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There she blows - Engine Water is Hot hot hot


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I run a company of steeplejacks...guys who swing from ropes hundreds of feet in the air.... IOSH and Nebosh trained.... so reasonably familiar with your current health and safety doo dahs.....

But....

When helping a friend fit an engine, leaving the donkey work to him..... a lesson to be learnt, go around and follow his / her work.... have a double check.

Engine in, megasquirt fitted, laptop in one hand, other on the throttle on the plenum (no cable fitted at the time)

Sods law.... just as my hand passes a coolant hose, it blows (no jubilee clip fitted!!), within a millisecond I had been scalded, I hand my wrist under cold water for at least 15 mins within 1 min of it happening.

I now have a new found respect for cooling systems....

A couple of pics:

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About 30 mins after it happened, did not look or feel too bad

post-400-1243868226_thumb.jpg

About 1.5hrs after it happened.... hmm Im cooking!

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Very very nasty, had it down one side of my face when I was a youngster -16 and playing with an old Subaru 1800 4WD, flipped the rad cap off and it spat hot water all over me -fortunately I looked nothing like that(!)

I guess you have been to A&E? It looks pretty serious TBH...

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Very very nasty, had it down one side of my face when I was a youngster -16 and playing with an old Subaru 1800 4WD, flipped the rad cap off and it spat hot water all over me -fortunately I looked nothing like that(!)

I guess you have been to A&E? It looks pretty serious TBH...

Bowie, I went to A and E, thats where the pics were taken, they left me with a running tap for about an hour as part of the treatment, did it last Thursday, I have been back each day, their biggest concern was infection [i.e. dirty coolant water etc].

Today hurts more than since it happened... the blisters have popped, so they removed the dead skin, leaving red raw skin... apparently a good thing, thats new skin coming through... changed from a flamazine treatment [which just cools and protects from infection] to a mesh impregnated bandage which encourages the skin to grow.

They expect minimal scarring with a darker coloured patch, fading away over a couple of years...guess I was pretty lucky in that respect.

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nasty, got a face full of hot rad water a couple of years back when the bypass hose blew off a fiesta, caught me square in the face - i think that my glasses saved my sight TBH.

cold water is good - frozen peas in a tea towel are better.

from the look of it, best get to A & E to have it checked out though - better to be safe than sorry.

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Ouch Rog, that looks bloody painfull! I burnt my fingers in boiling water a few years ago and they blisted up pretty badly, but not as bad as that!

I've also experienced the joys of red raw skin when a blister comes away, it isn't half sensitive, that's a bit of an understatement.

Glad you're on the mend, and the outlook is good.

Luke

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Must be catching :( I welded some body panel mounting tabs to a Trakka frame, put the welding torch down, then reached through to pick something up and put the crook of my roght arm straight on the hot tab. Not nearly as bad as your's, but every time I straighten my arm, it splits open again, so sore and very annoying.

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Les :(

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When you are able to take the dressing off and you have a layer of good skin start applying aloe vera gel, you can get it from boots. Take my word for it, the stuff will really help heal and minimize the scarring. Trust me i used to be a chef and my arms look like someone has been chopping wood on them with burns, the wife reckons it looks like i have been tortured. Wish i had known about the aloe vera before i met her!

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happened to me 20 years ago just got my mates big block chevy running when the top hose split.

sprayed me on my arm and sholder soaked my boilersuit. would have been ok but i put my hand on my arm as i went outside when i got the suit off had a bright red arm with blisters where my hand had been.

we fixed the hose then got her running again.then the oil pressure line split spraying oil over the headers which caught fire, lucky i had my wet overalls handy.

good luck and use the cream

terry

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Rog, very, very nasty :( . For burns I'd also reccomend Nelsons burn cream - it's epicly effective especially if you get it on ASAP after burning. It often stops blistering full stop and really helps with recovery time. I honestly believe no vehicle based first aid kit should be without it.

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Thanks guys..... getting better by the day

Rog, very, very nasty :( . For burns I'd also reccomend Nelsons burn cream - it's epicly effective especially if you get it on ASAP after burning. It often stops blistering full stop and really helps with recovery time. I honestly believe no vehicle based first aid kit should be without it.

Will, took the words right out of my mouth, went and looked at the first aid kit in the rangie, absolutely nothing for burns.....its going to get modified.... lets be honest, in the middle of a quarry or greenlane.... how many of us have had to have a mechanics session....... (christ Im getting old and sensible) without any first aid kit at all.

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Oooh, that looks nasty, glad it is not worse and that it is getting better.

I went to A and E, thats where the pics were taken, they left me with a running tap for about an hour as part of the treatment, did it last Thursday, I have been back each day, their biggest concern was infection [i.e. dirty coolant water etc].

Infection? By what?!! Did you mention that the water was boiling effing hot! :)

looked at the first aid kit in the rangie, absolutely nothing for burns.....its going to get modified.... lets be honest, in the middle of a quarry or greenlane.... how many of us have had to have a mechanics session....... (christ Im getting old and sensible) without any first aid kit at all.

IIRC one should not put anything on burns other than cold water? Could be wrong though. In any event, better to let a grown-up look at it than to self treat.

Chris

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Ouch thats nasty, been there and done that, stick with the cream you got from A&E, theres a risk of infection due to there being a break in the continuity of the skin surface, therefore it can let bugs in, if it gets more painful/swollen/red/pus filled etc then go back to A&E asap, the earlier its treated the better...

On a comedy note, my mate went home from a house party absolutely wasted and tried to make himself a pot noodle at 4am... completely missed the pot and poured the boiling water onto his feet :lol:

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their biggest concern was infection [i.e. dirty coolant water etc]

Funnily enough there is very little risk of infection when the actual injury occurs - if it is hot enough to do that, any bugs will be killed by the temperature. But as the healing process goes on, it is prone to infection because the skin's barrier is broken. This could be infection from contamination but it is just as likely to be from the normally harmless bugs that live on our skin all the time - just waiting for a chance to break in!

Best of luck

Cheers

Blippie

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Kin hell 2x of them after my crown of sheer stupidity :rofl: I have competition

Seriously tho that looks :o and Owwwww so do as the DRs say

personally I find Whiskey internally a great antiseptic, followed by Beer or 3

Take care both, and DON'T PICK, scratch or "Fettle or fiddle away at yer scabs :wacko: " :lol:

Nige

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Bluddy hell Rog, that's nasty

We'd second the Aloe Vera, Carole got some serious sunburn in the States a couple of years ago and the Aloe Vera made a huge difference, snake oil it ain't.

To prevent the risk of infection get a Colloidal Silver spray, nothing gets past silver*

* opinion of a completely non-medical qualified mate! No liability will be assumed from following this statement <_<

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My son was badly burnt on his face a couple of years ago, I spent a week in the burns unit with him , they told me cling film on fresh burns is best, stops it been more sensitive/painful, awful at the time , I would have gladdly been scalded in his place, three years on there are no scars, apart from a 10p size white mark on his chest , amazing and grateful to all at Newcaslte's Royal Victoria Infirmary much respect.

Brian

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you can get some pretty good gels to put on burns thesedays.. do a google search for 'burn-aid' or 'watergel' and see what come up, you can also buy dressings and even blankets impregnated with the stuff, which just washes off with water when you do get to hospital.

Any burn bigger/ deeper than a superficial 'cookery' burn should be checked uot at hospital as proper treatment aids healing and should minimise scaring.

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