Flammable solvents

[black85vette]

Probably not a bad time to review / exchange best practices regarding flammable solvents. I for one would like to know what the safest solvent is to use for general cleaning and shop work? I tend to have lacquer thinner around the shop because I do automotive painting. Also have Coleman fuel around for camp stoves and lanterns. All of those are in metal containers. How safe are they?

 

[kf2qd]

Safety is more determined by your storage methods and who may be wandering through your shop. A five-gallon pail of water sitting open in your yard may not be a problem, but toddlers have fallen in and drowned.

Another factor in the safety of solvents and chemicals is the Quantity you are storing. A quart or a gallon is not much of a problem, but a 55 gallon drum would have to be treated completely different. Small quantities stored out of accessibilty to small hands in a temperature stable location won't do much more than sit there.

Just some thoughts from my perspective.

 

[1Kenny]

Had a powered sports store for several years and was told by insurance that it was like having several small bombs in a building, so I was blessed with a very high invoice. My Dad had a couple of garage fires when I was growing up. One was started by gas soaked rags and the other started by a broken air hose letting the air compressor run till it caught fire. I was young when the gas fire started and remember seeing the orange glow in the night as we were going to the shop. My feeling now is, a shed is cheaper to replace than a garage, a garage is cheaper to replace than a house. Except for a small amount, solvents and fuel are kept outside. Fire extinguishers are in abundance and the air compressor is shut off at night.

Kenny

 

[Philjoe5]

Flammable solvents like gasoline, acetone, ether starting fluid and MEK catch fire with a spark or a very hot surface so I use these sparingly and only in metal cans that seal completely. Use the smellzen test to make sure vapors aren't escaping. I don't store more than a pint of these in the basement shop.

Combustible solvents like WD-40, diesel, kerosene or mineral spirits need a little more energy to get started so are generally safer around the shop for general cleaning. Same principles apply though, store them in vapor tight cans. Also store smaller quantities inside like pints - quarts.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[bearcar1]

Words of wisdom Kenny. Flammables should be stored in the proper containers (no glass jars ...you all know who you are) and away from heat or ignition sources. Pilot lights on water heaters and furnaces have started many fires. Fumes from highly combustibles is also a silent killer. I have all of my paint cans and aerosols as well as any other similar types of chemicals stored in one of those metal lockers that are specifically made for storing flammables. I searched high and low and finally found one at a gas station that was going out of business auction. A bit pricey but well worth every penny. Fire extinguishers are a common sight in my shop as well. Old used rags get tossed frequently as they are cheap. Safety can never be taken for granted.


BC1
Jim

 

[rake60]

The most effective solvents are also the most flammable.

In my home shop I use parts cleaner bought in a 5 gallon can at the
local auto parts store. It is still quite flammable but has a much higher
flash point than the alternatives. It certainly doesn't work as well as
naphtha but for the safety factor it is worth the trade off.

I still have scars from an incident when I was only 11 years old involving a
flammable that I didn't understand at the time. I had a nitromethane powered
toy dune buggy. The model dune buggy stalled and was melting in the grass
of the back yard on a sunny summer afternoon. I tried to pick it up.
I learned that day nitromethane burns with a very pale blue flame that can not
be seen in bright sun light. It was a painful lesson but one that was never forgotten.

If you know what you are working with and understand it's hazards anything can be
used safely. The lower the flash point of the solvent, the higher your caution needs to be.

Rick

 

[Diy89]

"Flammables should be stored in the proper containers"

This is the truest statement i could ever read.
I had an incident with a 1 lb can of old gunpowder, and a grinder. I wanted the can, but the powder had to go. I put it in a plastic bag. Then, left it on the workbench. The bracket i had 'hotwrenched' out, needed to be smoothed. I will never forget that flash. Nor the plume of dry chem from the fire ext.

I was VERY lucky and didnt loose much. Took a small pickup load to the dump. Still to this day, (ten years later) the rafters are blackened, and some dry chem can be found on the tops of them here and there.
Let me tell you, I saw the light (literally) and forever changed my habits. Some at work say i am to careful, but i think there is no such thing.

Work Safe!

 

[shred]

Be very careful with anything that generates sparks... Grinders and sanders especially get no respect from the sparks they shoot out. I had a spark off an angle grinder light off something ten feet away. Scared the crap outta me since it was a rifle primer I thought was dead.

 

[kvom]

I don't keep gasoline in my shop other than what's in a vehicle's tank. Generally the only solvent I use is brake cleaner, which I buy in aerosol cans. I keep all oil containers in a metal locker away from tools, and since I don't have gas heat there are no pilot lights.

 

[Stan]

Since I have a shop in my house basement I have to be particularly careful about fires. I use petroleum distillate (Varsol, paint thinner, mineral spirits) as a general solvent to clean oily material. I buy it in one gallon container and after use, the dirty material is taken outside for disposal. My choice for a strong solvent is standard lacquer thinner which I buy in one quart container and dispose of the same as the Varsol. I make a point of never having an open container of flamable liquid except when it is in immediate use.

BTW: My disposal system is a five gallon pail (stored outside) that gets the waste solvents, waste oil from the lawn mower, etc and when it is full it goes to the counties free toxic waste disposal. I tell them what it is and they pour it into a barrel.

 

[tmuir]

As a side note on all this I usually at any given time have 8 or 10 cans of spray paint around.
During winter they stay in my workshop but in summer it can reach 45 to 47C in the shade at my house so 60C to 70C in my workshop.
During these months any spray can I can't finish before the hot weather gets brought inside to the laundry where it won't get over 30C.

I don't fancy ever having to deal with the mess of an exploding spray can of paint setting off a chain reaction and causing all my others to go pop too....

 

[Kermit]

A substance I have worked with that is very dangerous for the home environment is Chloroform.

Something I make as needed in very small amounts and immediately dispose of when done. (I let it evaporate in the sun-takes about a minute)

It's simple to make and is the BEST Urethane stripper you'll ever see. For stripping baked on enamel finishes, use cheap DOT3 brake fluid.

If kept in storage in the fridge(which I don't do) you have to add some copper(a penny) to it to prevent explosive peroxides from forming. This stuff will actually explode like Nitro if it gets contaminated with peroxides.

On second thought, forget I said anything.

Kermit