Fire in the Foundry

[awemawson]

Early this afternoon I melted a bit of aluminium alloy - just pouring to ingot - less than a kilogram.

For some (very fortunate) reason I decided this evening to weigh it - and unlocking the workshop was greeted by a pungent smell. Got stronger as I went through the fire doors into the foundry - somethings burning.

Now admittedly there was a bit of a splash as I poured the ingot, but nothing exceptional - but here were are with the floor channel Acco drain totally burnt out, the timber of a stout castered dolly that was in the foundry still gently crackling with red hot embers, and charring round the fire extinguisher and up towards the only bit of timber wall cladding.

This could have been bad - and I mean REALLY bad - if that bit of timber clad wall had gone up in flames the whole back wall of my workshop could have burnt :bugeye:

Oddly there was a floor mop and bucket totally melted and burnt out that I'd used to mop up antifreeze spills from recently replacing all the furnace coolant - had it dried and spontaneously combusted ? I don't think so but have no proof - I THINK what happened was a splash of molten aluminium had got into the (dry) floor drain channel which probably had quite a bit of fluff in it, and as it burnt along it's length took the rest with it.

But heck - this is a rude awakening.

I've moved the still glowing bits of the dolly outside and doused it with a few buckets of water, and sprayed every where that there has been charring with a hand pump water spray, and will come back in an hour and re-check everything.

 

[Windy Miller]

You were so lucky there Andrew - could have been SO much worse

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

You need more than that non maintained 2kg CO2 extinguisher.

At least a 6lt foam, 1m fire blanket. Plus a replacement CO2.

 

[Seadog]

That was a close one, Andrew. A salutory lesson indeed.

 

[Barking Mat]

Smoke alarm time !

With some warning system to your phone / house ?

A close shave indeed.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

What a lucky chap you are!!! Could have had really serious repercussions.

Buy a Lottery ticket, but please wait until next week as I have one for tomorrow's Euromillions draw.

 

[Stueeee]

Good job that you found it in time. That could have been so much worse.

A workshop fire is a real fear of mine. All my building interiors are built of resistant material, but of course there's fuel everywhere -tins of paint, paint thinner, motor oil, gas cylinders etc. When I lived at home, one of my elder brothers started a petrol fire when he was testing an electric fuel pump, as a result, the whole Garage/workshop complex was gutted. The two elder brothers managed to manhandle the (full size) Oxy Acetylene cylinders out into the garden before the fire brigade turned up -the fire brigade built a pond using a tarpaulin and ladders and put the rather warm cylinders into it to rest for a few days.

 

[Turbo]

Something that was drummed into me when working in a factory - always keep a fire watch for at least an hour after any hot work! If I'm doing any hot work at home I do something else afterwards for an hour or so after to keep an eye out for fires.

 

[arther dailey]

too close for comfort , glad that it turned out as it has for you

 

[Morrisman]

That pic of the smoke stained fire extinguisher is a touch ironic.

"Couldn't get the fire out, officer, the extinguisher was on fire...."

Lucky escape though, lesson learned I reckon.

 

[Screwdriver]

****!

 

[DAPPH]

Early this afternoon I melted a bit of aluminium alloy - just pouring to ingot - less than a kilogram.

For some (very fortunate) reason I decided this evening to weigh it - and unlocking the workshop was greeted by a pungent smell. Got stronger as I went through the fire doors into the foundry - somethings burning.

Now admittedly there was a bit of a splash as I poured the ingot, but nothing exceptional - but here were are with the floor channel Acco drain totally burnt out, the timber of a stout castered dolly that was in the foundry still gently crackling with red hot embers, and charring round the fire extinguisher and up towards the only bit of timber wall cladding.

This could have been bad - and I mean REALLY bad - if that bit of timber clad wall had gone up in flames the whole back wall of my workshop could have burnt :bugeye:

Oddly there was a floor mop and bucket totally melted and burnt out that I'd used to mop up antifreeze spills from recently replacing all the furnace coolant - had it dried and spontaneously combusted ? I don't think so but have no proof - I THINK what happened was a splash of molten aluminium had got into the (dry) floor drain channel which probably had quite a bit of fluff in it, and as it burnt along it's length took the rest with it.

But heck - this is a rude awakening.

I've moved the still glowing bits of the dolly outside and doused it with a few buckets of water, and sprayed every where that there has been charring with a hand pump water spray, and will come back in an hour and re-check everything.

