Consider this a case study. Let's just use 6061-T6 aluminum as the base metal. what do you prefer to clean it with, and without getting too deeply into the chemistry, why?
I always preferred acetone, personally. I believe it's cleaner than MEK; it certainly doesn't smell as bad. It's also not quite as toxic as MEK.
I like to use alchol because it don't have the fumes that MEK & acetone has but between acetone & mek I would choose acetone because it don't have fumes as bad as MEK.
Isopropal Alcohol is good; for me Acetone the best of the sovlents mentioned. Mek doesn't even rate.
Back in the good ol days... Trichloroethane was without a doubt the best degreasing solvent for aluminum. Oh the crane boom hot tanks........ Hot clouds of Tri-Chlor washing away our grime, grease and contaminants...
Ozone depleation and carbon footprints....
Thanks for nothin Al Gore.
I like to remove heavy soil with hot water (steam if available), then acetone for grease and oil, followed by 90% (or stronger) isopropyl alcohol.
Note that not all alcohols are created equal and some will react with certain metals.
I know what you mean Lawrence, I remember hand washing clutch plates for my bulldozer with Carbon Tet when I was in high school. Maybe that explains the sixth digit growing out of the back of my hand.
Best regards - Al
The list is unending, the things that a welder messes with that are bad for you!
Depending on the grease & oil, acetone might not cut it. A petrolium based solvent does however. Then procede with the acetone & alcohol. I would prefer not to use MEK due to the toxic fumes.
acetone has always been my first choice, a good alcohol as a second, epoxy thinner is ok but not great. Mek and Mpk are not going to be used by me...if your going to use them get a respirator and disposable solvent proof rubber gloves.
Good points but be careful - some epoxy thinners are mostly MEK.
I took a tip from the latest Welding Journal and wear nitrile gloves inside my tig gloves for Al welding. Even though acetone is used as nail polish remover, I still don't want to touch any more of it than I have to. Nitrile is good for acetone. Butyl rubber is the only glove for MEK. Unless you feel your brain is functioning on too high of a level, stay away from MEK. Acetone isn't Kool-Aid, but it's much safer than MEK.
physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/glovesbychemical.htm -great site for chemical glove selection
I think that MEK was banned from use by at least the Army. I am not too sure about the rest of the services. Nasty stuff.
Even with acetone it will eat through rubber gloves. Nasty stuff as well.
Why don't you clean it with water and some wet dry sandpaper?
Since I am not a metalurgist I can't comment about the cholrine content or anything like that messing with what type of material you are trying to clean.
I am sure that someone can help you with that.
I think I'd be laughed right out of my job if I started these guys cleaning with water.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Comparing the MSDS of MEK and Acetone, it appears that Acetone is the least offensive of the two. I just can't figure out why some people are so in love with the MEK, other than the fact that it'll eat everything off the surface you're going to weld on.
But your hands won't get all dried out and chapped and be itchy because of the chemicals. My hands used to get like that after cleaning parts that I did wet mag on with a solvent from a national company. I won't name the company.
It's your skin.
At the aircraft plant we switched over to acetone from cloroflorocarbons because of the long term health risks . Short term is not to noticable at the moment ?. People are affected differently . Technicly what they say you want is the absence of water ! Use the "two rag " method .One with cleaner on it then fallow with one that is dry .If the cleaner avaperates befor you whipe it off then your contamination stayed on the metal . We only used this on aluminum when it was for x-ray quality . They always deoxidised the aluminum first , then made sure that we eliminated the chances of recontamination . This takes effort and conviction on everyones part . The mist from cooling fluids and compresed air flow may also need to be included . When you start to clean without properly handled gloves the metal will pick up oils from your skin . Experiment; put a little hand lotion on your hands then try to clean your safety glasses with glass cleaner . What is suppose to happen is that you should see smears on your glasses from the pickup of hand lotion . Activated charcoal filters are needed with these chemicals . I find it worth while to do a search on any topic , you get many opinions that way .such as chemicals and respiraters . Ventilation is needed !!! If it's not x-ray quality you need then keep the contamination away from the matal and your welding gloves . Throw away coton gloves preferably white so you can see the dirt pickup is a good choise . My favorie way to clean aluminum is to scrape it with a sharp paint scraper . the kind with the blade at right angles to the handel . Not a razer blade , but one with a thicker blade . Filler metals are included in all of this .
Huh???
Respectfully,
Henry
Maybe we been using MEK too long henry, All i got to say to that is "What?"
Not many people pay attention to all the parts of welding . Cleaners are nice but if you don't clean everything that comes in contact with the weld then what is the use . If I understood your huh .
By Flash
Date 12-24-2007 06:40
Hi all
Acetone is the go
The Australian Tech Note, Health and Safety in welding
recommends it, because other hydrocarbons, thinners etc leave a residue which when exposed to UV break down to produce phosgene gas or what is known as mustard gas, this is not good
Acetone does have its own OHS issues, skin contact etc
but from a welding point of view it is the preferred cleaning solvent
R
Flash
www.technoweld.com.au
