Fun with a 225A arc welder!
tesla500, Sat Jun 17 2006, 04:24AMThis is a video of us using a 225A welder to burn some old wires. The first two parts of the video are 26AWG wires underwater, with the current set to 30A (notice that the insulation of the wire glows, while remaining intact on the first part) . On the third part, the welder is connected to a computer power supply cable and connector, with the current set to maximum. All four wires of the cable are in parallel:
http://www3.telus.net/tesla/Wire%20Burn.avi
More to come soon...
Walter and David
[Edit: Fixed broken link]
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
thom, Wed Jun 21 2006, 08:43AM
I like the large fan used to blow all of the toxic smoke outside.
:)
thom, Wed Jun 21 2006, 08:43AM
I like the large fan used to blow all of the toxic smoke outside.
:)
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Kipmans, Wed Jun 21 2006, 07:31PM
I also did quite a few "burning wire" experiments (most of them were unintentionally, tough
). The smoke from the melting insulation is really nasty...
Kipmans, Wed Jun 21 2006, 07:31PM
I also did quite a few "burning wire" experiments (most of them were unintentionally, tough
). The smoke from the melting insulation is really nasty...Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
ShawnLG, Wed Jun 21 2006, 07:58PM
Wire insulation is made of PVC, when burnt, it would release poisonous chloride gas. I hope you did not breath in any of the smoke.
ShawnLG, Wed Jun 21 2006, 07:58PM
Wire insulation is made of PVC, when burnt, it would release poisonous chloride gas. I hope you did not breath in any of the smoke.
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Thingmaker3, Thu Jun 22 2006, 05:17AM
Not all insulation is PVC. Depends on the wire. Some insulation is made of teflon, various polyurathanes, Tefzel, neoprene, and all kinds of other stuff. Teflon fumes are not bad health-wise. A lot of the other stuff can indeed be nasty on the lungs.
Tes, how many watts and what wire size & length were used?
Thingmaker3, Thu Jun 22 2006, 05:17AM
Not all insulation is PVC. Depends on the wire. Some insulation is made of teflon, various polyurathanes, Tefzel, neoprene, and all kinds of other stuff. Teflon fumes are not bad health-wise. A lot of the other stuff can indeed be nasty on the lungs.
Tes, how many watts and what wire size & length were used?
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Bjørn, Thu Jun 22 2006, 06:30AM
Bjørn, Thu Jun 22 2006, 06:30AM
Teflon fumes are not bad health-wiseExcept when they cause irritation, burns and death that is.
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Marko, Thu Jun 22 2006, 08:24AM
I guess you will hardly die of half a meter of burned wite.
Doesn't smell good but it's far from some super-lethal-mass-destruction chemical weapon.
I hope yu didn't sniff that for long after filming entire thing...
Marko, Thu Jun 22 2006, 08:24AM
Except when they cause irritation, burns and death that is.
I guess you will hardly die of half a meter of burned wite.
Doesn't smell good but it's far from some super-lethal-mass-destruction chemical weapon.
I hope yu didn't sniff that for long after filming entire thing...
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Eric, Thu Jun 22 2006, 05:55PM
Most common wire insulation are PVC blends since PVC is so cheap. There are some powerful carcinogens put off by incomplete burning of PVC, dioxins, chlorinated furans, etc. The HCl is probably least of your worries. Not stuff you think about when you are young and invincible I guess.
Eric, Thu Jun 22 2006, 05:55PM
Most common wire insulation are PVC blends since PVC is so cheap. There are some powerful carcinogens put off by incomplete burning of PVC, dioxins, chlorinated furans, etc. The HCl is probably least of your worries. Not stuff you think about when you are young and invincible I guess.
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Thingmaker3, Thu Jun 22 2006, 11:16PM
Walter and David, how many watts and what size & length of wire were used?
Thingmaker3, Thu Jun 22 2006, 11:16PM
Bjørn Bæverfjord wrote ...
Ordinary air can cause irritation, burns and death if it's hot enough. Teflon fumes are not as bad as PVC fumes. This is why many fire codes require teflon insulated conductors in plenum spaces. Teflon fumes are not bad health-wiseExcept when they cause irritation, burns and death that is.
Walter and David, how many watts and what size & length of wire were used?
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Bjørn, Thu Jun 22 2006, 11:23PM
Bjørn, Thu Jun 22 2006, 11:23PM
Ordinary air can cause irritation, burns and death if it's hot enough.In this case the air was not even warm so it is irrelevant. PTFE fumes are far more dangerous than air at room temperature.
