4 ms·

I am much into hobbyist work, like 3d printing/welding (mig/tig/stick welding/grinding), laser/CNC cutting. I use a fume hood, I made it myself using Centrifug

I am much into hobbyist work, like 3d printing/welding (mig/tig/stick welding/grinding), laser/CNC cutting. I use a fume hood, I made it myself using Centrifugal fan and filters. I thought about using scuba gear for welding, but I was worried about explosion from oxygen in case of leak? Then I wear a respirator. Is there anyway to respirate using a pipe placed elsewhere? Thinking about having a respirator attached to 20meter long pipe and put other end of the pipe outside to get fresh air instead of breathing the welding fumes.

mclightning 7y ago
is this for real?
- econcon 7y ago
  Once I welded Galvanized pipe and I was sick for a week, I drank a lot of milk to counter that which I learned from my welding instructor
  - Loughla 7y ago
    The sickest I've ever been was cutting/torching galvanized pipe and fencing in our poorly ventilated machine shed. I opened the doors to let most of the smoke out, but geez is that stuff aggressive. We hammered milk afterwards to try to get rid of some of the symptoms, but that sticks with you. It's hard to describe, because it's an illness that isn't really like anything else. It sucks.
  - refurb 7y ago
    That's probably metal fume fever?[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever
- AnthonBerg 7y ago
  Do you find the dangers and precautions biologically or medically implausible, or do you find it implausible that the social danger of appearing to be weird is worth the risk of sharing?
  - mattkrause 7y ago
    The “breath through a 20m pipe” part isn’t going to work: all that dead space will (literally) kill you.
    - mic47 7y ago
      Depends on whether you breath in and breath into the pipe (which is not ok), or just breath in from the pipe, and breath out elsewhere (you will need some valve that will regulate the flow here).
      - prostheticvamp 7y ago
        No, I think the issue is that your lungs can’t generate enough negative pressure to respirate effectively through 20m of pipe.
        Dylan16807 7y ago
        They're not underwater. It doesn't take much pressure just to move air through a tube.
    - sp332 7y ago
      I assumed they were going to put a fan on it because otherwise it would be hard to even get a breath in, even if there was a check valve for exhaling.
  - NikolaeVarius 7y ago
    I find it funny that trying to be safe, the alternative is to do something that will probably kill you. Respirator/Ventilation should work perfectly fine
luma 7y ago
3M makes masks specifically for welding (3M 8515). Due to current circumstance, they can't be had for any price (they are also N95 rated), but normally that would be the solution to your problem.
sathackr 7y ago
Scuba(normally) does not use any higher concentration of oxygen than air. The compressors used just pump high pressure air into the tanks. Using a scuba tank filled with air does not pose any additional explosion risk due to oxygen. The only additional explosion risk is due to the relatively high pressures involved (2000-5000psi) and the risks surrounding the use of any compressed gas. There are blends of gasses available that do present an additional explosion hazard, but those are generally not available to someone without the training required to safely handle. For that matter a scuba shop following the rules won't even fill a tank of air for you without verifying your certification.
mindcrime 7y ago
I thought about using scuba gear for welding, but I was worried about explosion from oxygen in case of leak? FWIW, it's way overkill, but you'd want SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus)[1] not SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) unless you are, indeed, underwater. Of course the technologies are similar (and can be swapped to a limited degree in a pinch) but SCBA is used when you're not underwater. Those are what firefighters use while attacking fires, or performing trench rescue / confined space rescue / etc. and handling hazardous materials calls. Note that SCBA do not used bottled oxygen... it's just plain air, but under pressure. I'm not a diver, so I don't know as much about SCUBA, but I know they aren't using pure oxygen either, but I think there may be times when they use a mix that is slightly different from plain old atmospheric air. An additional note: SCBA are expensive, require maintenance and need to be refilled with air. All of these things would be a challenge to using one outside of an industrial setting. The "refill with air" part is especially tricky, because you might think "I can use a regular air compressor", but you actually can't, for at least two reasons. One, the pressures needed to fully refill an SCBA tank are higher than a standard shop air compressor. Two, the air also needs to be filtered to remove any contaminants - including, for example, oil used to lubricate the pump on the compressor. As you might guess, fire departments and other SCBA users buy special compressors that are very expensive. And unlike SCUBA, I don't know that there are many, or any, commercial shops where you can walk in and get a bottle filled. If you had a buddy on a local fire department, they might be able to get a bottle filled for you, but no guarantees. Oh, and the bottles also need hydrostatic pressure testing every few years to make sure they are safe to use. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-contained_breathing_apparatus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-contained_breathing_appar...
- BenjiWiebe 7y ago
  And some small rural fire departments don't even have the ability to refill their own SCBA tanks, and instead bring them to a larger department to get them refilled.
  - mindcrime 7y ago
    Yes, exactly. Those compressors are expensive. Back in my firefighting days, of the 21 or so departments in my county, I think maybe 3 had their own compressors. A few more had cascade systems, either at their station, or on a truck. So every couple of weeks or so, the other departments would haul all of their bottles to one of the departments that had a compressor, and refill them all (including the cascade bottles). It really is a bit of a hassle, but it's worth it for an application like firefighting where SCBA are an absolute requirement.
jdietrich 7y ago
>Is there anyway to respirate using a pipe placed elsewhere? Thinking about having a respirator attached to 20meter long pipe and put other end of the pipe outside to get fresh air instead of breathing the welding fumes. Yes, sort of. Supplied air respirators are masks or helmets fed with compressed air and are widely used in paint spray booths. You'll need a compressor capable of supplying a sufficient quantity of filtered, oil-free air. A less cumbersome option is a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR), which uses a belt pack containing a battery, fan and filter unit to supply purified air to a mask or helmet. PAPRs are the most widely used respiratory protection option in commercial welding, with several manufacturers offering PAPRs with an integrated welding helmet. Both these options have the advantage of being positive-pressure, which means that no fit testing is required to ensure safe use - even if the mask or helmet leaks, the constant supply of clean air at above ambient pressure will prevent the ingress of contaminated air.
- saidajigumi 7y ago
  An example of PAPR application: I know of a professional woodturner who uses one, a 3M system IIRC. Beyond potential issues with long-term exposure to wood dust, turners tend to use material with unusual provenance compared to commercial timber. That in turn often means "spalted" – i.e. it's got fungal growth in it. It produces some lovely patterning and coloration in the wood, but which you definitely do not want to be breathing. The PAPR effectively combines breathing protection with a common turner's face shield; it's a compelling combination for that kind of work.
adamtj 7y ago
Get a 3M respirator with the appropriate filters for handling lead. When finished, wash up with Hygenall Lead-Off.
m463 7y ago
> Is there anyway to respirate using a pipe placed elsewhere Yes, a CPAP machine. A long tube, remote air with a filter, heated and humidified if you like. And they're designed to adapt to your breathing so you won't know they're on. though to be honest it's more like 2-3 meters, not 20.

