Posted on 05/20/2004 1:16:23 PM PDT by Constitution Day
"Of course that hasn't stopped the government from forcing gas station owners to post warning sign"
Government or personal injury lawsuits?
Thanks to Constitution Day for the Ping. Nice to get the rest of the story.
Right on.
Thanks for the update!
This scenario seems more likely.
Forget the cell phone. You'd have to have an atmosphere saturated with vapors beyond the LEL in an outdoor environment. Then you need a spark sufficient to ignite the vapors. That cell pohone won't do it. Never has at a retail gas station. Never will, either.
Yeah.... the spark has to occure very close to the fill point on the car. Because the air/fuel mix becomes to dilluted as you move away from the fuel tank opening.
Headed home. Glad to provide an update.
The clue should be the Bic lighter. Using this to hold open the fuel handle may have been the ignition point when the fuel cut-off "clicked" the lever and partially spun the striker drum.
Like comedian Steve Wright, I have a cell phone that runs on static electricity. You take your sweater off and put it back on real fast while you're using it. Probably not adviseable around gas pumps.
A Bic lighter can start the fire even if no gas has been expended at all. It is the spark from the flint wheel that starts the fire. Not to say that is what happened here, of course. But just say, for the sake of argument, you lit yourself on fire through sheer carelessness, who would you rather sue, Bic, your auto insurer or your cell-phone company?
Secondly, getting in and out of a car can generate a small amount of static shock, but obviously not enough to cause an explosion.
Gosh, what makes you say that? If static electricity can genreate a visible spark, it obviously can start a fuel/air mixture burning. And static electricity can easily form a visible spark, which can be easily proved with a housecat, a dark room, and your finger. (Note: This experiment is best performed on a de-clawed cat...) If the fellow generated a static charge and then discharged himself by touching the pump nozzle handle, the spark and the fuel are brought together and poof!
OTOH, I have never generated a visible spark using an functional cell-phone. Now if I take the battery out and create a spark gap with some wires, I can make sparks all the day long. But when it is all assembled, there just is no sparking part involved, and certainly none that would be in contact with the fuel/air mixture.
Your razor just don't cut it in this case. Unless, maybe, it's a Bic razor...
"the motorist said that he chocked the nozzle open with his gas cap"
This piece of admitted evidence should disqualify him from any claim immediately! He overrode the basic safety mechanism in the pump system.
Perhaps he tried to jam (chock)the nozzle open with his BIC lighter? And it popped out of position, snapping the lighter button and.....CAUSING the fire?
"the motorist said that he chocked the nozzle open with his gas cap"
This piece of admitted evidence should disqualify him from any claim immediately! He overrode the basic safety mechanism in the pump system.
Perhaps he tried to jam (chock)the nozzle open with his BIC lighter? And it popped out of position, snapping the lighter button and.....CAUSING the fire?
Secondly, getting in and out of a car can generate a small amount of static shock, but obviously not enough to cause an explosion.
A cell phone has a strong electric charge in its battery. To say that I am supposed to believe the "Petroleum institute" on this subject is even more laughable.
First, the lighter could have caused the explosion BEFORE any fluid was burned. Second, static charge has been proven to be able to cause sparks and explosions. Third, the battery in the cellphone is low voltage - not enough to cause a spark.
Ignition temperature is the minimum temperature at which a material will burn or explode. It is the temperature at which a mixture of flammable vapor and air would ignite without a spark or flame. The term ignition temperature is also used to describe the temperature of a hot surface that would cause flammable vapors to ignite. Gasoline is the most common flammable liquid and the main cause of injuries among teenage boys. The ignition temperature of gasoline ranges from 530 and 553 K. The flash point is the temperature at which a flammable liquid vaporizes and is therefore able to ignite.
The flash point for gasoline is about -50 degrees F.
Read up on this experiment (I've seen it done but I would find out the working details in some fire guide) If you take a small dish of gasoline and take a cigarette and roll it around the vapor layer then stick it directly into the gasoline, it will go out; that is because the temperature of the cigarette is lower than an open flame- just don't puff on the cigarette when it is in the vapor layer.
Your bed and coach are made most likely of Polyurethane so to withstand the heat of a cigarette an smoldering material below 1000 degrees- but an open flame on the same polyurethane will turn your room into an inferno reaching 1800-2000 degrees within 2 minutes... so put away your candles.
Myth about cell phone gas fires-Snopes
maybe this is a good place to ask the question.....Can I safely use a cell phone or any type phone in the shower, bathtub or in the pool?
The battery in a cell or cordless is of loww voltage and probably quite safe;ever see the commercially produced shower radios ? They are BATTERY power only,and for good reasaon. People used to perch the old tube ac/dc on the tub shelf and juast a little bump.....ZZZZZZZZaappppp!!! Hair dryers are a big worry in the bath,that is why all new (and remodeled?) baths MUST have GFI outlets.
They actually have a pretty good show. I usually enjoy watching them.
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