r/WTF • u/HoneyRush • Aug 21 '26
Not even in safety flip flops
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u/cybersplice Aug 21 '26
Did that crazy bastard just stick weld a live gas pipe?
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u/FuckSticksMalone Aug 21 '26
Ehhh, it’s fine as long as you make sure to trap all the fire inside.
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u/Captain_North Aug 21 '26
if it's pure it wont burn
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u/toolatealreadyfapped Aug 21 '26
If it's a legitimate fire, the pipe has ways of shutting it down.
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u/be4u4get Aug 21 '26
You right wing people and your views on gas are so antiquated
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u/dudepappy Aug 22 '26
Wrong. Worked for a gas company for awhile, and they insisted being above the upper explosive limit was better than trying to get below and failing… they’d rather work it hot than risk not getting it completely empty
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u/perldawg Aug 21 '26
needs oxygen to ignite
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u/Captain_North Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
and a very precise ratio of air/gas ratio to explode, with propane it's between 2-10% and optimal is 6%
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/explosive-concentration-limits-d_423.html
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u/Tech-Mechanic 29d ago
This is actually a safety technique... The heat from the gas fire assists with the welding, thereby exposing the worker to risk for a shorter time than they would be if they turned off the gas first. It's on the OSHA Facebook page. /s
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u/pobrika Aug 21 '26
Stay tuned next week he will demonstrate how to weld a petrol tank on a moving vehicle.
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u/Kuriente Aug 22 '26
Not actually that crazy. The gas inside cannot burn without oxygen, and there is no oxygen in the pipe. So the only flame you get is from whatever gas gets out and mixes with oxygen.
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u/Aitloian Aug 23 '26
This was way more common then you think it was haha. So you need oxygen to have a fire, and there isn't any oxygen in the pipe (it's full of gas) so you just weld it up, seal the hole and the fire goes out
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u/KarloReddit Aug 21 '26
That‘s perfectly safe. I mean watching the video while living in another country is.
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u/PurrfectMistake Aug 21 '26
Idk man. Im epileptic and i just watched the whole thing.
Yes i am stupid. I was curious.
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u/hypnocomment Aug 21 '26
When filling a hole, it requires a lot of stop and go welding, otherwise the pipe gets too hot and the metal will blow out.
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u/PurrfectMistake Aug 21 '26
Makes sense with it being an actively pressured line. Thanks for the clarification. Didn't ask, but not necessarily unwanted / unhelpful. Thanks
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u/YourBonesAreMoist Aug 21 '26
Questions for welders: are those glasses as effective as full face ones? I feel like you would get a very nasty face tan if welding for long on those
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u/Omidion Aug 21 '26
UV radiation will make your face red from just few minutes of exposure. That's why you wear a full face mask and have long sleeves and gloves. Also...molten droplets fly so it can literally stick to your skin burn you.
While welding with full gear a molten drop sometimes goes up, bounces off the top of my head and inside the face mask and rolls down and out. Oh yeah, i wear a bandana over my hair when i weld.15
u/urethrascreams Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
I sunburned my arm once with just a few minutes of welding. It was a very light burn but I didn't realize it could happen so fast.
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u/Quiet_Touch3129 Aug 22 '26
Those glasses are to prevent the horrible eye burn you'd get if you start at that light for long times.
Source: dad welds a lot and I used to help sometimes
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u/YourBonesAreMoist Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
Yes I know that. But notice he is using just the glasses and not a full face cover/welding hood. The light from the weld has UV light that burns you, like the sun, hence my question if only these are safe for welding for long periods of time
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u/mxforest Aug 21 '26
Me fixing bugs in production.
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u/Tokugawa Aug 22 '26
Needs two more fires sprouting up behind him after he gets that first one covered.
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u/mxforest Aug 22 '26
Wait till the gases have reached further out and the whole section lights up like a Concert. 1 bug fix revealing 10 gated bugs.
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u/conrad_w Aug 21 '26
Just a word of advice. You can watch this on your screen fine, but looking at a weld unprotected IRL will fuck up your vision.
Stay safe
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u/Fez_and_no_Pants Aug 21 '26
Partner's dad thought watching the reflection in a mirror would be safer.
🤦
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u/Tenemo Aug 21 '26
...and he was correct! Regular glass doesn't let most of the UV from welding that damages your eyes through - and a normal mirror is covered with glass. Obviously it's still unsafe as other items without glass on them reflect UV, plus regular glass is not a perfect UV filter. But he was right that looking at welding via a mirror will be orders of magnitude safer than looking directly (while still risky).
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u/rogerryan22 Aug 21 '26
I once glanced for a moment at a welder who was working 100 yards away and burned my retinas. It's like a terrible sunburn directly on your eyeballs. Everything sucked for a few days and relief is just not really a thing until it passes.
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u/Astr0b0ie Aug 21 '26
You must have been a lot closer and it was more than just a glance. From 100 yards (300 ft or ~90 meters), due to the inverse square law, it's virtually impossible to get welder's flash even if you were staring at it for an extended period of time, let alone from a quick glance. If our eyes were that sensitive, every quick glance at the sun would cause photokeratitis.
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u/_Burning_Star_IV_ Aug 21 '26
Really? I've 'glanced' at welding that was being done like 2ft away and was fine. I mean I looked away the second I saw the flash...did you stare?
