner instead, I'd be in the hospital . It was just by chance that I got this product.
 
#17 ·
WOW!!! Great post. That's one I will have to store in the memory banks.
 
#18 ·
i had a can of brake cleaner, chlorinated or not, this escapes me. but antways, i was under a car, glasses on, spraying the inside of a honda motor. i figured, i got my saftey glasses and im not right under it, so im safe. well, the wind shifted slightly and, one tiny droplet, like a nano droplet hit my eyeball. i blinked and thought i was ok untill, instantaniously my eye revolted and swelled shut. ran into the house and turned the sink on, grabbed the sprayer and tried to flush my eyeball out for 15 minutes. it was swolen the rest of teh day, like rocky balboa.

saftey first, after checking thrice
 
#19 ·
Wow..... this post may have just saved my life

The parts store sells 2 different forms of CRC Brake Cleaner, one's a red can and the other is a green can

They were sold out of the green one (non-chlorinated) so I picked up the red.
It doesn't dry as well, but it sure does a good job on cleaning

Anyway, I was about to go out and work on welding up a bumper/hitch :shock:
 
#24 ·
Also you need to wear a respirator/SCBA if welding on galvanized steel and some exotic alloys too. They can do a similar thing and produce a toxic gas when welding.
 
#25 ·
94amigocamo said:
evidendtly you are a newbie to welding.... but thanks for warning the newbies...all
flammable materials should be stored in a safe and secure area if anyone needs any tips about welding, cutting or fab.I've been at it for over 40 years.
I think the point of the articls was that this guy had a pretty good amount of experience but using a product not intended for the job created a situation that was not expected and a danger far greater than anything he had been taught.
 
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