SAFETY

[Digger]

I posted this experience on another thread, about the removal of spear from the keg. However, this certainly fits in the safety thread, so I quoted the "safety" parts of it:

As for the sankey, simply take the thing outside, get an old crappy towel, a large round rock / ball bearing / marble, and place that on the ball. Then take the towel (folded 3 or 4 times over), put it over the valve, and with your hands, press the ball down. If the keg is less than 1/2 full, then if you tip it on its side, and use the towel method (without any additional "tools", other than the large marble), then you can blow the pressure without spilling out much beer at all, and the towel will block you from getting soaked in old skanky beer.

If there is beer in the keg, be VERY careful. You can blow the pressure out, the fool around for a few minutes getting the valve out, and the pressure can come right back again (from the beer). If there is beer in the keg, just be doublely careful. It would be safest to depressurize, then shake the keg, then depressurize, then shake, etc, until NO pressure is built up from shaking the beer.

Removing the valve can be very dangerous. When I was in highschool, I attended a party with some of my college friends. One of the idiots pulled out the retainer clip from an "empty" keg. I did not see it happen (I was out on the deck, but saw the after effects), The keg was in the basement. The valve shot through the drywall ceiling of the basement, through the subflooring between the basement and upstairs, smashed 2 tiles in the kitchen, and put a big dint in the ceiling of the kitchen (hit right at a rafter). Fortunately, the only injuries were some minor scratches from shards of tile, there were several people in the kitchen. The point being, that removing the valve if there is beer in there, can (possibly) kill someone if you are not very careful. I imaging that the thing can be blown out at a couple hundred feet per second, and at about a pound of mass, that thing would take a leg off or cut you dam near in half, if get hit by it.

H.

a good way to avoid pressure building back-up is to put a match stick,toothpick or something similar between the ball and gasket to hold it open.it dont take much and save a lot of problems.

digger

[Husker]

Thanks for the tip digger. Kinda one of those "duhhh" moments for me

The few times I have had to remove the valve, I simply shook, released pressure, shook, released, ..... until the beer was so flat it made no pressure. but that takes a long time. Simply forcing the valve open makes so much more since

H.

[Digger]

glad to help, if it'll keep someone from getting hurt.


digger

[Safegyde]

Once I was lighting a spoonful of my collections of fire to watch it burn. It burned alright, almost couldn't see the flame. I thought I blew it out all the way and went to toss the remaining liquid back into the collection jar. Right before I dumped it I noticed that the flame was still burning in the spoon. I would have dumped flaming liquid directly into the collection!!! Not a good idea!! Won't do that again.

A smart man learns from his own mistakes.
A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

[big worm]

if you distill with a buddy make sure you keep control of the process, don't allow sampling, proof tests with a match and spoon. allways keep in mind their safety.....crap can spin out of control very fast if you don't keep set fast rules of operation. ...no drinking no fires no horse play no work without hose or dry fire ext. a small fan to keep air moving. .....oh yea the barking dog thing is good to...lol i have 7 muts your not gonna sneak up here.

[punkin]

Wanted to add my little bit of safety remindering about one of the biggest risks we deal with; Hot Liquids.

It took me a while to find a good , cheap galvanised bucket with a strong steel handle that'll never break, But that's what's needed for carting hot slops around.
A 99 cent plastic bucket with a wire handle stuck into the little plastic bushing, or even a good strong plastic bucket with a plastic handle is a recipe for disaster.
Think of getting 10 litres of hot backset and melted sugar splashed up all over yourself or someone else if the handle failed....

Apair of garden or riggers gloves for the heat and a fail proof bucket are needed to deal with waste.

[HookLine]

You can get cheap 16 litre stainless buckets these days, with solid handles.

[hoochinoo]

For safety,
- I plan my illegal activity around having no one around, no family members, no pets, basically no distractions. The door bell can go off and I will not answer it either...
(I violated this and had 100 ml head shots leak all over the stove...lucky!)
- After doing a bunch of runs by now, I know how long it takes from the start to the end of the run.
- As part of my design consideration, I chose electric heating source.
- I practice patience and do not leave the still totally unattended. Always check the joints for leaks and really don't get distracted doing other things.
- I know that this is the only activity I have to do on that day.
- Some air circulation by leaving a window cracked. During summer, I open windows and create an air current.

p.s., I think there should be a safety pledge taken to become a member of this forum!

[WhiteLightening]

I always put my collection jar into a big stockpot so if it flows over or break then everything is contained.

always have my "jar" in "le crock` so as not to be spillin the goodie`s

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

safety question:
whats a safe and enviromentally friendly way of disposing of heads?

I keep em till i get about a gallon, and dump em in the pickup truck with about a half tank of gas. Its virtually the same thing as "Heet". Thats the stuff thats sold in nearly every convienience store in the states to remove water from your fuel system.
I think the only time I would even consider using a water hose on a fuel fire would be after every dry type fire extinguisher in the house had been discharged. Putting water to that type of fire CAN cause them to spred. A distillery in KY had a creek burning for days when they had a fire that caused distillate to spill into the creek. Removal of oxygen is the quickest way to extinguish a fire.
Remember the triangle of fire, Fuel
Heat Oxygen
remove any leg of the triangle and you extinguish fire.

oh yeah, Hey guys, its been awhile

[Husker]

Welcome (back) TPHB. I am not sure I would dump a gallon of heads into my fuel system. The problem with that, is there is a lot of water in the heads. It would depend upon your still, of course, more water if ur a pot stiller, less if from a column. However, ethanol and water mix, will separate when added to petrol fuel. Thus, what you are likely to get by doing this, is a load of water 'sludge' in the bottom of the gas tank. Not what I would like to have.

As for a fire, yes, it is 3 things, fuel/heat/O2 However, when you put water onto a ethanol fire, you have removed the fuel (and a lot of heat, btw). Low proof ethanol will not burn. Now, if the fire has spread, and started other things on fire, then you are 100% right, all bets are off, and water may NOT be the best thing. But for the home distiller, if you have a jar tip over or break, spreading hi proof on the floor which ignites, all you have to do is kick a 'at ready' 5 gallon bucket of water over, which also spreads across the floor, and the fire will douse immediately before it has a chance of setting the rest of everything on fire (hopefully). That is not to say you should not have a couple of well charged extinguishers available. I have 2 of them, one by each 'escape' exit, if I am not stilling outside. And that also 'assumes' you have a bucket of water (or 2) at the ready, and possibly also have a charged garden hose with a nozzle ready to go. Buckets full of water are the best bet, because when you kick them over you get ALL the water instantly, and you get it down under about 70 proof, and the fire will not sustain itself. 5 gallons of water (or better yet, 2 - 5 gallon buckets kicked over one after the other), will overwhelm a 1 gallon high proof accident every time, as long as you do so prior to other things being caught on fire.

H.

[Ayay]

Alcohol is different to oils.

Alcohol is water soluble so water will water it dowm to a non-flammable state.

Oils floats on top of the water and will continue burning.

Use water for extinguishing alcohol fires, and use foam/powder/CO2 for oil/gas/petrolium or any other fires including alcohol.

[HookLine]

I am no fire expert, so take this with a grain of salt...

IIRC, the way to use water on an alcohol fire is to apply it as a medium spray (not a fine mist). The aim is to 1) remove the heat from the flame and suppress it, and 2) dilute the burning liquid to below the point it is flammable.

You do have to be careful about what happens to the run off, especially if the fire is still burning.