[AT] Pressure washers

[charliehill]

John,  about 20 years ago a guy working with me was spaying a tar based 
substance called Kiln Coat that you spray on the inside of lumber kilns.  We 
sprayed with a 50:1 ratio airless paint pump being driven by a diesel air 
compressor putting out about 125 psi.  The stuff was so stiff that we still 
had to put it in another lumber kiln and heat it to 100 degs + to get it to 
spray.   It had was is called a revers-a-clean tip on the gun.  That means 
if the tip stops up you can flip it over and blow fluid back though it to 
clear it.  Well it stopped up and when he reversed it it didn't clear.  He 
knew better but without thinking he brushed his finger over the tip.  That 
cleared it alright but it blew kiln coat into his finger at a few thousand 
PSI (roughly 125 psi x 50).  We took him to the hospital where a plastic 
surgeon had to split his arm open from the tip of his finger all the way up 
past his elbow and scrape the kiln coat out of him a little bit at the time. 
The surgery took several hours.  He recovered fully but he's very lucky it 
didn't go directly into his blood stream.  It would have killed him before 
we ever got him to the hospital.

Charlie


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Hall" <jthall at worldnet.att.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 9:53 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Pressure washers


> Mine is an older Craftsman 8hp 2500PSI. It works really good to blast off
> years of buildup but you need to wear a face shield. I can adjust my spray
> from a fan to a stream for stripping. One thing I haven't seen mentioned 
> is
> damage to wiring harnesses. I generally keep mine set on fan and back off
> pretty far. It only takes a split second to start stripping paint if it
> isn't very secure. Someone also mentioned piercing skin. I saw the results
> from a small washer--probably 1500 PSI or less, after it hit a guys
> hand--not pretty.
>
> John Hall
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at