Re: Re: Trichloroethylene (was: covering with mylar)

From: Chris and Josette Borland <candjborland_at_surewest.net>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:52:23 -0700

On Apr 25, 2011, at 5:19 PM, themaxout_at_aol.com wrote:

>
> Brett, no offense, but let me get this straight...you guys are
> using TCE to thin contact cement or 3M77 to cover an indoor ship
> with film?...MEK is about as bad as one should be using.
>
> Back up about 10' and think about that. TCE probably one of the
> more corrosive solvent/degreasers on the planet. It's used as a
> degreaser in contained vats with total enclosed ventilation...like
> dipping snowmobile frames in before priming. The folks in the work
> areas need protective clothing and respirators. Any skin contact
> and your skin is immediately degreased...not a good thing unless
> you don't want to leave any fingerprints. But, it will clean your
> tools though!
>
> It has a vapor pressure that allows it to form a "vapor cloud" over
> its surface. Inside of a jar say that is half full, the vapor
> cloud is probably 1/2"-1"...be careful! The degreaser vats I am
> familiar with were 5' deep and only had 2' of TCE in them...it
> needed about 2' of freeboard above the wet bath to contain the
> vapor cloud...and cover doors with no electric openers on
> them...all mechanical too...no oil. Explosion proof lighting in
> the work area. A hot light bulb could ignite the fumes.
>
> The folks in the work areas need protective clothing and
> respirators. Any skin contact and your skin is immediately
> degreased...not a good thing. But, it will clean your tools though!
>
> Having used it in military and commercial applications it's not
> something you want to have in any quantity in your shop. Plus, you
> just can't dump the excess down your toilet either. My advice is
> find something else.
>
> Rick
>

Nasty stuff. It is (or was) a prime ingredient in many brake cleaners
(right there on the label). Doug Galbreath , the F1C guy, used to use
brake cleaner when he was selling and servicing Selig Timers. He used
to swish the timers around with his fingers until he started to
notice some numbness. Now, a number of years later, he still has a
little numbness. A great cleaner as it dried with no residue and
Selig timers were always a little touchy about cleanliness. The moral
of this story is to use pliers and avoid any contact (which we did
after the problem surfaced).

Chris Borland
Received on Wed Apr 27 2011 - 17:52:04 CEST