Driveway welders… what fire precautions do you take?
Discussion
Hi all finally got my mig welder up and running, will be practicing a bit on some scrap steel (not done any welding since i was an apprentice) then will be sorting some sill repairs on my drive..
Just wondering what PHers are doing re. fire safety.. obviously when im doing bits under the car im gonna enroll a fire watcher, is anyone keeping a small fire extinguisher on hand? a bucket of water? what about fire blankets?
Advice appreciated thanks lads
Just wondering what PHers are doing re. fire safety.. obviously when im doing bits under the car im gonna enroll a fire watcher, is anyone keeping a small fire extinguisher on hand? a bucket of water? what about fire blankets?
Advice appreciated thanks lads
Fire watcher.
Bucket of water.
Airline from compressor with blow gun fitted - actually very good at putting out small surface fires & does inside box sections too!
Hosepipe with tap on full & nozzle closed so all I'd have to do would be undo the nozzle.
Touch wood, in many years of welding our cars the airline has always done the job.
Bucket of water.
Airline from compressor with blow gun fitted - actually very good at putting out small surface fires & does inside box sections too!
Hosepipe with tap on full & nozzle closed so all I'd have to do would be undo the nozzle.
Touch wood, in many years of welding our cars the airline has always done the job.
DegsyE39 said:
Hi all finally got my mig welder up and running, will be practicing a bit on some scrap steel (not done any welding since i was an apprentice) then will be sorting some sill repairs on my drive..
Just wondering what PHers are doing re. fire safety.. obviously when im doing bits under the car im gonna enroll a fire watcher, is anyone keeping a small fire extinguisher on hand? a bucket of water? what about fire blankets?
Advice appreciated thanks lads
Remove flammable materials from the car (Carpets, sound deadening etc)Just wondering what PHers are doing re. fire safety.. obviously when im doing bits under the car im gonna enroll a fire watcher, is anyone keeping a small fire extinguisher on hand? a bucket of water? what about fire blankets?
Advice appreciated thanks lads
CO2 extinguisher for when the waxoil in the sills catches fire
k, my chest hair’s on fire!!”strip out plenty of interior trim , hosepipe at the ready
stop every couple of mins and look for fire
most important thing , never stop welding and walk away, spend a half hour sweeping up and keep checking for flames /smoke /feel any cavitys for heat
have a think about if it does go up , will it take your house with it , if possible position it so you can push it away from the house if a fire got out of control
stop every couple of mins and look for fire
most important thing , never stop welding and walk away, spend a half hour sweeping up and keep checking for flames /smoke /feel any cavitys for heat
have a think about if it does go up , will it take your house with it , if possible position it so you can push it away from the house if a fire got out of control
E-bmw said:
Any of the above is fine but one more thing.
Make sure you cover your ears if you are welding from underneath, welding spatter in the ear is HORRIBLE!!!!
Ask me how I know.
Tape your overalls to your boots (duct tape works well) welding blobs down your boots burn like heck and no matter how quick you get out from under the car you’ll not get your boots off fast enoughMake sure you cover your ears if you are welding from underneath, welding spatter in the ear is HORRIBLE!!!!
Ask me how I know.
Ask me how I know
I always remember when younger, noticing in the lounge window the reflection of flames, my dad was out the front, under his Triumph, welding, I rushed out to see flames in the inside of the car, he had caught the seat but was oblivious as he was underneath.
He darted out, grabbed an extinguisher, opened the car door, moved forward but tripped over his tool box and fell in to the car, placing his hands instinctively on the flaming seat, pulled his hands out all covered in flaming seat foam.
Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it could have been but he did have bad burns on his hands.
He darted out, grabbed an extinguisher, opened the car door, moved forward but tripped over his tool box and fell in to the car, placing his hands instinctively on the flaming seat, pulled his hands out all covered in flaming seat foam.
Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it could have been but he did have bad burns on his hands.
noticed while I was reading Edd China's biog that he recommended having a saturated rag handy, thought it good advice; I put one of those in my bucket now.