mclightning 7y ago

is this for real?

econcon 7y ago
Once I welded Galvanized pipe and I was sick for a week, I drank a lot of milk to counter that which I learned from my welding instructor
- Loughla 7y ago
  The sickest I've ever been was cutting/torching galvanized pipe and fencing in our poorly ventilated machine shed. I opened the doors to let most of the smoke out, but geez is that stuff aggressive. We hammered milk afterwards to try to get rid of some of the symptoms, but that sticks with you. It's hard to describe, because it's an illness that isn't really like anything else. It sucks.
- refurb 7y ago
  That's probably metal fume fever?[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever
AnthonBerg 7y ago
Do you find the dangers and precautions biologically or medically implausible, or do you find it implausible that the social danger of appearing to be weird is worth the risk of sharing?
- mattkrause 7y ago
  The “breath through a 20m pipe” part isn’t going to work: all that dead space will (literally) kill you.
  - mic47 7y ago
    Depends on whether you breath in and breath into the pipe (which is not ok), or just breath in from the pipe, and breath out elsewhere (you will need some valve that will regulate the flow here).
    - prostheticvamp 7y ago
      No, I think the issue is that your lungs can’t generate enough negative pressure to respirate effectively through 20m of pipe.
      - Dylan16807 7y ago
        They're not underwater. It doesn't take much pressure just to move air through a tube.
  - sp332 7y ago
    I assumed they were going to put a fan on it because otherwise it would be hard to even get a breath in, even if there was a check valve for exhaling.
- NikolaeVarius 7y ago
  I find it funny that trying to be safe, the alternative is to do something that will probably kill you. Respirator/Ventilation should work perfectly fine

luma 7y ago

3M makes masks specifically for welding (3M 8515). Due to current circumstance, they can't be had for any price (they are also N95 rated), but normally that would be the solution to your problem.

