Author Topic: More shop safety  (Read 36800 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline tallguy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 283
Re: More shop safety
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2016, 02:41:13 AM »
Floydjer, regarding your original post that started this thread . . .

1.   I'm glad you weren't seriously injured in the incident.

2.   I'm a HUGE believer in eye protection in any kind of shop.

3.   Having been a weldor (not a spelling error) for decades, one of
     my habits, after closing the main valve of a high-pressure cylinder
     (for example, when done welding for the day), is to bleed gas from
     the hoses that feed the equipment (i.e., torch).  Then to unscrew
     the pressure adjustment knobs of the regulators, until the "output"
     gages read zero pressure.  This can help to ensure that no sudden
     blast of gas gets too far when the main valve of the high-pressure
     cylinder is opened (slowly is good) the next time.  I think this
     practice may also protect the regulators themselves, as well as
     everything downstream (hoses, fittings, torch).
« Last Edit: January 13, 2016, 02:44:35 AM by tallguy »

Offline fordboy628

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2342
  • GONE FISHIN' . . .
Re: More shop safety
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2016, 07:06:21 AM »
Floydjer, regarding your original post that started this thread . . .

3.   Having been a weldor (not a spelling error) for decades, one of
     my habits, after closing the main valve of a high-pressure cylinder
     (for example, when done welding for the day), is to bleed gas from
     the hoses that feed the equipment (i.e., torch).  Then to unscrew
     the pressure adjustment knobs of the regulators, until the "output"
     gages read zero pressure.  This can help to ensure that no sudden
     blast of gas gets too far when the main valve of the high-pressure
     cylinder is opened (slowly is good) the next time.  I think this
     practice may also protect the regulators themselves, as well as
     everything downstream (hoses, fittings, torch).


Excellent practice Tallguy.

Incidentally, and to no surprise, that is precisely the procedure that they teach in college level welding classes . . . . .

And in welding certification classes . . . . .

And what welding regulator mfg's recommend . . . . . . .

The amount of gases "lost" is cheap insurance against a "disaster".    I've witnessed a welding accident . . . . . don't want to see another.

 :cheers:
Fordboy
Science, NOT Magic . . . .

I used to be a people person.  But people changed that relationship.

"There is nothing permanent except change."    Heraclitus

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."     Albert Einstein

Offline tallguy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 283
Re: More shop safety
« Reply #17 on: February 26, 2024, 07:19:11 PM »
This bit of advice may help very few people, due to the rarity of the circumstance(s), but I'm sharing it because it was a
close call for me, and except for the fact that I was wearing eyeglasses, I could have been quite seriously injured or even
blinded.

I was doing some electrical work on 208V single phase wiring for a shop, and wanted to test continuity of a circuit.  But I
didn't have a voltmeter.  I did have various wires, and a utility light (sometimes called a "drop light") that included a regular
"household" lightbulb.  I knew that 208V would destroy the filament of the bulb, but seeing the flash as this happened would
confirm for me continuity.  And a lightbulb like that isn't expensive.  Well, as soon as I turned it on, the entire lightbulb
exploded violently, launching shards at me (including my face).  Apparently this voltage not only melted the filament but
vaporized it to the extent of generating sufficient pressure to shatter the glass bulb.  I suggest people never do anything
similar to this (i.e., using a 12V bulb to test continuity of 115V circuitry).

Offline tallguy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 283
Re: More shop safety
« Reply #18 on: February 26, 2024, 07:22:40 PM »
I used to work for a large vehicle manufacturing plant.  One of the rules was that all employees had to wear steel-toed shoes
or boots.  In the three years I worked there, I only failed to follow this rule on ONE particular day.  And of course, that was
the day that I dropped a heavy steel pipe onto my toe, crushing it (and possibly crushing the bone also).