For those that weld - please read

[jeepxtc]

Saw this on another forum...thought I would pass it on



http://i32.tinypic.com/x2thl3.jpg

[Caddy]

that is crazy!

good to know. specially as a new welder just starting out.

[Vinman]

Geez, that's good to know.

I only used brake kleen for cleaning metal to weld about, I don't know, maybe a thaousand times now.

Vince

[Elsifer]

Brake Cleaner is "Not the best" for you, regardless of which state it is in, the interesting part, is how come it didn't evaporate before he got to that spot.

I've used brake clean before, and welded over it when it was nearly evaporated, stinks.
Paints, Primer, lacquer coatings on pipe, they all stink and are not good for the body.
Ironically I love the smell of 6010.

Phosgene gas can come from nearly any weld, it is present in nearly all welding fumes. Especially TIG, UV rays react with (I think its O2) and it combines with something else in the air and turns into phosgene. Tig so happens to have the highest output of UV.

I think this might require some further research.

Aha!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosgene
"Upon ultraviolet radiation in the presence of oxygen, chloroform slowly converts into phosgene via a radical reaction. To suppress this photodegradation, chloroform is often stored in brown-tinted glass containers. Chlorinated compounds used to remove oils from metals may also react under the UV created during arc welding to produce phosgene."

http://cbwinfo.com/Chemical/Pulmonary/CG.shtml

[sn4cktime]

I'm pretty sure that my old shop used to buy the actual specific "Brake Kleen" and that it doesn't contain chlorine or any chlorinated compounds anymore.  Pretty sure... it was a few years ago, but it'll state if it contains anything chlorine based.  I know that lots of other cleaning agents can have chlorine in them in some form or another.

I tended to shy away from using chemicals on stuff I was going to weld.  Maybe some acetone on aluminum, but that was about it.  Paint fumes are pretty noxious too.  Endura paint is particularly bad...

TIG fumes can also be dangerous because the high levels of UV can convert CO2 and Oxygen into O3 (ozone) at high enough levels tat it too can act as a nerve agent.  (is basically the natural process of how the ozone layer is maintained)

What was the other weird one..... oh yeah.  Shouldn't really have plastic drink bottles of any kind around those levels of UV either, but I can't remember what it breaks down into, I'm sure it's in my welding modules somewhere.

I like the smell of 6010 rods too.  Reminds me of fireplace or campfire from all that cellulose coating.