so tell me again why welding galvanized steel is bad for you. what is it that causes the bad fumes and what exactly does/can it do to your body?? and if you HAVE to weld it what precautions should you take? kinda hard to wear a repirator under your helmet.
Zinc, makes you sick Won't kill you (just makes you think your going to die) They do make welding respirators, but they don't work very well.
i knew it was bad but i welded it anyway. how long do i have to live?? i tried holding my breath but it's a big project. got a wicked cough now. the other day when i worked on it i had the same cough for about a day. you'd think i'd have learned my leason. learn from my mistakes young Jedi... cough, cough, hack...
It'll take a while I don't weld it unless I have to. All the new stuff has some, but it's thin. Main thing is to keep out of the smoke, and have some forced ventilation. None of this shit is good for us. But WTF I can't quit.
http://www.hdgasa.org.za/welding.htm I guess you can grind back the area you are going to weld on. Some sites say you can set up fans to help out with ventilation (just don't blow any hot sparks toward anything that's going to catch fire).
KB, we have to deal with it alot at work and I'm here to tell ya it gives you a wicked flu like sympton if exposed to too much from welding or worse burning it off. I thought life was over, cold sweats and sore joints. as far as preppen the material for weld I allways grind it off real good as it contaminates the weld and makes it look like shit and takes from the welds integrity. it takes quite a bit of smoke to get to ya but I sure as hell dont take any chances after that. resperator's help and if exposed like someone else said drik milk. hope it helps....... FED
zinc poisoning, a rare type of poisoning, usually due to inhalation of zinc or zinc oxide fumes, most commonly in metal workers; symptoms include fever, chills, myalgia, diarrhea, vomiting, and pneumonitis. Called also zincalism.
Heating zinc creates chlorine gas. Grind it away before you weld. In 1918 they called it "trench cough" and you don't want to have it.
There is a newer material now being used by the auto industry called Galvineal. This material has zinc clear through it not just on the surface. Its great for fighting corrosion but terrible for welding. I used to Chop the doors on the large car carrier semis (the ones you see that have the chopped cab and tow around the car trailers) and tig weld the stuff back together. You have to get your heat and gas perfect along with a pulsed arc to get a good weld. Tough shit and the zinc burnt off this stuff even after trying to remove the surface galvinized.
BTW, were a good dust mask, or a respirator when you grind galvanized. It's not good to breathe it in any form.
well i have'nt had any vomiting or any of the other symptoms yet. for some reason i felt like drinking milk would help and did so when i came in last night. weird cause i never heard that before, it just seemed to make sense. i just had a WICKED cough all last night. it is better now but not gone. i have to get my cylinder refilled today so while i'm at the welding store i'm gonna see about a respirator cause i'm not going through this shit again when i go to finish this project tonight. the problem is i have soooo much welding to do ont his thing. well, most of it is done now but i still have a few feet of weld to lay down. i proly laid down 14 feet of weld last night. be careful kids, don't be like me this cough sucks.
ventilate your area even if you have to put up with the cold. Better to be uncomfortable than dead. I was told by the old timer welders years ago to drink milk if I was going to continue welding for a profession. I don't know what effect it has but as the saying goes "does the body Good"
Its not just Zinc coated metal that you need to worry about. I welded a bunch of panels that were precoated with Zinc Rich primer and experienced the same symptons!!!!!!!!
Make sure you get the black respirator cartridges. They are for gasses. A lot of places sell respirators that do nothing but filter dust particles. The cartridge should be labeled.
After I had the frame of one of my projects blasted, I coated it with Ospho - phosphoric acid. It leaves a zinc coating. I worked on that frame boxing it & welding all over it for about two weeks in the evenings after work. I had a cough for months! I still feel my lungs were permanently damaged... Read my tag line...
I have been sick from it several times. I do a lot of Galvinized Welding, everything from Structural Steel, to sheetmetal. The best precaution I have found is to put a Fan behind you. Far enough back that it doesn't blow your gas away, but close enough to keep the smoke moving away from you. I usually feather the edges back about 1/4" with a Flap Disc in a grinder, just deep enough to get the Zinc off, and do both sides on sheetmetal because Welding easily burns the Zinc off the back too.
I woul drecommend grinding the galv. off before welding. I have gotten sick from burning it at work. Not a good feeling, although milk and milkshakes do help. Try to do it in an open area, although you can still get sick. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember is that Galvanize poisoning is cumulative within your body. SO try to avaoid it. We gring it off with masks at work. Good luck. larry
[ QUOTE ] PDF of hazards If you like milk, vomiting, prostate cancer and scabs, I see no problem. [/ QUOTE ] according to this site, there are no long term effects. Huh, learn something new everyday. I'm still not welding it if I don't have to. FWIW phosphoric acid leaves a phosphate coating, not a zinc coating.(don't wanna breathe that either).
[ QUOTE ] FWIW phosphoric acid leaves a phosphate coating, not a zinc coating.( [/ QUOTE ] I always thought it was zinc phosphate...maybe it was the brand I was using? Or, I'm just wrong - happens a lot! I used "ospho" generically, but I think I was using phosphoric acid. It left a dark grey powdery residue. I wire brushed it to knock down the dust, but it really made me cough badly for several weeks. Since then, I can't run like I used to - get winded relatively easily & no amount of training can get me past a couple miles before I'm done...but then I'm lazy too!
So it doesn't hurt ya after all... I've heard it'll do anything from kill you to make you grow a pretty set of tits, to making your balls drop off... LIES!
well i bought a reperator thingy at the welding store when i had my tank filled. it's really nothing more than a heavy duty glorified dust mask, but i finished the project and i feel fine this time. it definatley helped alot. when i was done welding and grinding the entire outside of the mask was pitch BLACK!! the inside was still nice and white. i think i'm going to start wearing one more often when i grind cause all that black shit coulda been in my lungs and i know a fair share already is from all the years of grinding i've already done. come to think of it, yesterday was the first time i came in from grinding and DID'NT blow black snot out of my nose all night. LEASON LEARNED!!!
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