I saw this posted up on another site, basically, welding over metal sprayed with brake cleaner can offgas dangerous fumes, one of which being phosgene.
http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm
more info here: http://www.msha.gov/Illness_Prevention/ideas/hazchem.pdf
Ya, people have gotten sick in the shop where dad works because of this. When I work in a shop, I tell everyone to put the Brake cleaner up when I start welding.
Phosgene gas is produced whenever you weld over a petroleum based product, or so my welding books warn. Welding can produce a number of bad things to breathe.
Welding and cutting stainless is a new osha bad thing now also. It is supposed to off gas some sort of bad gas.
On a side note, How many of you know welders that don't smoke? I think 90% of the welders I have worked around smoke. You would think they get enough punishment to their lungs.
Come to think of it , Lee , all of them on the high steel did . This one quit , but I aint doing the high steel or welding much anymore .
I think the worst one can get is from welding galvanized steel . YA NEED A RESPIRARATOR . A full face very , very uncomfortable .
I have three area welders that I use, and none of them smoke. They are too busy. ;D
Alot of painters seem to smoke.
Ironwood
I do some welding off and on, and I don't smoke.
It might have to do with the generation , seems like all of mine either smokes or has tried it at one time , the one that followed where a little better at not lighting up .
The brake clean is more of an explosion hazzard than making mustard gas. If you run R12 freon through a flame it will make mustard gas, I guess anything that contains CFC can produce it. I was working on a truck once, had the intake off and had a bolt broken off in the head. I had already sprayed the heads down with brake clean to get the surfaces where the intake gaskets sit clean. I brought the torch over to heat the head to help loosen the bolt and whammo. Blew me off the step I was on, blew my hat off and caught the engine on fire. I did not do that again. Though it did sound rather cool.
About brake cleaner fluid...If you spray it on your hand(s) you can grip oily surfaces very well. Like when you try to remove or install an oil filter.
if you are a welder and are SMOKING then take half a step back ;D ::) :D
I've done a good bit of welding in the past, mostly on new sheet-metal, body work and or making industrial equipment, done a fair amount of galvanized and alumanized metals as well, ya that is bad news you need soem sort of moving air that is fresh. I also painted a lot of cars using hardener, but also used good respirator when doing them ;)
Mark.
Ya, none of my friends do either. Other than the ocassional cigar.
I believe some metals that have been coated are also very dangerous. I believe it's cadmium. I've heard that if you inhale it, you pass out. When you wake up, you feel fine, until you drop dead 12 hours later. :o
Glad that I stuck to structural steel :)
ALL good things to keep in mind whilest welding various unknow coated steels :o I AVIOD anything questionable.
Ironwood
Whenever I weld, I always grind the coating off. I usually stick to structural, too. Dad works in a metal fab shop and sometimes I go to work with him and weld.
> How many of you know welders that don't smoke?
Coming to think of it, most of the welders and older mechanics all smoked that I know.
> If you spray it on your hand(s)
It is readily absorbed through the skin and enters the blood stream, which is what I was taught.
prolonged exposures to solvents can be very unhealthy to the oil glands in your skins.
gloves are a good idea when working with any solvent
Years ago we would install hitches on new trucks that didn't have them from the factory. The truck frames did not come with holes in them to install the hitches on the F150s so we had to drill them by hand. We would put them up on a lift and put the hitch up to the frame and mark where the holes needed to be. Drill small pilot hole and then use the 1/2" air drill with 1/2" bit. Since it was almost impossible to drill stright up without getting hot chips down the shirt we would bring the tranny jack over and use it to push up. The guy that was doing it that day had a drill bit grab in the frame and twist and pull his hand around with it. In the process he got a nice gash on the back of the hand accompanied by the black wax that the frames are dipped in at the factory. We knew the STP brake cleaner worked great at cutting through the wax and that day Steve thought it would be good to clean it off his hand. One spray, blank stare and he folded up like a piece of oragami. It appears once brake clean is introduced into your blood stream it makes you pass out, never would have thought of that. It was a good show and laugh at the time but in the right situation it could probably be deadly.
I've been weldin' and fabricating professionally for the last 13 years. Everything from S.S., alum, bronze, cast and steel. I smoked 2-1/2 packs of "REDS" a-day until about 4 year ago. Ain't smoked since. Cold turkey.
I worked Midas muffler & brake for about a year, back in the early 90's. That's all you did there, "play" in brake clean ( by the gallons) and cut and weld mufflers and pipe, usually over top the spilled brake clean and brake dust. Didn't know any better.
Knock on some wood, I still feel good.