Acetone

[S.Recchia]

When I first joined this site, I thought that people where just joking around with how much Acetone is used, now I think some of you are serious.
If you are using Acetone please be safe about it. Look at the MSDS, here is one.
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/A0446.htm

Some highlights, It is Extremely Flammable and has a Moderate Health Hazard.
The routes to exposure from it are, Inhalation, Indentation, Skin and Eye contact.
Has a flashpoint of -04 F and can have a flash fire just from vapors.
Do not induce vomiting if swallowed, and if they need mouth to mouth, don’t do it, and get medical help. If on skin or eyes, wash for 15 minutes then get medical help.
If you use it there should be adequate ventilation or wear a respirator, wear impervious boots, apron, shirt, and gloves, and wear goggles or a face mask.
As far as compatibility, the Acetone has a severe reaction with ABS plastic, Buena N (nitrile), CPVC, Polycarbonate, Polyurethane, and a ton of other plastic so to be safe you need to find safety gear not made of those.

The effects of Acetone can be long term, so who knows what will happen to you after 10 years of using this stuff, and who knows what other problems will arise with exposure to Acetone. After all remember when Asbestos and Lead where good?

[zapster]

Same thing basically applys to gasoline..

Tell us something we don't know.


...zap!

[littlefuzz]

Some people might not know, and some don't have any common sense either I think this was good info, precise and to the point.

[S.Recchia]

Same thing basically applys to gasoline..

Tell us something we don't know.


...zap!

Wow, what a great response from a site leader. Since you wanted to know more, the differences in between gasoline and Acetone are. Gasoline compatibility with Buena N ( nitrile), CPVC, Polycarbonate, and a few other plastics is excellent to fair. This matters because people can easily and inexpensively guard them from hazards. But try to find cheep gloves and a suit for Acetone $$$.
Also with gas, most people ( I hope) are not willing to place their bare hands in it to dunk something, then wipe it off and weld on it. While whiffing in the sweet smell of gas.

I just wanted to make sure people are aware of the dangers of Acetone while some people just list the benefits. In my opinion ( or maybe my laziness), it is not worth it on a typical job to use acetone when you can save the time it will take to put on the extra safety gear, and just give a few more brush strokes with a ss brush.

[DDA52]

isn't assatone what they chase takeelya down with????

[zapster]

isn't assatone what they chase takeelya down with????

Not exactly..

I get rid of poison ivy with it..

...zap!

[Mark...]

and just give a few more brush strokes with a ss brush.

It depends on what you consider a "typical job"

Normally what I have seen and used solvent type liquids have been used to remove grease, oil, etc.. Brushing these with a wire brush would not only just smear it around, but now your nice stainless brush is full of grease. Now take that brush to your next piece that is relatively clean and all you get is muck off of your brush onto the base metal.

[mark8310]

It depends on what you consider a "typical job"

Normally what I have seen and used solvent type liquids have been used to remove grease, oil, etc.. Brushing these with a wire brush would not only just smear it around, but now your nice stainless brush is full of grease. Now take that brush to your next piece that is relatively clean and all you get is muck off of your brush onto the base metal.

Well, Mark, there maybe you have a reason, I suspect what the OP here was referring to was the routine use of this stuff on everything, whether warranted or not. There are risks in everything we do, but you want the benefit to outweigh the risks. And, if you properly understand the hazards of the materials, you can either pick a less hazardous solvent, or use it with the proper precautions, thus mitigating the risks to yourself and those around you.

Personally, I think this is the perfect kind of post, this board needs more of. We get plenty of pretty pics, plenty of guys showing off, but this, I think, is where somebody like the OP shows real leadership, I wish I thought of it myself. We all hear, "acetone this, acetone that, splash it on, wipe, and weld." "You get little black spots in your welds????? MORE acetone !!!!!......" but never, has anybody, had the guts and foresight yet (that I've seen, anyway), to actually spell out the dangers and properties of the material, and post up a link where we can find out more about it.

