Medication for epoxy sensatisation

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by laukejas, Jun 28, 2020.

  1. Will Gilmore
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    It looks like air conditioning is a growing industry in Lithuania. A portable unit could be the answer to both your heat and your ventilation problem.

    Just reducing the heat could reduce your susceptibility to dermal rashes.

    -Will (Dragonfly)
     
  2. laukejas
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    laukejas Senior Member

    Air conditioning in an open-gate garage with wind constantly blowing inside? Just how powerful and hungry would such a unit have to be? It's a serious question, as I have no experience with AC whatsoever. As I said, my garage is 2.5m x 4.7m (8.2" x 15.4"), about 2.5 m (8.2") high. Cracks and holes in all the walls, some as big as a fist. I tried patching them and filling with polyurethane foam, but it's pretty much hopeless. The garage was built about 60 years ago, and it's barely holding together. I cannot make any serious repairs because it shares walls with adjacent garages of my neighbors, and they said no.
     
  3. Will Gilmore
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    AC units include fans, they produce nice cool air, but they also produce heat. That heat gets vented outside, to keep it cool inside.

    It is hard to justify the installation of an inefficient system until you start to think that going with no system means no benefits what so ever. Yes, they can cost more in electricity, but if you are getting desperate for cooler air, that extra cost may be worth it. That's really something you will have to decide.

    Position an AC unit blowing cool filtered air in, up high, and a floor fan blowing air out on the opposite side of the doorway, you may enjoy the results and find the cost of efficiency worth it. You will still get benefit, just maybe not as much as in a modern, well insulated home.

    I found, through Google, a Lithuanian consultant company that does this stuff. Maybe give them a call.
    Air Conditioners PRODUCTS Baltic Refrigeration Group https://www.brgroup.eu/en/products/air-conditioners.htm

    -Will (Dragonfly)
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2020
  4. fallguy
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    fallguy Senior Member

    one of his walls is open; he'd have trouble with a/c unless he double walled it with plastic which also makes moving parts in or out harder
     
  5. Dejay
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    Dejay Senior Newbie

    I would think that "theoretically" a hazmat suit with external air would be the best solution. You can control that you don't get contact at all, the external air can cool the whole suit and it doesn't need as much filters or power to run. You don't need big expensive and energy hungry AC or ventilation system. For a non safety critical application like this you could maybe patch something together.

    The biggest problem would be moving around while being tethered to some sort of gantry for the air hose.
     
  6. fallguy
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    fallguy Senior Member

    You could try a hepa shop vac in reverse. Need a gate valve. Cheaper than a fresh air system.
     
  7. Rumars
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    Rumars Senior Member

    If regular power is available I would buy the smallest self contained AC unit available and install ducting so it takes air from the outside (a chimney or something like that) and direct the cool air it produces into an old military hazmat suit via a hose. Yes you would look like the Michelin man but wearing a mask and suit will be comfortable enough to work, and the old soviet NBC suit is sturdy enough for work.
    Now I am not saying this is the ultimate solution, but the problem is that if you continue working without good protection the medical problems will only become worse. Unfortunately there is no medicine against epoxy allergies. Dying of heatstroke is no option either.
     
  8. laukejas
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    laukejas Senior Member

    I called them today, as well as a few other AC sellers, and described the exact situation to them. Unfortunately, they all gave me a similar answer - there is no solution for a partially open space like my garage. Anything powerful enough to cool it would cost an astronomical sum, would overload my power grid, and worse of all, I would have to set the temperature so low and blow strength so high that I would get a cold or even pneumonia in no time. That is what they said, and suggested moving to a closed workshop... That is an option I don't have.

    As for hazmat with any kind of hose attached to it... If you saw how cramped my workshop is, you'd see why that is pretty much impossible. Every wall is covered with tools or shelves, the ground is partially covered by spare/scrap lumber, ceiling is stuffed with larger building materials. There isn't enough space even for an extra chair. I have to move my entire boat to one side of the workshop so I can work on her other side. And even with my plain clothes, I keep knocking tools and materials off the shelves. Sometimes I even have to exhale my lungs just so I can squeeze through tight spots. I'm not kidding. And if I had a hose attached to me... Well, it would be pretty funny indeed.
     
  9. Dejay
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    Dejay Senior Newbie

    Maybe you could make a tent that you pull out to extend your garage while you are working. And seal up any gaps sufficiently.