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Plastic buckets especially newish ones that haven't fully dried off the oils they are made from can easily ignite from angle grinder sparks or the odd escapee glob of vertical CO2 weld .
I nearly had a major problem a good half hour after ceasing welding . I never weld , grind , use any flame or anything hot in the last 1/2 hr. of being in the mancupboard

Fortunately I can see the mancupboard as I walk to the bathroom to clean up , I thank god I didn't drop electric roller door down or I'd not have seen the fire .
A tiny glob of red hot vertical weld escaped and obviously landed in the bucket of Delrin , other bits of plastic off cuts and all manner of small metal scrap under the bench , which eventually self fed the fire to become a serious 18 inch high flamer under the bench next to the CO2 and argon cylinders

To check my theory of what happened I set up a new orange B&Q bucket outside , with the same sort of materials in it , caused a glob of CO2 weld to fall in it between the contents and the bucket wall .
For 14 or so seconds I couldn't see any flame, it didn't even smell , by 20 seconds a tiny 2 mm high flame was visible . 23 min later the whole bucket was well ablaze .

For the fire in the mancupboard I turned a hose pipe on it and dragged out what was left whilst wearing welding gloves . It gave off exceedingly acidic fumes which had a nasty effect on my chest for several days

The resultant acid and water fumes turned every bare steel surface in the mancupboard rusty over night . So I spent the next couple of days with Scotchbrite pad & hot soapy water de rusting & cleaning everything , then used WD 40 to lightly lube everything again .

 

[roofman]

Wow close call there...as stated above after i have finished welding i never ever just shut shop and go in doors, stick around for at least 30mins cleaning up etc and sniff all that time for smells.

 

[awemawson]

I had a Launderette go up in flames some years ago due to loose mains incomer power feed cables,(*) ironically one of the few things that survived and featured in the Fire Brigade photos was my .Fire Prevention inspection log where staff signed off daily that they'd checked for fluff buildup and clothes left in hot driers; The insurance inspector was quite impressed !

(*UKPN removed the head and woyuldn't let anyone see it !!!!)

 

[mtt.tr]

Good job that you found it in time. That could have been so much worse.

A workshop fire is a real fear of mine. All my building interiors are built of resistant material, but of course there's fuel everywhere -tins of paint, paint thinner, motor oil, gas cylinders etc. When I lived at home, one of my elder brothers started a petrol fire when he was testing an electric fuel pump, as a result, the whole Garage/workshop complex was gutted. The two elder brothers managed to manhandle the (full size) Oxy Acetylene cylinders out into the garden before the fire brigade turned up -the fire brigade built a pond using a tarpaulin and ladders and put the rather warm cylinders into it to rest for a few days.

Mine to, I fear grinding to ignite a hidden pile of wood shavings or dust or a rag.

 

[AVI_8]

Wow close call there...as stated above after i have finished welding i never ever just shut shop and go in doors, stick around for at least 30mins cleaning up etc and sniff all that time for smells.

Me too, I’m a bit paranoid after welding in a wooden workshop, I’ve a smoke detector, heat detector and both wired to an external siren.

 

[Morrisman]

Wow close call there...as stated above after i have finished welding i never ever just shut shop and go in doors, stick around for at least 30mins cleaning up etc and sniff all that time for smells.

One thing I do in my little wood workshop is regularly hoover up the dog fluff that seems to get everywhere. The dogs never been in the shop, yet there's balls of dog fluff everywhere, under cupboards, around all my stuff, perfect kindling for a stray spark to catch hold of.

 

[awemawson]

I was amazed how inflamable the thick heavy duty plastic Acco drain slats obviously are - they've burnt to cinders along their entire length.

Remedial actions:

A/ Fill the (redundant) drain channel with concrete (It dates from when the foundry was an uncovered yard)

B/ Remove the approximately 5 foot x 6 foot feather board cladding and replace with fibre cement properly sealed top and bottom

C/ Fit some sort of Smoke detector with a remote siren or maybe radio link to the house, but it's a long way - (perhaps 100 metres)

 

[tom2207]

too close for comfort ,,, a cup of tea at the end of the day after hot work is no bad habbit then a look about and go home ,,,
glad it all ended as well as it did ,,,

 

[Robotstar5]

Something that was drummed into me when working in a factory - always keep a fire watch for at least an hour after any hot work! If I'm doing any hot work at home I do something else afterwards for an hour or so after to keep an eye out for fires.

We were the same, an hour fire watch then go back and check an hour later.