For all the welders in here.....

Mar 25, 2008
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Whitehorse Yukon
Sounds just as bad as H2S gas on the rigs. Thanks for the info, I have used brake cleaner many times and then got the part hot cutting it so I am glad nothing has happened yet.
 

dmaxvaz

wannabe puller
Nov 22, 2006
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METRO DETROIT
Go to USER CP and check your email address.

just checked my email, thanks pat. you must have just sent less than an hr ago? anyways i had my bro read this, i cleaned my intercooler pipe with brake clean this last winter and then my bro patched it with the tig and it choked him up while he was welding it pretty bad , thank god nothing happened to him though!
 

mytmousemalibu

Cut your ride, sissy!
Apr 12, 2008
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Kansas
yeah I learned that years ago...its dangerous. Ive always bought non-chloronated brake parts cleaner for that reason.

Its in a green can instead of red can (the CRC brand)

X2 Ben! I didnt know how dangerous the chlorinated is though:eek:

I always use non-chlorinated too. Every once in a while the chlorinated because it works on some tough stuff with out using a whole case of non to do the same thing.

FEW MORE SAFETY TIPS FELLAS:

Chlorinated= non flammable, stinky, slow drying

Non-chlorinated= Strong flammable oder, fast dry, exploive vapors!

NOW, the non-chlorinated has a nasty component in it called Tolulene! An instructor i had back in Wyotech, used to be an autobody tech and he washed his hands off with laqcor thinner somtimes, well a major component of thinner is tolulene! He has 3 big black spots on his liver from tolulene poisioning! Its eventually going to kill his liver. Ever notice how non-clorinated brake cleaner smells like thinner? There ya go, bad stuff too. I were latex gloves at work most the time to help keep that crap from getting in my blood because we use it alot. Just an FYI:hug:
 

axlenut

New member
May 6, 2009
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Brake cleaner & welding

I did 12 years of welding in my little county parks shop, MIG and stick mostly. Here's my advice. Had a BIG fan at the rear of the shop it pulled a draft from the roll up door to the rear wall. Then had a commercial fume evacuator with a 4" vacuum hose and magnetically mounted intake nozzle to attach near the work site. Used CO2 as flux gas for most steel, it's cheaper, mostly non-toxic and it's much denser than Argon, Argon/CO2 or Helium/Argon/Oxygen mixes, so it's also quieter, allows deeper penetration and faster surface speeds. That little arc on a MIG box running .35" dia. wire produces 90-94 decibels, above the OSHA action level for 4 hour exposures even with the CO2. In fact, the arc beat the Do-All band saw cutting 6" square tube by 2-4 decibels You should wear earplugs when welding for extended periods.

Ran a lot of hard facing electrodes and Stellite flux core MIG wire for dozer grousers, moldboards and backhoe buckets. When using any of these toxic alloys you should also wear a NIOSH approved mask under the hood. That's in addition to the ventilation equipment, or work outdoors. When outdoors a fan placed to blow the fumes away from the work area is good insurance. Cobalt is a lung poison, while chromium and nickel aren't good either.

Same for welding cast iron with nickel electrodes. Stainless steel required one of the commercial shielding gas mixes Helium/Argon/Oxygen, the stainless steel itself has chromium and nickel alloy. Wear the respirator rated for metal fumes, it should also have an activated carbon component.

Your welding hood is a fume collector that concentrates nasty stuff right on top your nose and mouth. If you got a black smudge under your nostrils at the end of the day - you are in danger.

I used Berryman Chemtool for years to remove rolling lube on square steel tubing with no adverse effects, but everything was wiped dry and the rags stored away from the area. Some aerosol cans are powdered by propane and the stuff itself is flammable - if everything isn't dry and the vapor evacuated - boom!

Welding is potentially dangerous, even my mother had metal fume fever while welding in the shipyard - knowledge is the best safety device.
 
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Lonnie

Horsepower Addict
Good to know, I use ths brake cleaner quite often. I infact, did use carb cleaner, before TIG welding today. Probably never used brake clean when welding, by sheer luck.

I do remember that the chlorinated (freon refrigerants) were supposed to be dangerous in the presence of fire

Saw the other comment about tolulene as well.... I use in it my Camaro (116 octane) & currently have 5 gal in the garage. I don't get it on myself, but still I have smelled my share of exhaust fumes.
 

KEVINL

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2008
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Phoenix, AZ
Thanks for the E-mail Saw the thread but didn't read it

I used a ton of brake cleaner when I did my heads.

I know when I was wearing my titanium band and it got on my hands my finger would start burning like it was on fire.


I will be more careful next time I use it and keep it away from heat.
 
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whitetrash21

put on da damn helmet day
Apr 29, 2008
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Vegas
Works great for cleaning engine grime off your hands....Course Im probably going to die 10 years earlier now from using all that crap. :eek: