Water in table cutting aluminum

CrossFire ® General Discussion
21

The actual risk of this is less than the risk of just firing a plasma torch, operating a welder, or using other electronic devices that produce Ozone. The amount of hydrogen produced is not only minuscule, but as it is lighter than air, being introduced into a highly turbulent environment, and exposed to plasma/sparks during cutting, it escapes naturally into the atmosphere or is consumed quickly in low concentrations.

The risks associated with hydrogen production in plasma cutting are based on industrial environments where massive operations could produce levels considered to present a possible danger under unlikely but technically possible scenarios. OSHA hazards/risks are based on a matrix of worst case severity and probability so even if it’s unlikely, if a catastrophic event can be conceived as even being remotely possible, it is presented as a hazard that should be mitigated.

If a factory was using plasma cutters to cut lots of details into the edges of an upside down aluminum stamping (Think of a stamped aluminum sink shape), then the hydrogen could, possibly, collect in the upside down area of the sink and create a hazard.

I would bet that even if you designed a part specifically to create that effect on the crossfire, the limits of the machine themselves would make it nearly impossible to create a truly dangerous environment. I could design a shape specifically designed to catch/collect gasses that were escaping from the cutting jet and the vertical limitations of the Xfire machine would still make concentrating that gas into anything dangerous very unlikely.

Lowering the water level to mitigate hydrogen could actually expose the user to additional vapors and particulates that are far more dangerous in the given concentrations. Mitigating the effects of hydrogen generation on a machine this size is just like wearing steel toe boots, a hardhat, and having someone stand next to you with a wooden cane while you are using it. It’s fine if you want to do that, and it may even be on the side of a good safety practice, but it is certainly not necessary.

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22

Ozone is around you every minute and is not flammable… Raw, just cut aluminum laying in a table of water will produce hydrogen gas. Do your cuts and go to lunch, come back to a table that may have a small build up of gas under it’s work material and the next time you fire the plasma, you might very well end up wearing that plate on your face.

Know safety NO pain… NO safety KNOW pain.

23

Ozone is not a flammability hazard, it’s a chemical hazard to living things based on toxicity at certain exposure levels. Those levels are not common in light duty applications but it is still present, hence my comparison.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/10028156.html

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24

Yes. ozone is produced by the flow of electricity as well, so when I say we are around it every minute… I guess I mean a majority of the time. :slight_smile:

This is a good example of just lowering the LS tables water level a bit so the already required air flow in your shop (you should have some ventilation going) can get any build up out from under your work piece.

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25

I agree and with cutting any metals or welding them back together, a respirator should be used. It’s not like the old days where we washed the grease off our hands in gasoline. If you know, then do it. If you don’t don’t then find out. Right.