Lucky escape - but it really hurts!

[ToolGuyFred]

You've probably all seen the posters - "It could be your key purpose in life is to be an example to someone else." with a picture of someone doing something really stupid...

I urge you to learn from my mistake. I don't possess a compressor or spray equipment so my spray painting is with aerosol cans. For years I have been warming my cans in a bucket of hot water as the paint goes on easier and is less likely to run. Not any more. On Monday I warmed up a new can of gray etch-primer with a couple of kettles of water in a bucket. Left the bucket at the bottom of my yard for ten minutes (in case the can went bang) to warm things up.

Went into my garage to paint, wrapped the can in kitchen paper, (still too warm to touch) gave it a  final shake and was greeted with the loudest pop it has ever been my misfortune to witness. (My garage is brick-built, 20 yards from the house and with all the windows in both buildings shut it was loud enough to bring my son running from  his bedroom to see what had happened.)

The pain in my right hand was such that I had to prod and poke it with my other hand to see if everything was still there and no bones broken. I was gray from head to toe and even  though I was wearing a heavy cotton hoody it went right up to my elbows.
   
I was really, really lucky. If the top of the can had blown I would almost certainly lost my sight. If the side had blown  out then there was easily enough force there to sever my hand. The base of the can had let go and the injury to my hand  was  purely from the explosion, no skin broken. The remainder of the can went upwards and was stopped by planks of wood stored in the rafters. This completely flattened the can, turned the aerosol button on top into red plastic shrapnel and brought down a 2 foot splinter from one of the planks it had hit. The kitchen paper had turned into what looked like wisps of cotton wool and everything seemed to be gray.

Twenty percent of my hand is bruise and I  cannot use my thumb to grip anything. It will be a few weeks before I can ride a motorcycle again (couldn't even manage the twist-grip at present,  never mind the front brake).

In future when I get the paint from a cold garage I will use tepid water to bring it to room temperature. My kettling days are done.

[JamieMcC]

That's a bit of a scary story and a very useful lesson to share thanks. I regularly warm cans of ordinary paint and resin up in tubs of water before during winter months in the workshop as its unheated but I use a large plastic tub with a aquarium thermostatic heater which only goes up to 30 degree C but it works well for warming stuff up overnight so its ready to use the next day etc.

Glad your ok it must have made a hell of a mess.

[ToolGuyFred]

Glad your ok it must have made a hell of a mess.

Thanks.

As my wife said - "The concrete garage floor looks quite smart in gray. Shame about the walls."

[butchbass]

John,
thanks for passing the info along. I am glad you were not hurt any worse than you were and potentially saved others from a similar fate.
My garage is also detached from the house and it can get very cold in Virginia during the winters. I have and old refrigerator in my garage I picked up at the land fill. I put an old thermostat from my home heating system inside it and it controls a 40 watt light bulb. I set the thermostat at about 65 degrees and I keep my paints, glues and other things that can freeze in it. I do not put any solvents such as paint thinner, acetone, etc. in it. They won't freeze and they are  too dangerous to store in a small unventilated space. It keeps polyurethane finishes warm enough to flow good when applied with a brush. It also serves as a good storage area while not using a lot of floor space.

[butchbass]

Correction to my post. It is a upright freezer, not a refrigerator. It has all the original shelves in it and provides plenty of storage space.

[Doc B.]

What, no video?

[2wo]

So you have answered the age old question.

Does the light really go out when you close the refrigerator door 

[ToolGuyFred]

What, no video?

It would've been a helluva video.

Ironically, my current project at work is an hydraulic burst testing machine for compressors. This thing goes up to 5000 psi but when the steel shell splits it goes with a pop not a bang. Liquid under pressure dissipates it's pressure much quicker than anything with gas in it. If we don't fill the compressor right up with oil then the air we compress inside turns it into a small bomb.

You'd think knowing this that I'd have more sense than to heat up an aerosol can but  some things we learn the hard way.

[ToolGuyFred]

Here we have pictures of the other can I bought at the same time. It says quite clearly that you shouldn't even store above 50 degrees C. My limit of high temperature touch is about 55, so the fact that I needed to wrap the can in kitchen paper suggests 70-80 degrees (apologies to those defaulting to think in Farenhiet). It says "may explode if heated" so it did exactly what it said on the can. 

[Jay]

I hope your hand is healing up.
Jay