I’m wondering if anyone is able to share experience with using an Oxy/Propane or Oxy/Aceteline setup in the European Union. I’m in Spain and have finally collected all the pieces I need to for an oxygen concentrator + propane setup – however I’m in a shared space and feel responsible to stay especially safe & legal.
We are in a semi-industrial area (mixed residential and light industrial) and there is a metal shop at the space, however the main person in charge of it has been MIA for half a year so I’m kind of on my own. I know my way around a torch and feel confident that I can work safely enough, but as far as I know none of the other active members have any metal shop experience and so may need a bit of reassurance.
A few specific questions I have:
- What’s the best practice for storing propane? Is it ok to leave it hooked up to the torch or should I store it somewhere else when not in use? (If I left it connected to the torch I’d get a lock for the valve)
- General advice on how far away I need to be from paints, solvents etc. and anything else that should be kept out of the area where I’d be brazing.
- What’s adequate as far as ventilation is concerned? There’s a garage door attached to the welding area, so I can open that partway and set up a fan. However it’s a busy enough street that I wouldn’t want to leave it all the way open.
Also, if you’re able to point me in the direction of any resources it would be very helpful.
Muchas gracias!
I am just closing the bottles when I am done brazing, and I am also using the workshop as an office. It would be smart not to wave your flame around anyway and keep a fair distance from solvents, but I have never (yet) set fire to my bottle of cleaning alcohol that’s on my workbench around 3m from my brazingstand. Biggest issue in a shared space is using fluxpaste. This will generate quite a bit of smoke that is probably not very healthy. My workshop can be closed off from the rest of the building and I am always brazing in front of an open door to outside with a big fan running.
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Here in Sweden the rules regarding propane are steered by how much you are storing. You can store a certain amount indoors, and in certain spaces. As you increase the amount, the storage space has different requirements. A quick google translate led me to this:
¿Cómo se almacena el gas propano? | Repsol
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¡Hola Andy!
Sorry, that’s all my Spanish …
I am sure, safety is still a national task in the EU. My other job is graphic design and there I get the German workplace safety rules to typeset, but seed no hint to European rules ever. Also in all the papers I read about brazing and welding safety.
Here in Germany is a difference between usage and storage.
Usage includes all the time between the real use with lit flame. Meaning all the time you can put up the torch and fire it up. If you have just one bottle, it can be placed in your workshop. And of course the torch remains attached.
Storage on the other hand means: Not ready for use. Just waiting to be installed.
Yeah, maybe a lock is a good idea for shared spaces! I am also working in a shared space and sometimes I thought about, what if someone …
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