Shielding Gas Safety - please feel free to comment/add info

[Wozzaaah]

Ok all, it's been a while since I promised it but I've now uploaded the gas safety sticky. Please feel free to comment in this thread as I've locked the other to avoid it getting cluttered. Any feedback is welcome and any suggestions or useful links can be added to the sticky as required.
Thanks.

 

[Robotstar5]

Looks pretty comprehensive, only thing spotted on 1st read through was typo in Transport & Handling - authorites / authorities

Is it worth continuing into regulators (types / use / safety etc) or would that be a seperate thread?

Cheers, Stuart.

 

[irondarren]

looks good to me, you have the thing in there that many over look. open the valve slowly. All common sense really. but it certainly helps to have sticky locked threads like that, to help people with safety issues. Nice one.
Could do with more of those for other issues and tools. Be almost nice in a way, if Malcolm had a health and safety section very much like his wonderful tutorials, attached to the forum.

 

[jugs]

looks good to me, you have the thing in there that many over look. open the valve slowly. All common sense really. but it certainly helps to have sticky locked threads like that, to help people with safety issues. Nice one.
Could do with more of those for other issues and tools. Be almost nice in a way, if Malcolm had a health and safety section very much like his wonderful tutorials, attached to the forum.[/quote]

I'm doing one,
Malcom asked me some time ago & it's 90% done but we've had some health problems - Mrs jugs with new hip + heart attack + triple bypass so hope I can get it done soon.

Well done woz you beat me to it, havent had a chance to proof read yours yet I'm sure it'll be good.

 

[irondarren]

well jugs i hope you and yours are all better soon, look forward to read it

 

[Wozzaaah]

Looks pretty comprehensive, only thing spotted on 1st read through was typo in Transport & Handling - authorites / authorities

Is it worth continuing into regulators (types / use / safety etc) or would that be a seperate thread?

Cheers, Stuart.

Thanks Stuart, sorted that typo. Hadn't thought much about regulators, I could certainly add a bit about them, like you say, types, care of, correct fitting of etc. would be worth having it on there.

 

[malcolm]

Looks fab! Thanks Woz.

I've added it to site near the other shielding gas pages http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/cylinder-safety.htm so people coming in from that route have a chance of finding it too. Also linked it in from the shielding gas library thread.

I'm not sure people would read a dedicated health and safety section on the site, though mixing relevant safety pages in when they are looking at related things probably saves a few fingers.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Thanks Malcolm.
Just spotted another typo, in the 'snifting' bit of the cylinder use section, 'you point' is 'youpoint' I've done the sticky one so if you'd be so kind as to change it for me in the other one please as that's out of my powers.
Ta

 

[malcolm]

Cool, I found a typo of my own to fix as well.

 

[Gasman]

Shielding Gas Safety

Quoted from gas safety sticky Cylinder identification:

Welding shielding gases are commonly one of three types, argon, argon & carbon dioxide mixes of various compositions and carbon dioxide.
Cylinders are colour coded;

argon cylinders are green
argon/co2 mix cylinders are green with a bright green shoulder
carbon dioxide cylinders are black with a silver/grey shoulder.
Some carbon dioxide cylinders contain a Dip tube to extract the liquid from the cylinder. The tube runs down the centre of the cylinder and draws the liquid carbon dioxide up through the valve. These can be identified by the white stripe down the side - THEY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR USE WITH REGULATORS.
All the three basic types of shielding gases are heavier than air and are asphyxiants so should only be used in well-ventilated areas.
Industrial gas cylinders typically have to be tested every 10 years to ensure they are in good order with some having a test period of 5 years. End Quote

Please read all of this:

Not saying that the information posted by Wozz is incorrect; However I believe it's important to add the following because it could be misconstrued by inexperienced persons that the cylinder colour code system is the correct method of identification when this is not always the case.

You should always read the label:

All cylinders from legitimate sources will have a label which clearly identifies the type of Gas or its trade name, The UN code and supplier information.

Cylinders which contain gases under the umbrella of "inert gas" (under the latest system) will have a bright green collar and the body of the cylinder could in fact be green,blue,black,brown or any shade of grey!!

If cylinders designed for inert gas have not been returned or retested since the introduction of the new colour codes the collar "could" still be white and the body blue/green.

Nitrogen & helium (not for welding) or mixtures thereof could also share the same cylinder colour codes as mixtures commonly known as argon shield (and various trade names) designed for MIG, High purity argon "could" have a green or indeed white collar or "could" be plain green or blue.

This is just an example as to why you should always double check the label and use colour codes only as a guide prior to dealing with any cylinder.
Hope this helps.

 

[Gasman]

Typical, Sorry guys, I have just found this thread after adding to the sticky earlier with some comments in my own thread. Don't know if its worth pasting on to this one somewhere??

 

[Wozzaaah]

Yes, it does help greatly! Thanks very much Gasman, I'll modify the sticky to include your info .
Anything else you think needs adding, please feel free to say so.