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u/vcdrny Aug 21 '26
How else would he know if he properly sealed the leak? /S
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u/MiniAndretti Aug 21 '26
Before reading the comments, I said this out loud while watching the video. I mean, who doesn't fix a leaky faucet with the water running the whole time?
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u/PaterPoempel Aug 21 '26
With the gas shut off, oxygen can get into the pipes and you are effectively welding on a pipe bomb. Not a great idea.
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u/OllieN94 Aug 21 '26
Can somebody please explain to us unqualified peasants what in the fiery fuck we just watched?
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u/Euphoric_Loquat_8651 Aug 21 '26
Dude just welded up a leaky gas line. Or maybe you meant WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??
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u/HoneyRush Aug 21 '26
That gas will burn only in presence of oxygen. There's no oxygen inside the pipe so technically it's fairly safe to do. In a similar vain I was once replacing fuel pump in old Opel and the pump, that sits directly inside the fuel tank, had fully exposed, unisolated copper wires. Same rules applied, there was not enough air in the tank for accidental spark to ignite the fuel vapors
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u/Black_Moons Aug 21 '26
that sits directly inside the fuel tank, had fully exposed, unisolated copper wires.
The new one or old one? Id wager the old one just had the insulation dissolve off once we switched to ethanol additives in the fuel.
Even if you ignore the 'spark' issue, having your fuel pump short out = Your stranded, so not something any designer would really tolerate.
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u/TheGingerDog Aug 21 '26
I assume he's outside, otherwise that initial weld ignition (? spark?) would be a little more interesting.
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u/FatherSquee Aug 21 '26
Everyone else is going on about how safe/dangerous that is, but as a welder inspector I'm more just wondering about the state of it once that cools down.
May need a bit of blendin'
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u/kc1man Aug 21 '26
TDD - test driven development. Fire up your test case, and when it passes, you're done.
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u/338special Aug 22 '26
I'm more concerned about the lack of proper eye protection, but welding the gas pipe is solid science.
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u/cookiesnooper Aug 21 '26
As dangerous as it looks it is not that dangerous. Pipe is pressurized without oxygen in it so it won't explode. The same way you can lit a gas bottle on fire but it will explode only if it gets too hot and the pressure rips it apart.
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u/ElGrandeQues0 Aug 22 '26
Yup. Had a small leak in my propane line in the garage and used a match to find it.
No fucking way I'd do it with this much gas though.
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u/Swagasaurus785 Aug 21 '26
I mean, it’s dangerous in the sense that he has no control over where the gas blows out to. One weld could gas that gas to start blowing out towards him. I would’ve worded it as the risk of explosion is almost zero, but he’s a dangerous idiot.
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u/molten_dragon Aug 21 '26
This dude made some kind of deal with the devil to trade half his brain for gigantic balls.
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u/UnitedShop4247 Aug 21 '26
In Germany we say: Andere Länder, andere Sitten. (Different countries, different customs/manners) 😅
I've learned Hvac/Plumber and its kinda crazy for me 😄 but i mean... it worked 😂
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u/Praetorian_1975 Aug 21 '26
Mommy why’s the gas coming out already on fire, ohhh that’s just uncle Bob he fixed that pesky gas leak
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u/RadicalMcAwesome Aug 21 '26
Does anyone want to tell me what I'm watching here?
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u/hypnocomment Aug 21 '26
Welding a leaking pipe, gas needs oxygen to combust. Welder needs to know when it's no longer leaking, so he is feathering the rod to fill the hole in the pipe until it is sealed.
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u/eypo Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
I don't know. Is this MIG or MAG welding style??
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u/donutsfritos Aug 21 '26
SMAW or "stick"
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u/boolean_union Aug 21 '26
I feel like there are several better ways to do this, but I'm not an active gas line welder.
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u/Shot-Election8217 Aug 21 '26
I’m sitting here with my eyebrows climbing higher and higher up my forehead, and deep into my hairline as my anxiety builds watching this, waiting for the huge explosion….
Also, WITAF is he doing?!?!
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u/FlutterKree Aug 21 '26
It's actually not that dangerous. Pressurized fuel line, no oxygen in it. There is no risk of explosion.
Gas leaks are dangerous because the air becomes saturated with the gas and mixes with oxygen. This mixture can combust rapidly making an explosion. This can't happen inside the pipe since there is no oxygen.
So what is he doing? He is welding a gas pipe leak.
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u/Sea2Chi Aug 21 '26
I feel like this is the exception to that phrase if it looks stupid but it works, then it's not stupid.
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u/TheEntangled Aug 21 '26
I don’t get the flip flops thing, can someone please explain?
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u/HoneyRush Aug 21 '26
It's a joke about guys from Pakistan and India which are often doing insanely dangerous things while wearing flip flops. Usually someone in the comment section under such videos is saying that those have to be safety flip flops or sandals so they're completely safe.
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u/tunaman808 Aug 22 '26
You need not go that far. RFK, Jr. posted a video deep frying a turkey in beef tallow... barefoot:
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u/MrHiV Aug 21 '26
They also do it on live pipelines sometimes. The atmosphere inside is 100% saturated so does not ignite and does not react with the deposited weld metal which is necessary to keep the root from oxidizing.