More shop safety

[tallguy]

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).

[fordboy628]

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.

 
Fordboy

[tallguy]

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).

[tallguy]

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).

[tallguy]

This is about electrical safety.

There's an old habit that people should get into when working with more than about 12 volts of electricity:  Don't use both
hands at once when touching anything that can conduct electricity.  Some people even keep one hand behind their back, or
in a pocket.  Here's the reason, for those who don't yet know this.  Electricity will follow the path of least resistance.  And
guess what?  Blood, being salty, is an excellent conductor of electricity!  115 volts is plenty enough to penetrate human skin
and send current from one of your hands through your blood and your heart, stopping it immediately.  You may not know
this, but the heart is a muscle, and runs on electricity . . . just like the frogs' legs that Galvani experimented with.  Exposing
only one hand at a time to anything electrical can greatly improve your chances for the electricity -- if you are shocked -- to
only pass through your hand, instead of your heart.  Yes, I've been shocked several times in my life, only through the hand --
and even that is no fun.  Please do be extra-careful.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Not long after Nancy and I got together I made sure she understood that electricity makes muscles contract, and therefore:

If I'm working on electricity and contact bare wires and I'm getting shocked - - PUSH me away, don't PULL me.  Shove, bump, knock my legs out from under me so I fall - - - get me away from the wires without you getting caught if and when YOUR muscles contract.

[manta22]

" Don't use both hands at once when touching anything that can conduct electricity."
Amen to that. This was one of the first things we learned at Ft Monmouth in the radar school. The magnetron had 20,000 volts on it. You only needed one zap from that.