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Static discharge causes a lot of gas pump fires. Enough that I remember seeing shows on Discovey Channel that talked about the fact that once your car is pumpin

by Swizec 11y ago

Static discharge causes a lot of gas pump fires. Enough that I remember seeing shows on Discovey Channel that talked about the fact that once your car is pumping, you shouldn't re-enter and exit the vehicle until the nozzle is out. Especially if you're the one touching the nozzle. And for god's sake don't pull the nozzle out once the tank ignites. That makes a fireball. In short, it's common enough that warnings about it show up on daytime television. edit: That said, charging batteries burn often enough that every high-power charging device I've ever had said not to leave it unattended while charging. When you're pumping that much energy into something that quickly, things can happen.

Theodores 11y ago
This is news to me. In the UK the petrol pump nozzle has to be held, you can't just put it in there and expect it to fill up your tank - at all times the handle has to be held. Is this not the case in the USA? Can you put the nozzle in the tank, walk about, get in and out of the car and rely on the nozzle staying in the tank, filling up the tank until it magically knows the tank is full? If so then that is where your problem is. In the UK we don't have forecourt fireballs, it sounds to me that this is an American 'innovation', one that is probably needed given that Americans need to consume their own bodyweight in 'gasoline' to get to work and back in one of Detroit's finest 'cars'.
- simoncion 11y ago
  > Is this not the case in the USA? Most of the time, no. Not every pump handle has a functioning hold-open mechanism, but the vast majority of them do. > ...filling up the tank until it magically knows the tank is full? It's not magic, it's simple application of physics. [0] I would be shocked if this wasn't a feature of every nozzle that was usable by members of the public... nozzles in the UK included. :) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dispenser#Automatic_cut-off_in_fuel_dispenser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dispenser#Automatic_cut-o...
- ghaff 11y ago
  >In the UK the petrol pump nozzle has to be held, you can't just put it in there and expect it to fill up your tank - at all times the handle has to be held. Is this not the case in the USA? It varies--based on state I believe. There's a little catch that can be used at some pumps to fill without holding onto the pump handle. It actually does shut off quite reliably when the gas reaches the nozzle. It uses a venturi mechanism. [1] You're supposed to stay there and keep your eye on it but it's pretty reliable. Only once in my life have I seen this not work as it was supposed to. [1] http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119483&page=1 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119483&page=1
venning 11y ago
I remember seeing a gas station security video of this, pre-YouTube. A woman wearing what looked like a fuzzy (static-y) sweater accidentally sparked the gas at the filler door, igniting the gas in the line. She had the presence of mind to close the filler cap before running from the car, which probably starved the fire sufficiently to prevent anything more interesting from showing up on the video. That said, I'm not entirely certain that a fuel filler fire would overtake the entire car. It may just burn out the remaining fuel via the fuel door, so long as the components of the fuel system are sufficiently fire-retardant (no guarantee). When new Ferraris burn themselves down in seconds (happens a lot), I believe it tends to be because something has allowed the fuel pump to continue operating after the line has ruptured, and so the pump is pushing a constant stream on high-pressure flammable liquid onto a hot engine. As long as there's still electricity, the fire will get bigger and bigger.

by Swizec 11y ago

Theodores 11y ago

This is news to me. In the UK the petrol pump nozzle has to be held, you can't just put it in there and expect it to fill up your tank - at all times the handle has to be held. Is this not the case in the USA? Can you put the nozzle in the tank, walk about, get in and out of the car and rely on the nozzle staying in the tank, filling up the tank until it magically knows the tank is full? If so then that is where your problem is. In the UK we don't have forecourt fireballs, it sounds to me that this is an American 'innovation', one that is probably needed given that Americans need to consume their own bodyweight in 'gasoline' to get to work and back in one of Detroit's finest 'cars'.

simoncion 11y ago
> Is this not the case in the USA? Most of the time, no. Not every pump handle has a functioning hold-open mechanism, but the vast majority of them do. > ...filling up the tank until it magically knows the tank is full? It's not magic, it's simple application of physics. [0] I would be shocked if this wasn't a feature of every nozzle that was usable by members of the public... nozzles in the UK included. :) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dispenser#Automatic_cut-off_in_fuel_dispenser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dispenser#Automatic_cut-o...
ghaff 11y ago
>In the UK the petrol pump nozzle has to be held, you can't just put it in there and expect it to fill up your tank - at all times the handle has to be held. Is this not the case in the USA? It varies--based on state I believe. There's a little catch that can be used at some pumps to fill without holding onto the pump handle. It actually does shut off quite reliably when the gas reaches the nozzle. It uses a venturi mechanism. [1] You're supposed to stay there and keep your eye on it but it's pretty reliable. Only once in my life have I seen this not work as it was supposed to. [1] http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119483&page=1 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119483&page=1

venning 11y ago

I remember seeing a gas station security video of this, pre-YouTube. A woman wearing what looked like a fuzzy (static-y) sweater accidentally sparked the gas at the filler door, igniting the gas in the line. She had the presence of mind to close the filler cap before running from the car, which probably starved the fire sufficiently to prevent anything more interesting from showing up on the video. That said, I'm not entirely certain that a fuel filler fire would overtake the entire car. It may just burn out the remaining fuel via the fuel door, so long as the components of the fuel system are sufficiently fire-retardant (no guarantee). When new Ferraris burn themselves down in seconds (happens a lot), I believe it tends to be because something has allowed the fuel pump to continue operating after the line has ruptured, and so the pump is pushing a constant stream on high-pressure flammable liquid onto a hot engine. As long as there's still electricity, the fire will get bigger and bigger.