How to mess yourself up real quick wth a can of brake cleaner

[Katya Mullethov]

Brake cleaner into phosgene article I though well worth repeating .

http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

Hell of a mess , and yes , Brew -IS- still kicking .

[22Short]

Holly smokes! I was given about three dozen cans of that kind of cleaner a couple years back. I best be careful...

[shredder]

Wow. That phosgene is really bad stuff. WW1 must have been real hell with gasses like that being used as weapons. Brutal.

[waksupi]

We saw warnings of that posted a couple years ago. I leave it alone altogether now.
I watched a guy treat a sand mold by spraying it with brake fluid and graphite, then setting it on fire to cure the surface. I recommended some other flammable for the job, and got a look like I was a two headed fish.

[Von Dingo]

Thanks for posting that!

[Ernest]

wow!!!! I use the stuff all the time. Thank goodness I have never super heated it.




!

[AkMike]

Thank You Katya!

I use a lot of this stuff also.. I need to be more careful now I know more.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

My worse experience with brake cleaner was years ago, when working as a full time
tech, I had on of them little roll-y-round carts you sit on and can puts stuff on the shelf on the bottom. I was doing a brake job of course, set the can on the shelf under me. I leaned forward, oops you guessed it, the can sprayed right on the marble bag!
Lets just say the song "Great balls of fire" came immediately to mind!

[Max Brand]

Thank you to the OP for posting. Many years ago when I was a fireman carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers were quite abundant and I still see them occasionally (just look at ebay). They were thought at one time to be acceptable but it was later found that when this chemical is exposed to heat, the toxicity level inherently increases to produce phosgene, a dangerous gas also known as "nerve gas". This led to the deaths of quite a few firemen before the association was made between heat and carbon tetrachloride. Anything that has "******chloride" listed in the ingredients deserves careful scrutiny.

Max

[stubshaft]

When I was working as a mechanic in the 70's the standard test for leaks in an A/C system was a flame test. This used a propane flame propagator that you moved past the A/C lines. If there was a leak the flame would turn a pretty shade of purple. What they didn't tell us was that when you burn R-12 it creates phosgene gas. Yes, ignorance is bliss.

[izzyjoe]

i use brakecleaner at work, more like we waste more than we use! but i've had that stuff all over me, i've had it in my eye's more than once, and some places i'm not gona mention. but i will say that we get our's from the lowest bidder, so it's the cheapest stuff that can be bought. well one day i was working on my truck at home, and i did'nt have any brake parts cleaner, so off to O'reilly's i go and buy there house brand. well i was using it just like i do everyday, getting it all over my hands, and arms. WOW that stuff set me on fire!! :o

[odfairfaxsub]

tri chloraethne will rip any oil right out of your skin so fast it will burn

[Bren R.]

Dad owned a carpet cleaning business when I was a kid, and being 5' 10" at thirteen years old, I went to work with him, he just made me pull my hat down to cover my baby face and told me not to talk to any clients until my voice had changed.

We used a lot of "perk" - perchloroethylene (or tetrachloroethylene) as a drycleaning solvent back then - which is chemically very similar to Trichloroethylene, except is has an extra Chlorine atom and lacks the Hydrogen. Lifted oils out of carpet better than anything else. Though extracting it with a steam wand and getting it good and airborne probably wasn't the best health-wise.

You knew it was a hard day when your hands had no colour left in them and it took half a jug of lotion to turn you flesh-coloured again.

Bren R.

[Sasquatch-1]

What is the difference between the brakecleaner being talked about and carburetor cleaner he usually used? I have been using carburetor cleaner to clean my molds.

[Bren R.]

Been a while since I read a can of carb cleaner, but I'm pretty sure those are based on methyl-ethyl ketones, benzene or toluene and maybe an ester? (amyl acetate or amyl alcohol?)

All those, while they'll make you high or sick if you were to be exposed for long periods of time, don't do lasting damage in the amounts you're likely to inhale. And they don't degrade into anything too serious.

Bren R.

[Longwood]

I use a lot of the brake cleaner and have been since it first became available.
The Carburetor cleaner has Methyl Ethyl Ketone for the varnishes gas leaves behind.
It is usually more prone to eat plastic but I noticed my RCBS primer pocket brush handle gets soft with the brake cleaner I use from Walmart.
I believe they outlawed the ingredient that made Phosgene many years ago.
I seem to remember it being called tetrahydroclorathane or something spelled much like that.

[Sasquatch-1]

I just happen to have a can of Advance Auto carb cleaner handy. It say it contains petroleum solvents, rubbing alchol, organic ketone and hydrocarbon propelent.

It also states that "WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer."

Does this mean the state of California knows more then the rest of the country? :veryconfu

[stubshaft]

I just happen to have a can of Advance Auto carb cleaner handy. It say it contains petroleum solvents, rubbing alchol, organic ketone and hydrocarbon propelent.

It also states that "WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer."

Does this mean the state of California knows more then the rest of the country? :veryconfu

In california cooking over charcoal causes cancer.:bigsmyl2:

[ilcop22]

This prompted me to go check what I have. Fortunately, I'm using enviro-safe junk which is basically just acetone in aerosol form.

