Welders...be careful.

[brewdude]

have you looked up what the chemicals in carb cleaner do? not as bad but still very BAD!

['51plymouth]

Originally Posted by brewdude

have you looked up what the chemicals in carb cleaner do? not as bad but still very BAD!

No shit...all that stuff is nasty. A few years back I got zinc'd from welding on some galvanized (it was painted, so when I ground off the paint, you couldn't see the galvanization)...got poisoned sooo fuckin bad. Ever since then my metal prep process has gone: wire wheel, engine degreaser, soap & water, soap & water again, compressed air, wire wheel...then weld. Now the only thing that's gonna kill me is the welding fumes, and all my other vices...

[David]

Guess its time to go Back to sniffin glue. Just kidding, that's good info, thanks.

[Scottydigital]

This makes me think, what is the "proper way" to clean metal before I weld it?

Is there a "natural" or sure fire way to make sure I am not baking horrible gas into my lungs?

[zboy403]

this is going to be printed out and put on everyones bench come tomarrow morning, HUGE eye opener, thanks for posting this.

[JayBee]

wow,

i use brake and carb cleaner, and weld everyday..
definite word up on that. word up.

[Bozi]

Thank you. Ive done it & been lucky I guess.

[38knuckle]

Originally Posted by brewdude

Thanks guys for reading that. Please spread it around!!!!

no,,,,THANK YOU brewdude. happy to see you survived that ordeal. always good to be vertical and functional as long as we can. another reminder that we have to be careful out there and watch your ass.


peace thru superior fire power!

[vorhese]

The site is slow and being hammered, so here's a mirror
http://vorhese.com/gallery/albums/album09/87c8ee40.jpg
http://vorhese.com/gallery/albums/album09/87af4fc0.jpg

[imtheslime]

Wow! Just the other day my friend was using some prior to welding, non chlorinated but still. Until recently I had never seen anyone use brake cleaner for prep. I worked at a shop that always used denatured alcohol to clean metal, probably just as bad. Thank you Brew and 51plym.

[TuffLuckTom]

I am printing a copy of this for my friends. That is scary. Its strange when you realize you have become complacent. Still try my best to wear gloves while working with chemicals including carb/break cleaner. Thanks for the article and I hope you are doing well. Thanks again for passing on this article.

[lairdog]

I use Acetone. I may have used laquer thinner a few times when I was out
of Acetone. I also use both of these for cleaning rotors when I do My brakes.
So glad I dont have any brake cleaner lying around. Thanks for the Post!

Besides the danger of welding gases reacting to chemicals, Another
bad thing is to MIX chemicals, for instance Bleach mixed with Amonia will give off deadly fumes.

[sinisterpimp]

just went through a similar situation last week .....i had a trophy to make for a hot rod show , i won the bad ass award last year for my hot rod stude pickup and we decided that the winner of the award is to make and present the award for the following years winner . i waited till the last minute of course and dug out a few old motor parts, piston and rod , some valves,rockers etc.etc. they were all covered in oil and i just sprayed em down with some brake cleaner and started welding em together . the fumes were terrible , my eyes were watering and nose running , i had all doors open in shop and exhaust fan going but didn't really help . i needed to get it done so i kept going !!!, here is where my story is very different , fortunately, i only felt like shit for an hour or so. afterwards i decided i would never do it again anyway , but after reading this story i realize i was extremely lucky.

jp

[Markee]

Thats crazy! Thanks for posting the info and glad you are still alive brewdude. I use this stuff called Speed Degreaser from Finish Line, works great. But need to check the label.

[davidabl2]

Intheslime wrote:
"I worked at a shop that always used denatured alcohol to clean metal, probably just as bad."
Actually, not to worry-It's fine stuff if you don't drink it. Really quite non-toxic compared to the alternatives..
If anybody's "curious" about what they're using all product mfgrs are required to do "Material Safety Data Sheets' on the stuff they make.

[keithb]

Alcohol was my thought as well - safe for skin contact, and if you burn it, the fumes won't kill you.
________
Weed vaporizer

[wompy5000]

Any word on how he is doing? Changed my brakes on my truck the other day (102 deg) and some of that shit went in my eye.

[ink n bones]

^^^^^^^^^ yea I sprayed a pretty good shot of that in my eye once ( carb cleaner that is ) started eating the contact i was wearing and even after flushing my eye with the sprayer on the kitchen sink for who knows how long .. my vision was allllllll messed up for about 30 some odd hours give or take I wear safety glasses ALL the time now even if im just spinning a wrench those glasses become pretty damn cool when you have a sprayer blasting in your eye because you think your about to go half blind..

[Markee]

Originally Posted by wompy5000

Any word on how he is doing? Changed my brakes on my truck the other day (102 deg) and some of that shit went in my eye.

He posted on first page.

[chophouse]

Originally Posted by wompy5000

Any word on how he is doing? Changed my brakes on my truck the other day (102 deg) and some of that shit went in my eye.

I don't think you can can yourself a proper mechanic until you spray a load of brake cleaner in your eye.