And while we're on the subject, don't forget,,, the dangers of a little thing called "spontaneous combustion" ..... pack a bucket full of solvent rags, acetone rags, whatever, they don't even need to be wet, I've seen it happen ......

[Matthew]

Tell us something we don't know.


...zap!

putting acetone in your gas tank helps the gas to vaporize alot better, hence leading to a more complete combustion. less liquid gasoline needs to be used causing your fuel mileage to increase.

dont believe me? GOOGLE IT!!

[Burnit]

If you need to have it explained to you that Acetone is a dangerous chemical that you can't drink, shouldn't put in your eyes or rub on your skin, then you have no business melting steel with electricity or fire, using any type of powered tool or sharp object.

[mark8310]

If you need to have it explained to you that Acetone is a dangerous chemical that you can't drink, shouldn't put in your eyes or rub on your skin, then you have no business melting steel with electricity or fire, using any type of powered tool or sharp object.

Unlike you, I, and I suspect most of the rest of us, weren't born out of the womb knowing the hazards of acetone, or anything else for that matter. We had to learn everything we know somewhere, this site is a place many other people not naturally knowledgeable about stuff can learn from.

Can you quote, word for word, the hazards and precautions Mr. S.Recchia cited above???? I learned something very valuable from his posting today, namely, that Polycarbonate is NOT resistant to acetone. And what is one of the most common materials safety glasses and other eye protection is made of???? Yep,,,,,,, POLYCARBONATE!!!!!!!!

[MicroZone]

Believe it or not, we spray it right on our SS oil seperators immediately after welding. We weld these things with oil in them, once heated from the weld, the oil seeps out, so we hit it (the cone gap) with the acetone....and resume welding.

It IS important to know the material you're working with, read the MSDS and know what works and what doesn't.

[David R]

I don't have much use for the stuff. I did find out if I wipe my aluminum filler rods with a rag soaked in acetone, I get a lot of stuff off the rod. Try it with a white rag. I HAVE HAD the rag catch on fire because I didn't get it far away enough from where I was welding. My own stupidity. I usually use stuff called Shop Kleen (wellworth) or Shop Solve (castle) which is more of an alcohol based solvent with the same results as acetone and a lot less hazard.

I don't care for flammables in my welding shop at all.

David

[zapster]

Acetone mixed with gasoline is a stupid idea..


Well i'm gonna throw some acetone on the fire...



Doing this does nothing twards efficency according to a independant fuel systems engineer that was interviewed

He's aware of the rumors about acetone and mileage floating around on the web and says his equipment is precise to decect anything over 1 percent

No increase was reported whatsoever...

He goes on to say

"Adding acetone is worse than useless...its actually harmful..and while it will combust in a engine(in fact its high octane) acetone is a very powerful solvent. so while the acetone is sitting in your cars fuel system it'll eagerly be dissolving all the rubber components like gaskets and o-rings along the way"

"Not to mention that most cars and trucks have a rubber hose that directs fuel to the tank and the raw acetone can and will eat the rubber thus contaminating the fuel and continue to eat away at the rubber hose"


I guess thats enough..


...zap!

[Mondo]

It is always nice to have accurate and valid information about hazardous materials available. I do not wish to detract from the validity of the safety information or the applicability of that information to this site. But I would like to add my own comments to this thread.

Mythbusters did a segment on automotive fuel efficiency and one of the tests was addition of acetone to gasoline. Their test revealed that the acetone tainted gasoline reduced the fuel efficiency. I.E. MPG was worse with acetone in the gas. Check this urban legend at snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/acetone.asp

By the way, if you really want to spread safety info about acetone make sure you tell your wife and all your girlfriends who paint their finger nails and toe nails, too!. Make sure the local nail salon is aware of this as well. Acetone is a vehicle in finger nail polish and is the primary solvent in nail polish remover. All those pretty girls with the pretty painted nails have been sniffing the stuff for years! Why do you think they are so happy comming from the salon? Wheeeeeee!!