Teflon fumes are not as bad as PVC fumes. This is why many fire codes require teflon insulated conductors in plenum spaces.We can all agree with that.
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Marko, Fri Jun 23 2006, 06:09PM
Can you explain how do teflon fumes actually cause burns?
Marko, Fri Jun 23 2006, 06:09PM
Except when they cause irritation, burns and death that is.
Can you explain how do teflon fumes actually cause burns?
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
GimpyJoe, Fri Jun 23 2006, 06:43PM
Come on, folks! Here's an idea: DON'T BREATHE FUMES FROM BURNING PLASTIC!!! In fact, why not just avoid burning the plastic to begin with. No need to fight over which plastic is worse, it's all nasty.
But Tesla500, the underwater wire heating is pretty cool.
GimpyJoe, Fri Jun 23 2006, 06:43PM
Come on, folks! Here's an idea: DON'T BREATHE FUMES FROM BURNING PLASTIC!!! In fact, why not just avoid burning the plastic to begin with. No need to fight over which plastic is worse, it's all nasty.
But Tesla500, the underwater wire heating is pretty cool.
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Bjørn, Fri Jun 23 2006, 11:47PM
There is no argument if other decomposing polymers are more dangerous, the disagreement was about the statement "Teflon fumes are not bad health-wise".
Bjørn, Fri Jun 23 2006, 11:47PM
Can you explain how do teflon fumes actually cause burns?At high temperatures it decomposes to hydrogen fluoride and other fluorine compounds that are very corrosive that may cause chemical burns that will develop for many hours after exposure.
There is no argument if other decomposing polymers are more dangerous, the disagreement was about the statement "Teflon fumes are not bad health-wise".
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
Bored Chemist, Sat Jun 24 2006, 07:59AM
While Teflon fumes are actually exceptionally nasty, heating PTFE cannot generate HF. There's no hydrogen. On the other hand, due to the presence of water in the atmosphere that's a technical point. Of course, it's not a great idea to breath the fumes from burning anything. In the grand scheme of things a few experiments like this are not likely to kill anyone. It would be a different matter if someone were recovering scrap copper by burning off the insulation from lots of cable.
Can we now get back to the gratuitous destruction we all know and love?
Bored Chemist, Sat Jun 24 2006, 07:59AM
While Teflon fumes are actually exceptionally nasty, heating PTFE cannot generate HF. There's no hydrogen. On the other hand, due to the presence of water in the atmosphere that's a technical point. Of course, it's not a great idea to breath the fumes from burning anything. In the grand scheme of things a few experiments like this are not likely to kill anyone. It would be a different matter if someone were recovering scrap copper by burning off the insulation from lots of cable.
Can we now get back to the gratuitous destruction we all know and love?
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
GimpyJoe, Sat Jun 24 2006, 03:35PM
GimpyJoe, Sat Jun 24 2006, 03:35PM
Bored Chemist wrote ...
Can we now get back to the gratuitous destruction we all know and love?
Hear, hear!Can we now get back to the gratuitous destruction we all know and love?
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
tesla500, Sun Jun 25 2006, 12:41AM
Were are not sure of the wattage, but the welder puts out about 300a short circuit, we have not measured the voltage across the wire.
The first experiment used 26AWG wire about 6" long, with the welder set to 30A. The second experiment used 4 18AWG wires in paralled (computer powersupply power cable). The underwater ones certainly were interesting.
We are well aware of the dangers of the gases/fumes that are formed when certain types of plastics are burned and are very carefull not to breathe the fumes in.
tesla500, Sun Jun 25 2006, 12:41AM
Thingmaker3 wrote ...
Tes, how many watts and what wire size & length were used?
Tes, how many watts and what wire size & length were used?
Were are not sure of the wattage, but the welder puts out about 300a short circuit, we have not measured the voltage across the wire.
The first experiment used 26AWG wire about 6" long, with the welder set to 30A. The second experiment used 4 18AWG wires in paralled (computer powersupply power cable). The underwater ones certainly were interesting.
We are well aware of the dangers of the gases/fumes that are formed when certain types of plastics are burned and are very carefull not to breathe the fumes in.
Re: Fun with a 225A arc welder!
GimpyJoe, Sun Jun 25 2006, 04:00AM
You've got a nice beefy welder there, why not make a carbon arc furnace? You can get carbon electrodes at a welding store or some hardware stores, then make a box of refractory and melt anything you can think of!
GimpyJoe, Sun Jun 25 2006, 04:00AM
You've got a nice beefy welder there, why not make a carbon arc furnace? You can get carbon electrodes at a welding store or some hardware stores, then make a box of refractory and melt anything you can think of!
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