    Or find another, larger workspace to work in.
     
  10. laukejas
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    laukejas Senior Member


    I don't want to sound like a nay-sayer who refuses every bit of advice, but that isn't an option either. The space just beyond the garage is used for car parking, and I constantly have to close and re-open the gates to let people get their cars in and out of the yard. As for larger workspace... I'm not that rich, unfortunately. My garage is worth $1000 at best, because it is an antique, and if you look at garage sales in my city, you won't find anything less than $8000 for an equal amount of space, and any larger garage within 1 hour drive from my home could easily cost twice that. I'm damn lucky to have this garage, even if it's old and cramped.

    Trust me, I explored all these options. My workshop is what it is. The best I can do is a wall/ceiling mounted fan or two, and even that would take up a lot of precious space.
     
  11. Dejay
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    Dejay Senior Newbie

    No problem, I think this topic deserves more discussion whether the advice given is useful to your or not.

    Then my only remaining advice would be to look into a cooling jacket. Race car drivers have something like that. Take a big cooler of ice with you and rig some sort of jacket that you fill up with ice and water and that circulates cool water from stored thermal energy in the ice. That way you can use more airtight protection gear without heatstroke. Maybe an old life jacket and water pump. This should be compact, cheap and easy to DIY.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2020
  12. Eric ruttan
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    Eric ruttan Senior Member

  13. fallguy
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    fallguy Senior Member

    Fans will help.

    infusion will help and doesn't require much space; exhaust the vacuum out the wall
     
  14. Chotu
    Joined: Mar 2018
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    Chotu Junior Member

    You are in a lot of trouble.

    You should seriously find ways (such as infusion) to keep yourself from all epoxy exposure.

    I have severe allergic asthma and a few other allergies that all developed from epoxy used building a boat.

    Please think very carefully. It is not worth gasping for air like a Covid patient to have the joy of building boats.

    if possible, stop using epoxy all together.

    I was in the same situation. Lots of heat, no way to wear proper ppe because of heat. I have nearly killed my self. It took 3 years of careful work with a pulmonologist and dietary changes while avoiding most all of my allergens (epoxy, citrus, dairy, particulate pollution above 50ppm, mold) to recover a good portion of my lung function.

    you have hives and dermatitis now. do not keep exposing yourself. It’ll get worse!!

    I now have an anaphylactic reaction any time I’m around epoxy.

    ask me anything you like. I know this subject all too well. It’s a sneaky, deadly chemical they doesn’t smell bad so you don’t know it’s destroying your body.
     
    Will Gilmore and ondarvr like this.

  15. laukejas
    Joined: Feb 2012
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    laukejas Senior Member

    Chotu, thank you for these warnings. Unfortunately, as I said several times before in this topic, epoxy infusion is simply not an option with the plywood boat construction that I'm doing. It's just an entirely different building method. As for epoxy alternatives - well, if anyone can suggest a waterproof, gap-filling glue that can be used with fiberglass and has a comparable strength, I'm all ears... I've searched, and found nothing. Polyester/vinyl is not even close.

    I have waited for a while before posting in this topic again, because I wanted to try out all the options I could that you guys suggested.
    1. I installed a powerful air fan, positioned at the entrance, blowing air into the workshop;
    2. I now put on generous amount of Pb-88 protective skin cream on my arms, face and chest;
    3. I wear respirator at all times when working with epoxy, using 3M 6059 filters;
    4. I also double up on nitrile gloves, and change them if the outer layer gets punctured.

    And I got to say, the improvement is significant. Rashes are not gone completely, but they are now substantially lesser, and there's no visible skin inflammation, only minor itching. The reason why they are not gone completely is because I sweat like a pig in my workshop, and the sweat washes away some of the Pb-88 cream, exposing the skin again. I think that cream doesn't allow normal skin perspiration, which is making heat build-up and eventual sweating even worse. I try to clean away with a towel and re-apply the cream as often as I can, but it takes just minutes before the sweat starts washing it away again. I suppose the only way to truly solve this would be to find a larger, enclosed workshop with AC and air recuperation system, but unfortunately, at this time there are no affordable options where I live, not by a long shot. So I guess this is the best I can do at this moment. I don't think my allergy is getting any worse, and if it does, I'll start taking Claritine.
     
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