# 3D Printing > General 3D Printing Discussion >  Death due to 3D printing

## noiseboy72

Very sad and a lesson to us all when using any form of spray with a flammable propellent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-37859495

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## curious aardvark

one more vote for printbite I think.
And also a vote for safer aerosols. 

There was a design some years ago where the product was held in a bag and the outside of the bag - ie the interiorof the can was pressurised with normal compressed air. So no propellant was used and the spray functioned just as well.  

Guess most aerosols are made in china, where safety still isn't on the agenda.

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## Sebastian Finke

Same goes for acetone. You gotta be so careful. 

Old story but still horrific.

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## wagnmkr

No question that hairspray is flammable, but propane in it? I just read the ingredients on mine again ... highly flammable stuff, yes, but not propane.

Also, like any other bad stuff (acetone et al ), NEVER in an unventilated, small space.

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## djprinter

I'm suspicious, if hairspray was that dangerous women in the 80's would have been blowing up daily.

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## curious aardvark

have to admit the propane thing sounded a bit odd. I always assumed it was the solvent used in the product that caught fire not the propellant. Isn't that usually something inert like nitrogen ?

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## awerby

It seems that since they phased out chloroflourocarbons, fuel gasses like propane and butane have become the propellants of choice: http://www.ehow.com/about_6468524_pu...products_.html

But it's odd that you don't hear of more accidents like this one; 3D printers are hardly the only source of sparks. I wonder if there wasn't also a gas leak in that magic shop. In the meantime, make sure your printer's turned off when you spray, and be careful about what You-tube videos you try to replicate at home.

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## Talon 3D

Used to have things pop in the shops every now and then but they were all ventilated.  Farm equipment repair and maintenance uses lots of stuff.  I can't imagine how badly ventilated that area must have been . 
Sad lesson to learn for many .

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## This

As much as I regret him dying, and my hart goes out to the parents,
the media tries to blame the 3D printer as a cause for his death, but there were some strange factors going on to cause this "explosion"

He emptied 3 canisters of hairspray to make the print stick to the bed !, and the room was filled with propane gas, also there was supplies of very flammable flash-paper in the same room,(magic shop)
supposedly the 3D printer created a spark and ignited the gas and subsequently the flash-paper, there was no "explosion" but it created a lot of smoke, he tried to get out of the room but did not make it, and he died of smoke inhalation  :Frown: 

somehow he read on the web about 3D printing and new about the way hairspray is used for better adhesion, but using 3 cans at once would have created a layer of goo on the printbed,
the police said that using hairspray was a bad idea to begin with, but the amount needed for the printbed would be less then what an average woman would use in her hair on a daily basis ?

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## noiseboy72

Propane is likely to flash over very quickly, but is unlikely on its own to create enough heat to even set clothes on fire. 

I can quite imagine that he attempted to fight the fire and this contributed to him failing to get out the room in time. 

3 cans of hairspray? I don't think I have used that amount in total - and that's both 3d printing and model making!

Good ventilation is a must if using any flammable pressurised gas canister . It only needs a spark from a power or light switch to set off the gas and as was shown here, other flammable materials should be stored safely as well. I fly quadcopters and all my batteries are stored and charged in an ammo box. 

Common sense is always great in hindsight.

Extremely sad for all concerned.

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## noiseboy72

Probably a bit uncalled for.
The simple fact is that the coroner felt the death was caused by following an online tutorial which encouraged the use of a product in a way not considered by the manufacturer, resulting in a buildup of flammable gas. This is a clear warning to think about your actions before doing the same thing.

If my click bait thread title got you to read the article and consider the implications, I will take that as a win.

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## Mjolinor

> Shitty thread title. Stupidity is the probable cause, for both the accident and you.


That is uncalled for and offensive.

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## awerby

It seems that the fire was due to a pile of magic-prop flash-paper, which was improperly stored under the desk he was printing on. This is highly flammable stuff which should have been kept in a sealed metal box well away from any potential sparks or flames. It's a lot like the nitrocellulose film stock that used to cause theater fires in the silent film era: https://www.flinnsci.com/media/620948/91356.pdf  Here's a video on another 3d printing forum which talks about this tragic incident, that's only peripherally related to 3D printing: https://www.3dprintingforum.org/foru...7-year-old-boy

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