I came back from lunch to find 10 gallons of flammable liquid on the floor of my shop. It seems that after 20 years of service the 15 gallon barrel on the bottom of my parts washer died. Still looks clean & no rust. If the air compressor would have started or any other spark, My shop would be gone. It seems the seam went bad on the bottom of the barrel. My trusty mix of old gas - paint thinner & who knows what emptied out in a half hour or less. I'm thinking its time to switch to a water based cleaner. Won't work as good, but won't be a ticking time bomb either. Maybe today should be the official Hamb "go check your parts washer day".
Well good for you. You still have a shop and thanks for the heads up. Too many of us either don't know any better or don't do what we know to do. General maintenence 101 fellas. Take care of your tools and they will take care of you.
For 15 years you've been using highly flammable liquid in a parts washer? You didn't just get lucky today....
That wouldn't need to be on the floor to blow. Sounds like you were lucky it did before it blew up anyway.
I (and many others) used naptha in my solvent tank for many years and it is basically charcoal lighter fluid or dry cleaning fluid. I don't have a solvent tank or tub now and usually just squirt on some Oil Eater (brand) and scrub the part with my parts cleaning brush and hose it off. That stuff can be a bit rough on the hands though.
Started out as mineral spirits. Then typical "drain the carb" - "drain the weed eater " etc. I also had a full gallon of "oil eater" that ate thru the container & ruined a bunch of stuff. That stuff is seriously corrosive. I have a hot tank for blocks & big stuff. I'm thinking a small one for little stuff.
maybe its time a lot of us begion to think about fire sprinklers in our shops . considering what it could cost if you dont have them what it cost is a small investment. also new codes coming into effect may make it much easier to get permits espicially for those of us with home shops
man thats a pretty explosive mix any way you spell it , id use the citrus based stuff in the parts washer , if that wont do the job use something a bit stronger in a small quantity in a pail then dispose of it in a proper manner
We used to clean everything, including our hands in "White Gas". That's what we used in the Coleman stove too. No lead or additives in it, at least that's what we were told. I use a plastic tub and Simple Green now.
Last week it was the Compressor check, this week it is the parts washer. I took care of the compressor and am now on a regular drain and check schedule, I guess it's time to think about changing the cleaning solvent to one that is water soluble. I spent a lot of time and money on what I have, it isn't that much for some, but I would hate to lose it all because of a fire. THANKS !........................now it's off to the parts washer. firstnomad
Glad nobody was injured and your shop is intact...Thanks for the heads up. I'm going out to check mine now.
My Dad told about when he worked in a gas station in about 1930. A mechanic used to put out his cigaretts in a bucket of gasoline he used as parts cleaner untill one day when it lit then he had to figure out how to get the bucket out. He didn't think to cover it and cut off the air. Fortunately he didn't try to use water but he grabbed a mop and used the handle to carry it out of the garage where he accidentally dropped it. Fortunatly it didn't hurt the dirt and burnt its self out. I had a serious accidental near miss one time and have told the story many times since. I lived in a two story house and one day found that the kids had put a broken wooden crate in the fireplace. I decided to burn it because it looked crummy in there. So I stepped to the door that led into the connected garage and retrieved the 1 gallon paint thinner can that was just inside the door. As I poured some of the contents over the wood I could smell that it was gasoline that my son in law had put in the can by mistake. I quickly put the can back in the garage as a safety measure before striking the match to light the fire. I didn't want the fumes in the house and thought that if I started the fire before the fumes got to bad that the problem would be solved. I also stood way back before striking the match. The fire came out to the match in a very big POOF that rattled every window in the house. My wife who was in the kitchen said WHAT WAS THAT? and I could hear her comming thru the dinning and living room into the family room. After the POOF there was a WHOOSH where the BIG BLACK FIREBALL was sucked up the tall chimney by the convection of the heat rising. I sat down on the couch and quickly picked up a magazine as the BIG FIREBALL disappeared up the chimney like a Genie going back into a bottle. A second later my wife came around the corner to find me looking thru the magazine as though nothing had happened. She said again WHAT WAS THAT? and of course I said that I just started a little fire in the fireplace. You could feel the heat where I was setting but the smoke was GONE. Fortunatly the hair on my arms and my eyebrows were still there. I learned to smell flammable liquids before pouring them on wood in a confined place. In editing this reply I noticed that I had used the word inflammable instead of the word flammable. Upon looking it up I found that they both mean the same thing where as the word inoperable means means the opposite of operable. Go Figure. Dick
I have a friend that spent close to 6mo. in the hospital from burns suffered after using gas to clean parts in a closed garage and a space heater kicked on. He opened the door and ran outside on fire and grabbed a garden hose to try and keep his house from burning down. Thankfully someone called the fire dept and there was only minor damage to the house but he had 3rd deg burns on his legs and torso. Needless to say I don't use anything that will burn to clean parts in any structure.
