If you own a welder you sould read this.

There is a metal cleaner that's sold in welding supply stores called "Arc Aid".
It's a milky substance that's used to clean mainly aluminum, stainless, magnesium, and other alloys. It'll work on mild steel with a couple of applications.

Simply pour it into a old tupperware bowl, put it on with a clean paint brush, swirl it around a little and rinse off with water. It'll clean up the metal where a weld will be going. It gets rid of alot of the contamination that can screw up a good TIG weld with pourosity.

I've used it as a wheel cleaner also.

 

I usually use acetone. It evaporates quickly and I've not heard any negatives regarding its use... But I hadn't heard of this problem either.?.

 

At work they used pure acetone to clean the titanium before welding.

I think it would be a good idea to avoid anything with chlorine in it.

 

Holly Crap!!! I used CRC Brake Cleaner Sunday afternoon to clean off a bracket I had just hole sawed several holes in using lots of cutting oil. It was a mess so I wiped it off and then went out and sprayed it down with brake cleaner because it doesn't leave residue. I put it in front of a fan until it was mostly dry, then I added a third piece to the bracket and welded them together with my TIG. Later I welded that to the rear axle housing.

No shaking or passing out so far, but the article said symptoms could be delayed up to 48 hours after exposure. So tomorrow evening if I am still ok, I should be fine I guess. Now every time something doesn't feel right I am going to be worried. I also lifted weights last night and tonight which involved chest, and it is a little tight and sore, but I have to attribute that to the weight lifting.

Thanks to everyone that brought this thread back up. My GF was reading and saw it and told me to check it out. It never crossed my mind that something like this could happen like that. And I would not have known anything except that she saw this thread when she happened to be looking on here.

Blah!

 

I've never used brake cleaner to prep a part for welding, but I do use it a lot to clean a chassis or suspension part of grease and road grime before priming and painting it. I would have never suspected that something like THIS could happen. Too bad we got this info as a result of this guys suffering, but I'm definitely GLAD he wrote it and that I took the time to read it.

 

Thank you for the article. This may save someones life. I was at a haz-mat seminar a few years ago where a guy told about a great tar remover he whipped up whith gas and some other things in his garage. The instuctor said the armed forces had something similar called napalm. YIKES!

 

I wonder what if lye reacts with heat? I know it's pretty volatile all by itself...

 

Get a copy of the MSDS for the product. YOU SHOULD READ THE ENTIRE MSDS! To find out what's in the product refer to the Composition/Information on Ingredients section (although suppliers and manufacturers are not required to disclose ALL of the ingredients - they can even apply for the right to not disclose ingredients if their disclosure may jeopardize a "trade secret"). To determine what it may react with (and what it may release when a reaction occurs) check the Stability and Reactivity section. Here you will see a list of other substances that the product may react with (incompatible materials) and what may be released (hazardous decomposition products).

The above is a very brief overview. As mentioned earlier, ALWAYS READ THE MSDS. If you bought something over the counter, you can request a copy from the manufacturer (they will have a means of contact listed on the label - required by law). Also refer to the Exposure Controls/Personal Protection section and the First Aid section to see how to avoid overexposure and what to do if you become overexposed.

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

Acetone or lacquer thinner work well. Not aware of any problems with either of those.

 

Thank you for posting this Marshall.

 

I've been thinking about getting a welder, I have not welded in almost 25 years and this was an excellent warning to be careful. Thanks for posting the link!