Yeah.
I woke up with a weird feeling this morning. Something felt wrong. I wandered over to a window and looked out to see a wisp of smoke coming from a seam in my trailer door. Kind of looked like steam. I don’t have any ignition sources in there……that can’t be a fire, right?

Turns out a couple of days ago I spilled a little purple PVC primer in a storage tub. I didn’t think anything of it. I’ve spilled that before. Pisses me off because it always seems to spill or stain something, but it never occurred to me that it would spontaneously combust like solvent does. But it did. It soaked a little cardboard box that under everything else, built heat from evaporation (or whatever the process is from spontaneous combustion). It took three days until it reached a smoldering point.

Combustion happened between 10:30 last night and 6:00 this morning. When I opened the door, 3 inch flames became 12 inch flames and growing. Fortunately I had a flowing hose in my hand. I put the fire out which was contained to the plastic tub. The smoke was thick and black. Damage was isolated to the tub and a vacuum hose.

I share this as a warning and reminder. Solvents if not properly contained and stored, can be disastrous……even deadly. I hadn’t considered the nature of that PVC primer, but won’t make a similar mistake again.

Also, might be a good time to check your smoke detectors. Just a heads up.

Thanks. Good to know.

Thanks for posting, a good reminder.

Fortunate you caught it when you did, and had a "defensive weapon" in your hand.

I have seen "oily rag fires" a few times.

It's been cold so I have not been in the shop for a bit. Today is a good day to roll the cars out and do spring cleaning and organizing.

A coworker had used a shop rag to soak up a bit of excess superglue, the rag started smoking, and burst into flames!


This post reminds me that I really need to get a metal can for dirty rags and etc for my barn.

Methyl Ethyl ketone is a very volatile chemical for sure. Glad it did not turn out worse.

Just for clarity, it has to be the right kind of oil for spontaneous combustion, correct? My understanding is motor oil and automotive grease doesn’t do this, but oils used in paints and varnishes, like linseed oil, do.

I didn’t know super glue and pvc primer would do this. I’ll bet there’s a warning on those that says they do.

Anything with a high oxidation (evaporation) rate can do this.

Anytime I use rags or paper towels on anything with a high evaporation rate, said materials get hung or laid out to dry.

Glad you avoided a disaster, darthfuster. That was a close one

Thank you. I will remove my PVC solvent and cement from my shed.

Glad to hear the damage was minimal and you were prepared to handle what you wound up in. I never would have given purple primer a second thought but I will now. I always soak any rags in water before I do anything with them.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Methyl Ethyl ketone is a very volatile chemical for sure. Glad it did not turn out worse.

We used MEK to refurbish sonar cells. I dropped something in a bucket of MEK once. I had an industrial thick black gloves on up to just below my elbows. I stuck my gloved hand in to retrieve whatever it was that fell in. It felt cold. I pull out my hand and there was no glove around my bare hand.

I use that purple primer a lot and hate to spill it... but that is good to know for sure.

Glad you kept it under control, Kevin! But it sure serves as a reminder to the rest of us how these things happen and to take precautions while we can.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
Glad you kept it under control, Kevin! But it sure serves as a reminder to the rest of us how these things happen and to take precautions while we can.

Exactly, Carl. It’s remarkable to me that I let this happen because the primer has always been harmless. I didn’t even consider the possibility of combustion. Made question my perceptions. I posted this in case others had similar thoughts about chemicals that seem mild but are potentially destructive. It’s a relatively cheap lesson for me albeit humbling. Mrs DF flashed a scowl at me when I showed her. lol

(quote)
I let this happen because the primer has always been harmless. (quote)

A no, evidently you were not paying attention. As I mentioned. MEK is far from harmless.
It is right up there with some of the most dangerous that you can buy at the hardware store. So you were very lucky. It is nasty stuff.

Yikes. I never would’ve considered it. Thanks for the education.