Chemicals. I don't know if this has been posted before, but it's a REAL eye-opener and all should read this article...heads-up folks!

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

wow, thanks for the heads up

I learned about most, if not all of these fatal gas combos in college, then in the field. I welded in a steel mill as a maintenance guy. Whenever I would tig up an oxygen line I had to flush the lines out with tryclorathane, a nasty chemical that leaches into your skin, and if enough is let into your system it can mess up your DNA, and screw with any chances on having kids, so on and so on... Welding and chemicals are nasty. I havent read up totally on tryclorathane, but a guy I welded with got a bunch dumped on him when he was younger, and Im not certain, but because of this chemical his only kid has ceral paulsey, or something like that.

Always be carefull, and thanks for the heads up on this thread.

KAsey

It's stuff like this that makes me look back at a few things that I have done and makes me wonder why I'm still alive.

A good friend on mine, her dad died of a strange form of cancer that is hardly ever seen. It turns out it was brought on from him working with fiberglass. He worked on his boat from time to time in his garage and he used this industrial fiberglass reisin that was bought over the counter......very sad.

Now I have a wife and a five year old that I have to answer too.......

Thanks for the wake up call.

WOW! Glad your still with us. Thanks for the heads up. I TIG weld on all kinds of stuff especialy fuel tanks and I most likely would have done the same thang. Thanks to your post, I will NEVER use brake fliud to clean my surface.

Thank you very much I could see making the same mistake myself

Wow.. Ill tell you what, i was welding on my steering column bracket a few weeks ago and I still had those spacers in the bracket,one started melting and smoking. The fumes that came off that little spacer allowed me not to breathe and i couldnt open my eyes. It was like tear gas. Anyone know what those thigns are made of???Heres a pic of them.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MOPAR-STEERING-COLUMN-SPACER-NEW-CORRECT-CHARGER-GTX_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em20Q2el1116QQhashZitem1c04af4b72QQitemZ120337681266QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

As scary as that article is, I think it should be noted it was written by a Welder, who I don't think has any PhD. Also I believe the Phosgene reaction mentioned requires a strong source of UV, which just welding in proximity to the right chemicals is part of the problem. Funny how this gets everybody excited, but asbestos in undercoatings, brakes, clutches, bezene in fuel, cadium in plating, lead in used engine oil and battery terminals, high UV levels on bare hands when welding, etc. hardly registers a blip.

i didn't read the article and you don't need a PhD to understand the dangers associated with chlorinated hydrocarbons. do a little more research, you don't need UV light (which welding produces). TCE/PCE and i'm sure others thermally decompose into Phosgene (and other nasty stuff). there are many others i'm aware of that will as well including dichlorodifluoromethane (R12). anyone that's used one of the old flame type refrigerant type leak detectors can attest to that. thermal decomposition of these chemicals can/will also release HCL. i used brake clean (VERY small amount) in a one car garage with a kerosene heater and got to enjoy the results. believe me you get a snootful of this stuff and you will understand.

i've warned of this numerous times here before...the threat is real, the welder is correct.

Thank you for posting this.

I did some welding over the weekend...and cleaned the area to be welded with brake cleaner...

Luckily several hours passed between the application and the welding...and it was outdoors.

I am more than a little alarmed at the moment.

Good wakeup call

Ah, I did my research, pretty much says "UV" when welding is the agent for the phosgene, and my current source to back up my "belief" is: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Phosgene

Thanks for the post and I think regardless of one fact or another it is safe to say when using anything containing chemicals for Christ sakes be careful.

This may be a stupid question, but...

What happens when you use brake clean to clean a block, then use a map gas torch to make sure it's clean and dry before painting? I've done this a few times and heard of others doing it as well. Would the scenario produce phosgene gas a s well?

after looking this stuff up i expect the men in black to be pulling up any minute now.

bottom line is you expose chloronated hydrocarbons to heat/UV and you make phosgene, you expose chloroform to UV in the presence of oxygen you make phosgene...in other words if you clean metal with brake clean (TCE type) and weld on it before it's completely evaporated you make phosgene (not to mention HCL)...if you think this is incorrect give it a try.

line 5 fire fighting methods

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/T4940.htm

Quote:

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When chlorohydrocarbon vapors are thermally cracked in open flames or arcs associated with furnaces, boilers, or welding apparatus, sufficient phosgene may be generated to create a hazard.

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Quote:

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Phosgene is released during the welding of metals that have been cleaned up with chlorinated solvents, so welders may be exposed to this compound.

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We use Non-chlorinated break clean at work, Is it still a issue? I used some to clean a weld a few weeks back.

I work in a chemical plant that we used to make phosgene. Mixed CO gas and chlorine gas. worked around it for 11 years in production and 15 years in maintance. No one in our plant ever died from exposure but a few spent a couple of days in the hospital. My first day of oreintaion said that phosgene smelled like new mowed hay. Well smelt it quite a few times and it didn't smell like hay!!!You Know that's what Hitler called mustard gas.......

I use lacquer thinner to clean metal before welding, anyone know if that is equally hazardous? I believe technically it is toluene?