Deadly poison gas from welding something you cleaned with brakleen?

**tri again** · 03-15-2011, 12:54 AM

Saw it on ford-trucks.com

14 ppmillion is enough to kill,
tetra whatever turns into a one shot deal

What an easy mistake to make.

**riverrat** · 03-15-2011, 01:05 AM

Thanks for posting this. Here is a link to a guys story:
http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

**tri again** · 03-15-2011, 01:46 AM

Nice find riverrat.

That should cover it.

Thanks

**NINJA** · 03-15-2011, 01:53 AM

A contestant for the Darwin awards.

**Chazz of Blades** · 03-15-2011, 02:37 AM

indeed, but I do feel sorry for the guy, one little slip up.

**bugler30** · 03-15-2011, 02:54 AM

Is it the same with the chlorinated and non-chlorinated? I tend to stick with the non-flammable non-chlorinated just to prevent fire issues.

**puggerton03** · 03-15-2011, 06:29 AM

Holy crap! He's lucky.

**fabiodriven** · 03-15-2011, 10:09 AM

Holy crap! That is a mistake I could easily make! Thanks a lot for posting this Dr. Joe.

**swifty** · 03-15-2011, 11:31 AM

wow thats scary im sure ive welded in the past with brakleened stuff but my old welder didnt have argon. good post saved me from ever using brakleen for welding projects again

**Dirtcrasher** · 03-15-2011, 11:35 AM

I basically swim in (have been for 25 years) brake/carb cleaner, actetone, lacquer thinner, WD40, PB blaster etc. I've never worn gloves and I'm sure I've heated a part that had brake cleaner on it. The other day I was torching red off my frame and it hit the paint stripper; MAN was that a horrible smell!!!!!!!!!!!!

**racer....X** · 03-15-2011, 12:03 PM

Its scary to think about all the stuff we've exposed ourselfs to out in the garage!

**fabiodriven** · 03-15-2011, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by racer....X

Its scary to think about all the stuff we've exposed ourselfs to out in the garage!

As long as it's not the neighborhood kids you'll be OK.

**rdlsz24** · 03-15-2011, 12:25 PM

Stacey on the Gearz show on Speed Channel mentioned this before

Rob

**Billy Golightly** · 03-15-2011, 01:50 PM

Phosgene is bad stuff...I always use carb cleaner before I weld stuff.

**barnett468** · 05-22-2013, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by tri again

Saw it on ford-trucks.com 14 ppmillion is enough to kill, tetra whatever turns into a one shot deal
What an easy mistake to make.

Hello tri again

Just thought I’d add some additional info to this topic to help clear some things up for you and any others that are interested in it.

Originally Posted by bugler30

Is it the same with the chlorinated and non-chlorinated? I tend to stick with the non-flammable non-chlorinated just to prevent fire issues.

No.

AIR LEAK TESTS, BRAKE CLEANER AND PHOSGENE

If one feels it necessary to do an air leak test one suggestion is to test by gently spraying [using the long narrow nozzle] FLAMMABLE [not water base or chlorinated] brake cleaner around the intake boot at the head and carb mount while the bike is idling. If the idle goes up noticeably you have an intake air leak. It is more volatile than flammable carb cleaner and therefore detects small leaks more easily.

I still use brake cleaner but only the flammable kind [since I don’t see much point in spraying non flammable substances into a motor to check for an intake leak], just don’t spray it on ex pipes anyway and be careful NOT to inhale fumes of ANY cleaners. Flammable Carburetor cleaner may produce more harmful fumes than NON chlorinated flammable brake cleaner however I don’t know, further research is needed by someone to determine this if one wants to know.

Here’s one type of chlorinated [no tetrachloroethylene], flammable brake cleaner one can use when testing for intake leaks without the fear of creating phosgene.

http://www.crcindustries.com/ei/prod....aspx?id=05084

Originally Posted by tri again

With it idling, spray some carb cleaner around where the carb mounts and see if it changes the idle. do NOT use brakleen, it burns into phosgene gas and can kill you.

[QUOTE=tri again;1227182]Hi Not sure I read everything correctly but I remember a thread about using brakleen to clean stuff that will be torched or welded. I personally can't seem to live without it.Apparently it turns into phosgene gas in the presence of flame which can cause permanent lung damage with the smallest of exposure. I've heard that carb cleaner can work to check for intake leaks but not sure about that either. I read the can after I read that article and the warning is very vague.

Flame is not required to break down tetrachloroethylene to a point at which it will produce a very small percentage of phosogene as a byproduct only heat is.

Thermal decomposition of Tetrachloroethylene creates phosgene ie heat + UV + TCE => some phosgene.

“Tetrachloroethylene began to decompose near 400°C and vigorous pyrolysis occurred over 600°C. Complete decomposition was observed at 800°C. Hydrogen chloride and phosgene were detected as decomposition products, presumably because chemical reaction occurs between tetrachloroethylene and water contained in tetrachloroethylene.

Chemosphere

Volume 26, Issue 8, April 1993, Pages 1507-1512”

Tetrachloroethylene is NON flammable and is used in NON flammable CHLORINATED brake cleaner.

Flammable brake cleaners are NON chlorinated [no tetrachloroethylene].

Thread: Deadly poison gas from welding something you cleaned with brakleen?

Thread Tools

Deadly poison gas from welding something you cleaned with brakleen?