I've been using the Purple degreaser from Home Depot. Use a fairly high concentration, you should be happy. The typical one and two family fire sprinklers in the new code preclude garages and accessory structures such as shops. However, if you can address the freeze issue, they are a good idea and not as expensive as you think. Besides, new code is designed to allow you to install them yourself. Further cost savings.
I have a parts washer made from a stainless restaraunt sink that works great, but I left the cover up one day, then started grinding a metal part in the nearby vise for a minute or two, with the usual roostertail of sparks. As I started to walk back to the car parked outside, I noticed the inside of my 80 year old all wood garage was bathed in a beautiful orange glow, like a sunset. I turned to see my parts washer, with about 4 gallons of varsol in it, lit up with 5 foot flames trying to set the building on fire. I had fire extinguishers placed everywhere, but I just closed the cover and it went out in seconds. It was a lesson that cost me nothing, luckily.
I use Castrol Super Clean but I love that picture Muttley,, (no offense) Glad the outcome wasnt any worse than a stinky cleanup
When you guys say what you are using...does that mean you are running the solution through the parts cleaners?? I was given a nice zep unit a couple years ago and started hooking it up just the other day. I tell you what I hate any explosive materials in my shop! Will running super purple or tuff stuff through the pump work well?? I have about two gallons of the "real" stuff left but id rather not use it. My barrel doesnt look to great either! its been sitting for the time on a dirt floor. Thanks for the heads up!!
if it comes down to it get a new parts washer setup, with the fusible link and the lid that drops shut. If used with the correct solvent, they are designed to snuff a fire right then. the link melts releasing the lid and it's weight slams it shut. I'm not sure what safety clean uses, but it works pretty good. you need to change the stuff from time to time, or it gets more flammable the more junk gets in it. As far as a sprinkler not such a good idea, dropping water on a gas or oil fire is a recipe for disaster. I'm not sure what they cost,probably a lot, but the automatic dry chemical is best for this. you could spend the dough and get a 3 or four head system designed for a race system in a race car, and equip it with automatic heads. It may seem like a lot, but think how much you have to lose? The automatic heads are already designed for an automatic dry chemical extinguisher, you would simply mount a race car system permanently. If you get lucky you may find a system from a restaurant for sale, they can be recharged. another thing to point out is oily rags, doesn't seem dangerous but a lot of fires start from spontaneous combustion. I know of someone in Canada who lost their entire shop due to this. All the tools, cars, machine shop gear, everything. Those auto closing cans designed for this are not that expensive. they seal off the air so they can't start to burn. cheap insurance
no matter what your opinion of mixing water onto a gas or oil fire the end result would be much worse without the sprinklers. it is very rare for a person to lose their life in a building equipped with sprinklers and there sure is a lot less fire and smoke damage.
in our shop we dont use gas but god non flamable cleaner,,,but ....we also have the 35 gallon drum inside a cut down 55 drum just incase the inner one splits
this is just a small amount of water on oil, what I'm saying is you need a chemical extinguisher setup for dealing with grease or burning oil. What happens is the water instantly boils into steam and causes an explosion of burning oil. http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-water-and-oil.html
I'm sure you can buy the fusible links and set it up with a link, the idea is if there's a fire, you don't have to go near it, it closes on it's own by gravity.
wtf.... One more thing to check out tomorrow. Wait a minute, i don't use sheeeeet like that . Scarrrrrry man . thanx for the heads up. Everybody pay attention. ( yeah , the basterd is laughing )
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