If you weld in your garage . . .[Please Read!]

If you weld in your garage, please, go buy a fire extinguisher, and keep it right next to you when welding.

I just bought one at the suggestion of a friend. He told me to buy one. I thought, "I'll never start a fire!" Well, last night, I did. And, if it weren't for my 15 lb. $20 Costco fire extinguisher, I could have lost my car; or much, much more.

Two other things I learned last night. First, that stupid plastic zip tie-like thing that holds the pin in on the extinguishser? Remove it. It cost me a few seconds, a headliner and a back seat. Second, when welding, just****ume you'll start a fire. Really. Keep the extingisher right next to the tanks and regulator. If something starts up, WHAM!, you zap it out instantly. I'm here to tell you the 10 seconds (or more) it takes to run, remove the extinguisher from its wall-mount (or worse, some storage bin or something), grab it, run back to the fire and pull that stupid zip tie thing off, are priceless, PRICELESS seconds.

I am so, so very lucky. I totally learned my lesson.

Another bummer was I had to spend about 3 hours removing my interior to make sure everything was completely out before settling in for the night (and then I didn't sleep a wink on account of my agonizing over what an idiot I was for not thinking about what was on the OTHER side of the metal I was welding. . . ) Fortunately, I did have the smarts to drop the gas tank, air it out completely, and store it far away from where I was welding . . . .

Which I guess is my last point; always think about what your going to heat up OTHER THAN what you want to.

I'm done. Off my soapbox.

Stay safe . . . .

 

damn good advice!!! and sorry to hear about your interior, but interiors can be replaced ALOT cheaper than a house or a whole car so people should head his warning!!!!...so i guess in a sense you were lucky but still*****s

 

Thank god your all right and nothin worse happend. I had a dash fire once and this is always scary subject. Another good pointer is to have a extinisher mounted in your car thats what saved mine.

 

Thanks for the reality check.

 

One time my Buddy Steve and I were working on his '56 Chevy truck... grinding something. The sparks caught the seat on fire... we had no fire extinguisher...

We set a world record for pulling the burning, bolted-in, seat out... less than 30 seconds!

Sam.

 

Also, and I know it sound stupid, but pull the pin before you squeeze the the extinguisher. Some extinguishers have a metal pin and if you are excited and squeeze the handle you will bend the pin and not be able to get it out...ask me how I know! Glad to hear you are alright.

 

I wish I would have read this thread a month ago I did the same thing burned half of my back seat while it was out of the car. I know have an extiguisher in my garage. I glad to hear that everything is safe at your place could have been alot worse for both of us.

 

I only say this out of experience but some old timer told me years ago that " it aint a hot rod till you catch it on fire at least once". if that's the case, then I'm in the club. battery shutoff switches are a really, really good idea for many reasons.

 

I got one . I set a customer's car on fire once. Those wet sheets don't protect***** if allowed to dry out. A little O/T but remember always disconnect battery first when an electric fire pops up. It's the source of the heat.

 

Carry one in your car too.

 

Holy cow been there... When I was building my 71 Camaro, I was welding in my subframe connectors/ The interior was out of it but I had just gotten some Recarro seats for it. I figured it would be fine they sid on metal slides four inches up from the floor right? Well while I was under th car welding one of the seats had fallen backwards... Hense the material was on the floor board... I saw the flames through the drains plug hole in the floor. I got out from under the car to four foot flames out the back window! yeah that*****ed, and my nice Recarro seats were junk not to mention the body work I had done on the roof, and the glass for the back window...

 

I think this is meant that I buy a new one as my 7 yr decided to see what they were a while back, I have not welded anything lately*****tttt i have to weld her 4 wheeler, I have her out there with me rebuilding the carb again and putting new fuel line on it. she helped me rebuild our 125 ymaha carb earlier and install new batteries in both the big ones, now we are tearing hers apart to clean up. Oh yeah we watched some disney movie last night abut a Jr Dragsters and now she wants one of them. I'll be goin by wally world or lowes tonight to get a 20 lb. extinguisher thanks for reminding me.....Oh and yes I did catch a Scout on fire one time, dash and all that fine wiring, up in smoke, I did have a water hose with sprayer on next to me though, but that*****ped lit up really fast. You are right in Seconds,........

 

Thanks for the heads up Slammy. I'm going to check mine when I get home tonight. Glad you're alright man.

