How to get on the 6 o'clock news

[Railmeat]

I'm in the process of planking my Penobscot 14. Since we are currently enjoying 30-ish degree temps here in Michigan, I have to use a propane heater to even step foot in the garage to work on the boat. I have one of the tank-top Mr. Heater varieties, and it does quite well for me.

Anyway, when gluing-and-screwing planks on, I have to get the glued joints up to 50-ish degrees in order to get the epoxy to kick. I was doing this by moving the heater under the boat, and moving it forward along the plank every 5 minutes or so. Well, of course I got it too close to one of the other stringer frames, and set it briefly on fire! This will wake you up if you ever do it! Luckily, I was standing in close proximity so I was able to rub it out before it turned into the leading story on the local news, but it scared the hell out of me. There was no damage to the boat, except some minor cosmetic blackening of the frame, but I was lucky. The wood in the boat is very dry at the moment & if I wasn't right there (something I would never do), it could have gone up in a few seconds.

I have since started using an electric heater for this purpose. It doesn't work as well or as quickly, but it is much safer.

Just thought I would share my stupidity.

Don

[J. Dillon]

Don,

That is scary. Do you keep a fire extinguisher near by ?
:rolleyes:
JD

[thechemist]

Keep a large bag of marshmallows, also.

[Railmeat]

Yes, I do have a fire extinguisher handy. However, I think that the better plan is to avoid stupid incidents in the first place, yes? Just thought I'd share the story so others would think about it before doing the same thing.

I like the marshmallow idea. If nothing else, I could cook them over the heater while I'm waiting for the glue to cure.

[Ron Williamson]

A coupla weeks ago two guys around here killed their stupid selves with CO while painting in a propane heated garage. :(
BEWARE
R

[john welsford]

Just a couple of observations. A by product of burning any of the hydrocarbon "natural " gases is water vapour in large quantities, water vapour that will condense out on everything in your workshop when the temperature drops after you turn the heater off. Another nasty is large volumes of formaldehyde in vapour form, not good for you, and thats without counting the co2 ! Some governments have banned portable LPG, Propane and Butane heaters because of these issues and will only allow the type with a proper flue venting to outside.
Dont kill yourself while trying to stop yourself freezing to death.

John W


Originally posted by Railmeat:
I'm in the process of planking my Penobscot 14. Since we are currently enjoying 30-ish degree temps here in Michigan, I have to use a propane heater to even step foot in the garage to work on the boat. I have one of the tank-top Mr. Heater varieties, and it does quite well for me.

Anyway, when gluing-and-screwing planks on, I have to get the glued joints up to 50-ish degrees in order to get the epoxy to kick. I was doing this by moving the heater under the boat, and moving it forward along the plank every 5 minutes or so. Well, of course I got it too close to one of the other stringer frames, and set it briefly on fire! This will wake you up if you ever do it! Luckily, I was standing in close proximity so I was able to rub it out before it turned into the leading story on the local news, but it scared the hell out of me. There was no damage to the boat, except some minor cosmetic blackening of the frame, but I was lucky. The wood in the boat is very dry at the moment & if I wasn't right there (something I would never do), it could have gone up in a few seconds.

I have since started using an electric heater for this purpose. It doesn't work as well or as quickly, but it is much safer.

Just thought I would share my stupidity.

Don

[capt jake]

Another nasty is large volumes of formaldehyde in vapour form, not good for you, and thats without counting the co2 Uh, that should be CO I believe. CO2 only only displaces O2, where as, CO is more readily absorbed into the blood stream than O2. Thus, Co poisoning.

Formaldehyde? From a propane heater? Am I mis-reading something here??

[Mrleft8]

What color is your fire extin :D guisher?

[capt jake]

Not there again?? :D :D

[ion barnes]

Yah, been there, done that. With thanks by the way. So whats with formaldehyde from LPG?

[Dan Cavins]

Just for story-time sake here is my attempt to make the 6:00 cast. First, it was not me. I'm building in a crapy unheated place owned by a kind hearted crazy guy. There is a big gas heater hanging from the ceiling. Last time used??? Owner sais: "Well let's get this thing going!" Turns on gas line. "I don't think we should do that." I insist. I reinsist. To no avail, he's on a roll.
To shorten this up, he needs a longer match. Oh good we don't have one. He rolls up a piece of paper cigar-style. He's on a ladder. More warnings. No stoppin' 'em.
KABOOM!!!!
I went down so fast I saw nothing. It was like a cannon. I look up ready to run for it. His dog and kid are running around hollering and he is on the floor about six feet from where he was. But no fire! He goes: "Well I didn't expect that!" Holy cow. His eyebrows are burned down but there is no damage or serious injury. God loves us and the boat. He turns off the gas. I'll just wear layers thanks. There are more stories, and crap, the boat isn't even done yet. Dan.

[Dave Hadfield]

Yes, there's a school of thought which suggests that you can breathe the by-products of gas heaters if they are "catalytic".

We need Chemist's input here, but I don't think so. You're still burning a hydrocarbon.

I personally wouldn't do it. A reasonable alternative I think is to use the gas heater to warm up everything in your shop, since it's cheaper than electric. Then open the garage door for a minute and have a complete air exchange. Then close the door and continue heating with electric. All your tools and materials will be warm and you'll have clean air to breathe.

[Garrett Lowell]

When burning Methane:

CH4 + (2) O2 yields CO2 + (2) H2O + 940 BTU

Any other byproducts occur due to incomplete combustion (caused usually by a dirty burner or contaminated fuel), or the presence of some other chemicals in the air (such as bleach or gasoline vapors, or maybe epoxy vapors).

This is from a class I had taken at Washington Gas Light company about 6 years ago. I doubt the chemistry of it has changed in that time frame.