Not Fire related, but I also always have a 'Ground Earth' too, leading from the Welding Clamp to the ground (I use a bit of 15mm copper, flattened at bottom, with a Gate Valve at the top (so I've got something to bash it into the ground) to which is attached a bit of twin core lawnmower wire (both neg and live wires run)
....just so's I don't touch the car and find its 'Live'. (Battery off too ofc)
I've done a lot of driveway welding and,touch wood, never had a problem yet. Check out Fitzee's Fabrications on YouTube for tips
Not Fire related, but I also always have a 'Ground Earth' too, leading from the Welding Clamp to the ground (I use a bit of 15mm copper, flattened at bottom, with a Gate Valve at the top (so I've got something to bash it into the ground) to which is attached a bit of twin core lawnmower wire (both neg and live wires run)
....just so's I don't touch the car and find its 'Live'. (Battery off too ofc)
I've done a lot of driveway welding and,touch wood, never had a problem yet. Check out Fitzee's Fabrications on YouTube for tips
I weld in the workshop, where potentially the results of a fire could be a whole lot worse.
My primary fire control is to:-
a) sweep up any rubbish, tramp oils, sawdust, paper and other crap that could catch fire.
b) Have a foam fire extinguisher in a sensible place, and I've had training in how to use it.
c) I don't normally do fire watch, but I do make sure all the carpets, and the like are pulled back to a suitable place.
d) I have a small squirting bottle - the old kitchen ones that do bleach and other sprays. Filled with water. The spray is fantastically effective at cooling, and putting out small flames.
e) I have a hose pipe not too far away.
f) I have a few minutes welding, followed by a minute or 2 spraying things to cool down, followed by another small session of welding. Never very long, just in case things have caught fire and I haven't noticed.
g) When I've finished welding / cutting. I cool the whole area down (with the spray can), and then carry on sweeping up / putting things away for the next hour or 2, and just being in the workshop in case anything catches fire, and I'm not there.
h) If I can, I push the car onto the concrete yard before going home at night. If I can't do this, I generally stop welding early afternoon to make sure there's no chance of random heat causing fires.
i) It's only if things are particularly dicey do I use a fire watch man. They tend to get bored, and go and do other things anyway.
My primary fire control is to:-
a) sweep up any rubbish, tramp oils, sawdust, paper and other crap that could catch fire.
b) Have a foam fire extinguisher in a sensible place, and I've had training in how to use it.
c) I don't normally do fire watch, but I do make sure all the carpets, and the like are pulled back to a suitable place.
d) I have a small squirting bottle - the old kitchen ones that do bleach and other sprays. Filled with water. The spray is fantastically effective at cooling, and putting out small flames.
e) I have a hose pipe not too far away.
f) I have a few minutes welding, followed by a minute or 2 spraying things to cool down, followed by another small session of welding. Never very long, just in case things have caught fire and I haven't noticed.
g) When I've finished welding / cutting. I cool the whole area down (with the spray can), and then carry on sweeping up / putting things away for the next hour or 2, and just being in the workshop in case anything catches fire, and I'm not there.
h) If I can, I push the car onto the concrete yard before going home at night. If I can't do this, I generally stop welding early afternoon to make sure there's no chance of random heat causing fires.
i) It's only if things are particularly dicey do I use a fire watch man. They tend to get bored, and go and do other things anyway.
Jonny_ said:
E-bmw said:
Any of the above is fine but one more thing.
Make sure you cover your ears if you are welding from underneath, welding spatter in the ear is HORRIBLE!!!!
Ask me how I know.
Nothing quite like the sizzle of a small blob of red hot steel lodged inside one's earhole, is there? Make sure you cover your ears if you are welding from underneath, welding spatter in the ear is HORRIBLE!!!!
Ask me how I know.
I had an old Boxer van which was in for it's MOT, it needed a small amount of welding so as he was a mate of mine got straght on with it.
It had seemed like a good idea to fill the holes in the sills with expanded foam which I had trimmed with a knife and applied underseal.
It took them over an hour to get rid of the smell in the garage!
It had seemed like a good idea to fill the holes in the sills with expanded foam which I had trimmed with a knife and applied underseal.
It took them over an hour to get rid of the smell in the garage!
I always remove carpets etc from the area above, and have a CO2 fire extinguisher to hand, but generally just blow out small fires as they start. Oh and recently when welding the inner will on my camper van directly below the gas drop out vent in the gas locker , i took the gas bottle out first.
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