 

Wether you weld or not... KEEP A FIRE EXTINGUISHER HANDY!!! I have two in my garage. I had a fire under the hood once and had to put it out with a blanket.. no fun.. In fact it was terror! I thought I was gona loose the car. DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!! The fire started when I arched across the solenoid with a wrench...

 

You were lucky. Its amazing how fast it can spread. Keep an extinguisher in the garage and one in an accessable spot in the car.

It seems building hot rods is as dangerous as driving them.

Glad to hear you are O.K.

 

I have a 5# and a 10# extinguisher mounted to walls in my garage. Also have a 2 1/2# extinguisher bolted to the welding cart. When I weld in a car, I usually have a water bottle with a squirt end on it-you can squeeze and spray water up under things if ya need to. I also stop welding about 30 minutes before I close up the shop-so I can see smoke from anything smoldering where I finished welding (or cutting). These things i learned by experience-been there & done that!

 

good advise, should be the same for cars you've wired up and/or have suspect old wiring. A fire extinguisher in the trunk or under the front bench is better than none on the side of the road.

 

Good advice since we all can tend to become a bit complacent from time to time. I always try to weld outside when possible, but that obviously doesn't mean that there aren't still plenty of things that can go wrong. I do keep an extinguisher on hand.

 

I saw a guy on the side of the road who's truck was on fire. I pulled over, grabbed the fire extinguisher I had in my ride and ran if over to him. He pulled the pin, and nothing happened, no pressure. He was so pissed he threw it at me. I figured his day was bad enough so I didn't make a stink about him hucking the thing at me. I guess that extinguisher had been leaking, so the moral of the story here is just buying them is not good enough, you have to check that they are good once in a while. I also stop welding around 30 minutes before I leave my garage to make sure nothing is smoldering.

 

After lighting my friends 65 GTO on fire I also bolted a fire extinguisher to my welding cart. There's no worse feeling than having to call up a good friend and tell them that you caused a small fire while working on his car. Everything turned out fine but could have almost been totally prevented with a close-by extinguisher.

Good reminder!

 

Get one that uses water and your compressor to pressurise it. I buy them for like $5-10 and have 3 in my garage I weld in. Also have a couple 5 lb chemical ones. These make a mess and eat aluminum .

 

When finding myself in spots without extinguishers, like to have it garden hose right outside the door and already turned on.

Also keep a bucket of water and a sponge near the weld site. Sponge will carry enough water to stop small problems before they get big, and can also be used to dampen nearby areas to prevent problems.

 

Been there before myself. I was welding some metal onto my buddys ride and before you know it, I see the underside of his seat on fire. luckily i have a fire-extingusher in the garage and was able to take care of the situation.

 

I have 1 in the hot rod, 2 in my shop, 1 in the garage and 1 in the kitchen. I also have all of the smoke detectors tied together so that if 1 goes off they all go off.

 

My 2 cents. Keep everything important 30ft from welding. Welding sparks do unimaginable things(loops, uturns, jumps and bounces). Never weld around glass, I also had a bad experience while chasing the rust out behind the back glass of my 57 Plymouth. The headliner material caught fire and I had no extinguisher. Had to rip that***** outta derr, buh duh!! More welding horror stories, but that is the only one that didn't smell like chicken.

 

Fire in the car, the house, the garage or snorting burning rubber or undercoating BAD! The more fire ext's the better. One on the road is a good idea, used one on a semi once.

A quick disconnect for the battery in the under the dash & hood can be a life saver.

I grab a burning wire got a reminder, burnt the hand on the wire under the core support on a 55 Chevy that shorted out.

Wearing a watch under the dash not a good idea, fried the band to my wrist. The water blister same pattern as the band.

Good thread glad your alright

 

Why are you welding with some flammable interior in the car though? Hmmmm.....

 

Plasma cutter + oily rags in a bucket = a really exciting evening. Keep everything flammable in a cabinet, or at least 30 feet away, as was suggested.

Keep your wits and senses sharp when welding. Flames don't readily show up through the lens on your helmet. I found this out during the exciting evening I mentioned above.

Also, think about a welding blanket. $75 spent on a good blanket could save thousands (and MORE) later on...

 

Fire's*****, my former partner has set his shop on fire 3 times, the second one wiped out 3 customer cars, ALWAYS WAIT A 1/2 HOUR BEFORE YOU LEAVE!!!

when I weld on something like a floor I always have someone watching the other side, wet rag in hand.

 

Hey watch your own clothes too, like creepy jack said, you cant see the flames thru your lense too easily. I was welding an i beam at work one day, when i felt my leg getting hot, looked down to find my pants on fire, not fun!