[Longwood]

Walmart sells a degreaser that comes in a can that looks like the brake cleaner..
I think it is near worthless for parts cleaner. It smells like diesel and does not work well for anything other than a release agent in concrete molds.

[johnlaw484]

In california cooking over charcoal causes cancer.:bigsmyl2:

So does spoonin with your bunkie [smilie=w:[smilie=w:

[Von Dingo]

Does this mean the state of California knows more then the rest of the country? :veryconfu

No, they just get cancer easier..

[para-frame]

LOL,

Any way, I have never came across chlorinated brake cleaner in the wild anywhere I have gone. This particular warning only covers chlorinated brake cleaners which haven't been available for public/non commercial/non professional sale in years, even decades in some areas.

[Katya Mullethov]

chlorinated brake cleaners which haven't been available for public/non commercial/non professional sale in years, even decades in some areas.


I stock ONLY chlorinated .

[Arlin]

I've worked in the refrigeration business for over 40 years. I've had my share of burning freon which will choke the hell out of you but never any serious ill effects from it. I think there is more to this story that what we have been told.

Arlin

[.357MAN]

Arlin, I don't know much about burning freon, but the gas the OP wanted to warn us about is Phosgene, which was created when the guy in the article welded on a part that he used brake cleaner on. Tetrachloroethylene is the culprit, it decomposes into phosgene when heated to 600F. Like other have said phosgene was a chemical weapon used in World War 1.

[Katya Mullethov]

Arlin, I don't know much about burning freon, but the gas the OP wanted to warn us about is Phosgene

Yep , you can make that outta R12 . It'll empty outta bunker full of corpulent TV preppers quicker'n you can spit too .

[.357MAN]

Yep , you can make that outta R12 . It'll empty outta bunker full of corpulent TV preppers quicker'n you can spit too .

So why is Arlin ok if he inhaled phosgene?:confused:

[Katya Mullethov]

The dose makes the poison .

[TomBulls]

Nah... It just means the people in California have weaker bodies and are more susceptible to things that the rest of us eat for breakfast!:drinks:

-thomas

[Longwood]

Nah... It just means the people in California have weaker bodies and are more susceptible to things that the rest of us eat for breakfast!:drinks:

-thomas

If you are talking abouyt grits,,,,
I am not sure how toxic they are but they are certainly untolerable at my house.
Wait a second,,,,:idea:
I believe someone said they make good filler.:p

[para-frame]

Seems I was wrong (whats new?) more then half of the states restrict or ban chlorinated brake cleaners but it is still available in some states.

[Chicken Thief]

Whell then again, it never ever said "air freshner" on the can anyway!

Dunk Drano down the tube and hold your personal fumehood directly over the fumigation.
No good either?

So :
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Blandet/Heresyoursign.jpg

[Tokarev]

Tetrachloroethylene is the culprit, it decomposes into phosgene when heated to 600F.

302 F.
Not 600!
Don't need oxyacetylene torch, any flame would do.

[MBTcustom]

Thanks for posting this. That is one of the scariest things I have ever read about. What a nightmare! Its a concern of mine as many who are in my line of work have been killed trying to make a living.

[KYCaster]

Thanks for posting this. That is one of the scariest things I have ever read about. What a nightmare! Its a concern of mine as many who are in my line of work have been killed trying to make a living.



Like Josie Wales said to the bounty hunter........"Diein' aint much of a livin', boy."

Lots of things in our homes and shops will do us harm if we're careless...seems like every day I learn of a new threat to my health and well being. It's a wonder we've all survived as long as we have.

Maybe the law makers in California have it right..........every thing causes cancer.

I've decided to quit worrying about it, so for Lent this year I gave up moderation.:drinks:

Jerry

[Bren R.]

I have to admit I thought about this thread recently and took a few extra minutes to let a chlorinated brake cleaner soaked part dry completely before bringing it near heat.

Bren R.

[Milsurp Junkie]

Phosgene is NOT a nerve agent. It was a chemical warfare agent, but not a nerve agent like Sarin or Tabun. Its mode of action is by decomposing into hydrochloric acid on exposure to water. Thus, people breathing in the gas essentially burned their lungs, which then fills with fluid and death is by pulmonary edema. It is interesting because it smells like musty hay. But by the point you smell it, you are pretty mch at the level that it will kill you.

As an interesting aside, my grandfather fought in WWI for the British. He told me before they had gas masks, they would urinate on a sock and cover their mouth and nose with it and breath through it. The though that ammonia in the urine would render it inert, but it is likely that water would have been just as effective (or ineffective).

[Bren R.]

The high pH in urine (well, relatively high) was used to counter chlorine gas attacks.

And besides... water has a better use in hydration. Urine is otherwise just expelled.

Bren R.

[LeadBrain]

Good reminder to pay attention and have good ventilation! Thanks for posting!

[Char-Gar]

A few years back, I used some brake cleaner to degrease a bullet mold and trace amount got on the counter top. My favorite cat Beamer walked accross it and almost died. It was touch and go for a while. I don't use any type of aresol cleaners anymore. You just can't control 100% of where it goes.