Don't do this at home

[Grunt]

The Age

[journeyman Mick]

Stupid!

Mick

[joe greiner]

Already has offspring. Too late for a Darwin award.

Joe

[felixe]

I was nearly in a similar situation.

I recently purchased a 44 gallon drum via a local paint manufacturer (Southside Brisbane) on Ebay who was selling used drums "suitable for water" etc....

When I paid for the drum on pick up, I clearly stated my intention of cutting into the drum, using either a grinder or a drill and then jigsaw, I also stated my aim was to modify the drum to use for dust extraction in my workshop. No problem said the representative of the business, this drum is suitable for that purpose. So I took the drum and departed.

When I got home I decided to check the inside and maybe give it a rinse out. I found there was still "product" left in the bottom - a liquid residue. (My fault as I should have checked upon pick up! )
Luckily the drum had a label on the side stating the product and manufacturer.

I contacted the manufacturer and spoke to a chemist of the company. He was not impressed I had the drum, and was alarmed I planned to cut into it. He informed me that his company and the paint company had a responsibility for the safe disposal of used drums. He was horrified I had obtained a drum and my intentions with it given the "safe drum" contained a toxic substance which "like engine oil" was not highly flamable but had an ignition point.
His advice - take it back to the seller and get my money back or sell it to a drum recycler and get a clean drum.

So I took his advice and returned the drum, the seller (paint manufacturer) tried to give me the run around until I advised him that I had spoken to his supplier.

[echnidna]

you should complain to ebay also.
They have a responsibility not to promote dangerous goods

[felixe]

good point.

[mick101]

I have no idea as to if this method works or not but a bloke (panel beater)once told me that if he has to weld a motorcycle petrol tank...he would fit a hose from a running car & put the end in the bike tank (off the bike of course)...thus he said no volitile vapours then to ignite.

That said i dont do stuff like that...i get into enough trouble just doing stuff safely.

I once knew a fella in toowoomba that was using an oxy to cut open a bloat oil drum...nearly cost him his life.

[BobL]

Another trick is to fill the tank with water which expels the potential volatile gas out of the tank. What this method does not do is always get the original flammable liquid reside out of the joints/cracks where quiet a bit of the original fluid can sit. Then, when you cut any joint the heat boils the liquid and you can still generate some gas. I've heard that adding detergent to the water will dissolve more of the liquid out but at this point one would wonder why it's better not to just by a clean drum in the first place.