Safety Officer here...HELIUM WARNING

[leathermang]

I have had a bottle of Helium to compliment my pre WW2 era Miller HeliArc since 1972...

Everyone has seen the effects on the voice of people taking in Helium and speaking..

Only THIS week did I learn that Welding Helium is DIFFERENT from the Helium one buys to blow up balloons ....

Welding Helium is just Helium.

Balloon Helium has 18-20 Percent OXYGEN....

This is because our bodies need some oxygen to stimulate the production of CO2 to exhale....

playing around and sucking in WELDING HELIUM can " STALL " the lungs and kill you ..... it cuts off the signal to the body to do what it is supposed to do to keep us alive...

[panZZer]

Thanks Lethermang. Glad I've never heard of this happening-yet.

[TX76513]

So Greg is there more story here How did you come about this new wisdom?

[kerry]

I guess we can take it from that post that inhaling welding helium is not always fatal.

[leathermang]

Originally Posted by TX76513

So Greg is there more story here How did you come about this new wisdom?

Well, I thought some of you would have recognized how I had slowed down mentally..... it might have had to do with that seizure I had following the birthday party we had here where I was in charge of Balloons .... (?)

[okyoureabeast]

I like using nitrogen to make my voice sound really crazy

[leathermang]

Originally Posted by okyoureabeast

I like using nitrogen to make my voice sound really crazy

So it sounds 78 percent crazy all the time...??? Since the air is that percentage Nitrogen anyway ?

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by leathermang

I have had a bottle of Helium to compliment my pre WW2 era Miller HeliArc since 1972...

Everyone has seen the effects on the voice of people taking in Helium and speaking..

Only THIS week did I learn that Welding Helium is DIFFERENT from the Helium one buys to blow up balloons ....

Welding Helium is just Helium.

Balloon Helium has 18-20 Percent OXYGEN....

This is because our bodies need some oxygen to stimulate the production of CO2 to exhale....

playing around and sucking in WELDING HELIUM can " STALL " the lungs and kill you ..... it cuts off the signal to the body to do what it is supposed to do to keep us alive...

I don't know that one could safely assume that all gas sold as "balloon helium" contains 18-20% oxygen. If that IS the case, then I'd love to know when it happened - because I had never heard of it before reading your post.

Have you called some of the big suppliers (e.g., Linde, Matheson, Airgas) to ask them what's in their "balloon helium"?

[okyoureabeast]

Originally Posted by leathermang

So it sounds 78 percent crazy all the time...??? Since the air is that percentage Nitrogen anyway ?

Doh, I meant sulfur hexa fluoride

[leathermang]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

I don't know that one could safely assume that all gas sold as "balloon helium" contains 18-20% oxygen. If that IS the case, then I'd love to know when it happened - because I had never heard of it before reading your post.

Have you called some of the big suppliers (e.g., Linde, Matheson, Airgas) to ask them what's in their "balloon helium"?

Eskimo, You have not been around here very long... I just make this stuff up to test the gullibility of the folks on the forum...

[leathermang]

Originally Posted by okyoureabeast

Doh, I meant sulfur hexa fluoride

LOL

[gatorblue92]

Originally Posted by kerry

I guess we can take it from that post that inhaling welding helium is not always fatal.

lol

[vstech]

Originally Posted by leathermang

Balloon Helium has 18-20 Percent OXYGEN....

This is because our bodies need some oxygen to stimulate the production of CO2 to exhale....

me thinks you are mixing your balloon helium with your diving oxygen..

[leathermang]

Originally Posted by vstech

me thinks you are mixing your balloon helium with your diving oxygen..

I have already staked out my excuse... you can't touch me !!!

[layback40]

Just remember not all tig/mig welding gas is helium. Oxygen is great for a hangover !!