Anyone who welds-pro or hobby-this is a MUST read (safety)

[Jeff in PA]

http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

The guy used brake cleaner to clean a part before he welded it. He got a tiny puff of smoke and it literally almost killed him. The cleaner turned into Phosgene gas which is deadly.

Please pass this on to anyone who welds.

Jeff

[CommandoTom]

***WOW***, I had no idea!!!!! A must read for all welders, shop personel and anyone who might know any of these folks. Pass this along.

[Motormowers]

Thanks Jeff. I remember when I was a Thermo-King mechanic and when you were soldering the copper tubing if there was any gas left in the system the mix of the flame,copper, and refrigerant made phosgene gas also.

[Peter]

I gave you a thanks, but like to add another here in words. Thats something to think about.

[MoRo]

Shows to go ya, no matter how experienced ya are, there's something out there that never occured to ya.
I guess plain Dawn dish soap and warm water'd be about the safest cleaner, huh?

[Ice Czar]

it might be a good idea to add Metal Fume Fever as well


old iron and steel isnt much of a concern
but these days even mild steel is sort of a mystery meal
could be a fairly decent amount of recycle in it
in addition to the obvious dangers with tool steels, stainless steels and galvanized

[jht1057]

This is why I have a filtered air cleaner / re-circulator at ceiling level in my shop.

[Connor Hofford]

THANK YOU! this is VERY helpful info.i am going to be taking a welding and electricity class at school and my teacher sometimes does ''old school'' tricks like that and it will be good to know not to do this.

[Bud Tierney]

Add beryllium dust to your list of no-no's...if I recall my Astounding Science Fiction correctly, "...forms non-healing granulomata in the lungs..."...
No, I didn't look it up to see what "granulomata" are, but I'm sure I wouldn't want any; the "non-healing" is enough to know...
I would guess that if the dust was bad, fumes wouldn't be a good idea either...

[Sky]

Just the risk you take i suppose. Just about like a 747 crash. Doesnt happen too often, then when it does, BIG DEAL.

Im sure it's not much of an "old school trick" as it is lack of common sence & ventilation.

[Andrew Mackey]

Burning refridgerants like R-12 give off phosgene gas if in large enough quantities. Old time AC leak chasers used a Halide torch. The torch had a pitot tube that sucked in air samples and burned them. When the flame turned purple, you found the leak. Only problem - if the leak was bad, you got a snoot full of phosgene real quick, a big white vapor cloud.

Burning plastics like PVC and Bondo body filler give off the same stuff - deadly in a confined space.

Wear wool shirts and sweaters while welding/brazing? Light that up, even the fuzz, will give you a nice dose of CYANIDE! DON"T WEAR IT WHILE WELDING/BURNING/BRAZING!

Welding gives off many different fumes/vapors that can damage lungs. heavy metals contamination is the least of your worries!

Be especially careful if welding near wood - most treated lumber had ARSENIC in it before the mid 2000s. The wood doesn't have to burn to release the arsenic compounds into the air!

Ventilate, wear breathing protection/fresh air source, use common sense!

Andrew

[Jim DeWitt]

WOW!!!, I don't know if thank you times about a million is sufficient! I picked up a couple of cans of B R A K E C L E A N E R at TRAK AUTO last Thursday or Friday to help me clean the caked on crud from years of motor oil spillage and who knows what else on an old Lincoln short hood gasoline welder that a previous owner had attached to a very poorly made trailer with a broken weld. My steam cleaner has a shorted ignition coil so I was going to clean up the area to be repaired with the aerosol brake cleaner. Do I need to say anything else?, beyond re-stating the THANK YOU GUYS, I don't have any idea where else I would have run across this information if it hadn't been on here. Think I'll go sit down for a little while B4 I drive down to TRAK. Jim DeWitt