More Galvanized Pipe Questions ...

smokeyCityTeacher · Post by **smokeyCityTeacher** » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 9:23 pm

If I were to super heat the galvanized and open all the windows etc. could I do a "burn off" sort of thing like you might do with a new stove to cure the paint and get the initial toxic fumes release phase over with ?

Or will the galvanized continually release the fumes over its lifespan when super heated ?

Anyone know the temperature at which Galvanized starts to release bad fumes?

Poconoeagle · Post by **Poconoeagle** » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 9:29 pm

I don't know exactly but having done my fair share of oxy/acetylene torch work it can be heated till it vaporizes and out gasses and wont do so after that rendering the base metal acceptible to brazing or welding. this temp is far greater than you will ever see with your appliance.

torch surpasses several thousand degrees... its not a good idea to try and achieve this "burn off" phaze you are talking about in my opinion. if you were burning wood and extremely overfire a stove and the vent stack would turn orange and hotter than you are closer to achieving your burning off...

Post by **coaledsweat** » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 9:31 pm

I wouldn't worry about any fumes unless you start welding it. If overheated, the surface coating of zinc will tend to shed. If the pipe starts to rust, you know it is cooked.

smokeyCityTeacher · Post by **smokeyCityTeacher** » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 9:36 pm

coaledsweat wrote:I wouldn't worry about any fumes unless you start welding it. If overheated, the surface coating of zinc will tend to shed. If the pipe starts to rust, you know it is cooked.

Since I have a lot of galv pipe around Im hoping that stack temps of less than 300 will be safe.

If this galv. does make me sick ill go straight to 316 welded seams and take the guesswork out of it.

Post by **Richard S.** » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 9:42 pm

Galvanized is standard practice forever when installing coal appliance in this area.

Post by **franco b** » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 9:45 pm

Just leave it alone and use it. All coal stoves in years past used galvanized. When overheated it gets a crystalline look which takes a stack temperature of about 600 degrees for some time. You are very unlikely to have stack temps. that high.

richard

Post by **coaledsweat** » Sat. Dec. 26, 2009 8:47 am

smokeyCityTeacher wrote:Since I have a lot of galv pipe around Im hoping that stack temps of less than 300 will be safe.

It should take twice that with no trouble, the galvanized starts to go away at 700-800* range depending on if it is hot dipped or electrically coated IIRC. Coal isn't a big deal, wood is because it can get much hotter in a hurry.
As long as the coating looks normal, it isn't an issue. Once it gets toasted, the pipe will pinhole like crazy and it is difficult to tell. It will etch itself very thin like paper in a short time and eventually crumble.

crazy4coal · Post by **crazy4coal** » Sat. Dec. 26, 2009 8:57 am

About 30 yrs ago I was on a job that I was welding galvnized pipe for a few days, the old welder that I was working with told me to get a qt of milk at lunch time and drink the qt for lunch. He said that the milk would flush the zinc from my system so I would'n turn yellow. I didn't turn yellow and I'am still here. Maybe he was right?

cokehead · Post by **cokehead** » Sat. Dec. 26, 2009 9:15 am

Thanks Freddy for getting me to look deeper than my personal experience. What I have gathered from these links is that galvanized pipe can cause temporary respitory symptoms if overheated but no long term effects. I still think it is nasty and I will use painted pipe in the future but the galvanized shouldn't present long term health issues. Zinc Links...................

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002570.htm

http://www.sperkoengineering.com/html/articles/We ... anized.pdf
**Broken Link(s) Removed**http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/2037.pdf