sathackr 7y ago

Scuba(normally) does not use any higher concentration of oxygen than air. The compressors used just pump high pressure air into the tanks. Using a scuba tank filled with air does not pose any additional explosion risk due to oxygen. The only additional explosion risk is due to the relatively high pressures involved (2000-5000psi) and the risks surrounding the use of any compressed gas. There are blends of gasses available that do present an additional explosion hazard, but those are generally not available to someone without the training required to safely handle. For that matter a scuba shop following the rules won't even fill a tank of air for you without verifying your certification.

mindcrime 7y ago

I thought about using scuba gear for welding, but I was worried about explosion from oxygen in case of leak? FWIW, it's way overkill, but you'd want SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus)[1] not SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) unless you are, indeed, underwater. Of course the technologies are similar (and can be swapped to a limited degree in a pinch) but SCBA is used when you're not underwater. Those are what firefighters use while attacking fires, or performing trench rescue / confined space rescue / etc. and handling hazardous materials calls. Note that SCBA do not used bottled oxygen... it's just plain air, but under pressure. I'm not a diver, so I don't know as much about SCUBA, but I know they aren't using pure oxygen either, but I think there may be times when they use a mix that is slightly different from plain old atmospheric air. An additional note: SCBA are expensive, require maintenance and need to be refilled with air. All of these things would be a challenge to using one outside of an industrial setting. The "refill with air" part is especially tricky, because you might think "I can use a regular air compressor", but you actually can't, for at least two reasons. One, the pressures needed to fully refill an SCBA tank are higher than a standard shop air compressor. Two, the air also needs to be filtered to remove any contaminants - including, for example, oil used to lubricate the pump on the compressor. As you might guess, fire departments and other SCBA users buy special compressors that are very expensive. And unlike SCUBA, I don't know that there are many, or any, commercial shops where you can walk in and get a bottle filled. If you had a buddy on a local fire department, they might be able to get a bottle filled for you, but no guarantees. Oh, and the bottles also need hydrostatic pressure testing every few years to make sure they are safe to use. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-contained_breathing_apparatus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-contained_breathing_appar...

BenjiWiebe 7y ago
And some small rural fire departments don't even have the ability to refill their own SCBA tanks, and instead bring them to a larger department to get them refilled.
- mindcrime 7y ago
  Yes, exactly. Those compressors are expensive. Back in my firefighting days, of the 21 or so departments in my county, I think maybe 3 had their own compressors. A few more had cascade systems, either at their station, or on a truck. So every couple of weeks or so, the other departments would haul all of their bottles to one of the departments that had a compressor, and refill them all (including the cascade bottles). It really is a bit of a hassle, but it's worth it for an application like firefighting where SCBA are an absolute requirement.

jdietrich 7y ago

>Is there anyway to respirate using a pipe placed elsewhere? Thinking about having a respirator attached to 20meter long pipe and put other end of the pipe outside to get fresh air instead of breathing the welding fumes. Yes, sort of. Supplied air respirators are masks or helmets fed with compressed air and are widely used in paint spray booths. You'll need a compressor capable of supplying a sufficient quantity of filtered, oil-free air. A less cumbersome option is a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR), which uses a belt pack containing a battery, fan and filter unit to supply purified air to a mask or helmet. PAPRs are the most widely used respiratory protection option in commercial welding, with several manufacturers offering PAPRs with an integrated welding helmet. Both these options have the advantage of being positive-pressure, which means that no fit testing is required to ensure safe use - even if the mask or helmet leaks, the constant supply of clean air at above ambient pressure will prevent the ingress of contaminated air.

saidajigumi 7y ago
An example of PAPR application: I know of a professional woodturner who uses one, a 3M system IIRC. Beyond potential issues with long-term exposure to wood dust, turners tend to use material with unusual provenance compared to commercial timber. That in turn often means "spalted" – i.e. it's got fungal growth in it. It produces some lovely patterning and coloration in the wood, but which you definitely do not want to be breathing. The PAPR effectively combines breathing protection with a common turner's face shield; it's a compelling combination for that kind of work.

adamtj 7y ago

Get a 3M respirator with the appropriate filters for handling lead. When finished, wash up with Hygenall Lead-Off.

m463 7y ago

> Is there anyway to respirate using a pipe placed elsewhere Yes, a CPAP machine. A long tube, remote air with a filter, heated and humidified if you like. And they're designed to adapt to your breathing so you won't know they're on. though to be honest it's more like 2-3 meters, not 20.