Fume/gas extract

[fungus]

Hi all,

Quick question. During these crappy and cold winter months I don't want to be opening the doors to the garage whilst I'm working in there. The garage is a just bigger than single width but double height so plenty of free space and the doors aren't sealed.

I've got a spare high flow axial extractor fan from a bathroom job and was thinking of rigging it up with a flexible 5" near my workspace and then run the vent through the cat fap (don't worry, that cat's already dead so it wont mistake the tubing for a new entry!!! ).

Will this be sufficient or will my missus come in to find me blue on the floor?

Cheers
James

 

[madkayaker]

it will help but probably not enough. What is the extract rate on the fan and length of the hose will make a big reduction on flow rate

 

[fungus]

Flow rate for the fan is about 50l/s (180 cu.m/hr) so that will drop a bit with pipe losses, thinking about it it might need a decent size vent to ensure the air does change.

Estimated volume of garage is 50 cu.m so at 3.5 air changes /hr I suspect now that it's not going to be near enough.

Anyone know the min spec for air changes when welding?

 

[Weldingartisan]

Unless you are production welding, using celulose MMA or exotic alloys, you won't 'need' any extract. If it does get too fumey, go and have a cup of tea for a few minutes! W/A

 

[fungus]

Cheers WA

 

[Paul.]

Maybe its true that occasional exposure to welding fumes is fairly harmless, but a read of some of these google hits may make you think about proper extraction, all the welding consumables now have a warning on them regarding manganese exposure.

 

[Psymon]

Must have it then.

Argggh, I must have been exposed too much - only done about 3 hours of welding since getting the portamig recently. Or do you think it could be nothing?

Moving slower - usually before going to bed...
Shaking/tremors - usually after holding up plaster board for about 15 mins.
Loss of balance - After several glasses of wine
Physical stiffness - After taking the dog out.
Leg cramps at night - Sometimes
Less coordination - After several glasses of wine
Slurring speech - After several glasses of wine
Face muscles tightening - After several glasses of wine or watching Lee Evans
Poor handwriting - For as long as I can remember (however I never did any welding at school)
Walking difficulties - After several glasses of wine
Anxiousness & irritability - After many sleepless nights (Have a Baby)
Impotence - After several glasses of wine or after many sleepless nights.
Emotional changes - After several glasses of wine or after many sleepless nights.
Short term loss of memory - What am I doing here?

 

[madkayaker]

that's just old age creeping up on you

 

[Weldingartisan]

Maybe its true that occasional exposure to welding fumes is fairly harmless, but a read of some of these google hits may make you think about proper extraction, all the welding consumables now have a warning on them regarding manganese exposure.

Yes Paul, but if we all took notice of every 'elf & safety' warning nobody would get out of bed in the morning! After all most advice is mearly an a*rse covering exercise in this nanny state so they don't get sued.
Did you see that post on UK Welder on the female welder celebrating her 100th birthday? Can't be that bad for you! Go on sniff it up - I have for the last 40 years and don't feel a day over 90! cough, cough, splutter.......... W/A

 

[fungus]

Cheers for the responses guys, think i'll take the common sense approach and not snort the fume too much!

Don't think the wife would notice much difference if I did judging by the list of symptoms!