-Mondo

[mark8310]

That's why I don't paint my nails before welding ......

[Oldiron2]

The effects of Acetone can be long term, so who knows what will happen to you after 10 years of using this stuff, and who knows what other problems will arise with exposure to Acetone. After all remember when Asbestos and Lead where good?

There is nothing wrong with pointing out hazards, but I thought the tone of the first post was a little strong, hence the response. Zap. is correct in that gasoline is a mix of many complex chemicals, some of which are believed to be far more 'hazardous' than acetone.
The Federal government mandated reductions in Benzene levels due to their perceived long-term exposure hazards, then caused/allowed MTBE to be added instead. Benzene has insignificant solubility in water, MTBE is completely miscible in water and is also a more reactive molecule, being an ether with an -O- group in the middle. Thus, instead of being exposed to tiny amounts of 'carcinogenic" fumes, some people now have MTBE in their water supplies from leaking gasoline tanks (where the leak was often caused by the MTBE). re the Govt.: "we are here to protect you".
The long-term hazards of acetone are reasonably insignificant, based on studies of people involved in its use in both labs and industry. Its real hazards are short term, mainly fire and explosion, dermatitis and in very high levels, narcosis and suffocation. Long term exposure to constant high levels can't be good for livers but there is no need for such exposure either.
I have used far more acetone, chloroform (CHCl-3 or 'chicle-three'), dioxane, alcohols (methyl-, ethyl-, isopropyl-, amyl-,) pyridine, etc. for the extraction of drugs and poisons from bodily fluids and tissues than most of you will use in a lifetime of welding, so needed to be aware of their hazards. Just keep them in perspective. Fumes from welding pose a far greater risk to welders than is commonly understood, and getting overly concerned about other less dangerous things can detract from the more immediate problems.

[Broccoli1]

A little boy was sitting on the curb with a gallon of
turpentine and shaking it up and watching all the
bubbles.

A while later a Priest came along and asked
the little boy what he had.

The little boy replied, 'This is the most powerful
liquid in the world, it's called turpentine.'

The Priest said, 'No, the most powerful liquid in the
world is Holy Water. If you take some of this Holy
Water and rub it on a pregnant women's belly,
she'll pass a healthy baby.'

The little boy replied, 'You take some of this here
turpentine and rub it on a cat's butt and he'll
pass a Harley Davidson.

[MoonRise]

Good reminder that acetone is a chemical that does have safety and health risks.

Be aware of them.

Most of the stuff we use has safety and health risks. Solvents, molten metal, sharp chips or edges, electricity, power tools, etc, etc, etc.

Watch out for dihydrogen oxide, nasty stuff.

[Oldiron2]

Watch out for dihydrogen oxide, nasty stuff.

Yes, 'specially when it's Holy, frozen or yellow!

[jamlit]

I don't have much to add here but will remind everyone that you should always read the MSDS for any chemical you are using or around. Some thing are very nasty. Even the ones you don't believe will hurt you.

[Scott Young]

for those interested just read the op's previous posts. this is more of the same.

[Burnit]

While pointing out that Acetone is dangerous and you should read the MSDS sheet is good info. Half of the OP's posts concern either Zapster or Acetone. I think this guy is just some jag who "just so happens" to have the same name as Zapster, and needs to break balls for some reason.

Am I the first person to say this out loud? What gives?

[MicroZone]

Doo DOO doo doo (twilight zone music) ...anything is possible on this site.

[Scott Young]

While pointing out that Acetone is dangerous and you should read the MSDS sheet is good info. Half of the OP's posts concern either Zapster or Acetone. I think this guy is just some jag who "just so happens" to have the same name as Zapster, and needs to break balls for some reason.

Am I the first person to say this out loud? What gives?

my point exactly! you win! your prize is in the mail