Please, be careful with torches

Ray Landry_3

Maybe you guys already do this, if so that is great. I made the mistake of not checking the torch tip/hose connection on my acetlyne turbo torch the other day, and while soldering BOOM it exploded right in my hand, 2nd degree burns all over my hand and wrist. So, moral of the story? Wear good leather gloves when handling torches and ALWAYS check the connection I Know I will now. I thank god I didn't have pvc cleaner spilt on my sweatshirt or anything really combustible on like a windbreaker.

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=463&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

bovide_4

what a

wake up call. I am guilty of taking things for granted in the hectic pace of making a living. I hope you heal quickly and feel better. Sulfur burn cream?

Constantin

I'm sorry to hear that Ray,

and I hope you improve quickly. I once burned my left hand on/in a steam radiator as a kid to the 2nd and 3rd degree, it was no fun. I hope that the medicines, treatments they have today speed the pace of recovery.

hr

good point

I have melted some hand and arm hair that way

Torch assembly connections tend to jiggle and loosen up bouncing around in the truck. The ones with the auto spark lighters will get you burned rather quickly.

I'd like to think once burned twice shy. But we all get in a hurry sometime and forget to check before pressing the "lift off" button.

hot rod

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Christian Egli_2

Burning the torch from both ends - to go twice as fast?

Was this the quick coupling connection? I'm particularly worried about those quick things - sometimes it pays to go slow. Healing burns is slow too, I wish you all the best, all I can think of to make you feel better is eating chocolate and ice cream and doughnuts and to use some antiseptic Whisky, you know, for medicinal purposes.

I find it odd how we worry stiff about natural gas leaks (rightfully, mind you) utilities send out all the detector machines for sniffing it all - yet everyone walks happily past the fork lift with it's LPG tank and fittings, blissfully unaware of the explosive gas that's there. Same with the welding gasses. Same with gas tanks on cars and lawnmowers and gasoline stations.

It's not because there isn't an infinite supply of dangerous stuff like there is coming out of the gas meter, that there isn't enough to cause a major problem.

We once lost the content of an oxygen bottle to a bad connection and I don't know what was most disturbing, whether the fact it was brand new and full or whether it could have been the acetylene.

Good thing you're still with us Ray.

Ted_9

bad deal

That sounds bad. Take care of your self. I started wearing gloves the last half of my career too. Also, eye and face protection. I was at a welding shop the other day to refill our a acetylene tanks(first time using a welding supply co.) and I noticed they had some nice safety equipment. I saw a nice clear full face shield there. They said it was anti-fog. all I could remember was playing hockey in high school and having to add this spray to my I Tech face shield. It didn't stop the fog for me. They also had some serious gloves there too. I think I'll buy some stuff there now.

Note: I sometimes notice that on the tips with the sparkers that the brass tip gets loose and I've seen flames ignite from there.

Massachusetts

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Mad Dog_2

Wow learned the hard way

That is a pretty freaky occurence. As much as I can't stand wearing safety googles and it is hardly EVER practical...I am always glad that I wear presrips with shatterproof lenses....I'm sure I would've been blind in one eye by now. How the recoup is fast, Ray. We will miss your awesome installs in the meantime. Mad Dog

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Larry (from OSHA)

Ray, I hope you heal fast

It is a pretty strong reminder that stuff can happen in the blink of an eye.

For those of you that work for yourselves, a trip to the safety supply house will most likely take care of you.

If you have employees, supplying appropriate personal protection equipment and requiring its use may prevent an unfortunate occurrence down the road. The fact that we (OSHA) require it is really beside the point. Doing the right thing is just a good thing to do.

If you have any questions about any safety stuff, you can always just ask.

Larry

Ray Landry_3

Thanks for your comments guys. This incident actually happend three weeks ago. It took two weeks to heal. I'm lucky it healed as well as it did, because I still went to work during it, just on light duty with an apprentice to basically do any heavy labor. It's funny how much we take the danger we encounter in our everyday working lives so lightly. I look at torches much differntly now. I always carried a fire extinguisher in my solder kit, but now also included are thick leather gloves, and 2 cresent wrenches to check torch connections. One more tip for everyone which I have been doing for awhile is to wear ear protection when soldering with loud torches (my turbo torch acetlyne tip could wake the dead) That's the high deciple kind of stuff that ruins your hearing.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Cosmo_3

Ray

Do you mind if I save the pic to use as a safety reminder?

I'll be honest, I had one light off at the handle connection already and because luckily my reflexes were quick and I dropped it before anything happened to my hand, typical situation working late trying to get a new boiler system up and running to meet a deadline. I didn't learn my lesson yet.

Looking at the picture, I got the message now...thanks.

I hope you heal quickly, and don't be like me and keep picking at the scabs!

Cosmo

bob_50

WHAT?

.