Exploding petrol?

Currently reading:
Exploding petrol?

They had this experiment on brianiacs on sky one tonight.

A caravan was filled with petrol cans and a mobile phone was put next to it, nothing happened when the mobile rang!
 
Sorry about that rant, I'm descending to your level!

Cars are a necessary part of filling stations. Their electrics are, mostly, pretty sealed off. Phones are, although slight, a totally unnecessary risk in a garage, and not flameproof. Only dickheads would use them on a forecourt.
If you had taken the trouble to read my 1st reply properly, you would have seen I said if the conditions were right. It also applies to cars! Fortunately, it is nigh on impossible to get the mixture of 14.5:1 exactly right in open air, but if you had seen the results, as I did, when my mate overturned and 36000 litres of petrol caught light in Sunderland a few years ago, you wouldn't be so blase.

(Can't do an acute accent on the 'e').
 
I never knew you needed a chemistry degree to be a truck driver ;)

Petrol is a mixture of various alkanes, 10-20 carbons per molecule, liquid at room temperature (just), has a flashpoint of 40degC from memory and contains lots of lovely smelly nasty benzene. (which is now pretty much illegal to use in chemistry labs as it causes cancer)

Just with any flamable material, given the correct air/fuel ratio it will go bang quite nicely, but then so will MDF dust, custard powder, flour, natural gas, hairspray, meths, farts....

A small spark will ignite all of those. There is nothing special or magical about petrol, it just smells nice.

Used to use petrol to power a baked-bean tin cannon, worked quite well.

Numpty!
 
So a mobile phone set light to the overturned tanker full of petrol? No sparks or hot truck engine parts involved at all?

Car electrics are sealed? Wow, thats a new one to me! I've never seen a sealed starter motor, or a sealed alternator, I even think my alt has a duct to get cooling air through it. And dodgey plug leads are far from sealed. The starter solonoid on my mini used to make a heck of a flash when it closed.

Mobile phones are usually sealed, are powered from 3v or less these days, very low power, no moving parts except the switches and radiate not much more energy than your average domestic microwave oven.

Anyway, I thought 12:1 was the better ratio for petrol.
 
Seeing as there is a degree of uncertainty, I'd rather not give someone else the choice whether I get to drive away burnt to a crisp or at a normal 37.whatever degrees celsius.
 
There are NO recorded cases of mobiles causing fires.

Some places will claim that mobiles can generate ESD (electrostatic discharge) BUT the electronics inside the mobile would be fried by this. This is exactly the same reason you get new parts for your PC wrapped in those shiney metalic bags, they dissipate satic to stop it damaging the electronics.

Mobile phones produce less RF power than a CB radio or a taxi radio yet you can use them safely.
 
What's with the anti-safety then hard-arse?
Why the two fingers, **** it I'll do what I want attitude?
A northern thing?


It's there for a reason, respect it. I am sure the Petrochemical giants must have performed some research before they rang their local Rymans to order another set of adhesive label warning signs.

Even if it is to make sure the pump correctly registers the volume of fuel pumped (as someone mentioned may be the reasoning behind it), pay the going rate and drive off into the sunset happy in the knowledge that you didn't act like a chav and actually respected a public health & safety notice. If you don't like the going rate, do something about it other than act the geezer on a website.

I am sure if it were your filling station or if you spotted whilst on holiday abroad, you'd be the first to point it out.
 
Is it numpty day here or something? :)

As I said before, its all about public paranoia. The general public who are happy to drive about in a metal box with 10+gals of petrol sloshing about somewhere near the exhaust have an idea that mobiles are dangerous.
 
Even if it some a complete farce, the fact that you drove on to a forecourt to fill up, means that you must adhere to their terms of business.

What would you do if someone was smoking near your car whilst you were filling up? You wouldn't say anything, you'd just nod and say "alright mate"?
 
City and Guilds every 3 years in hazardous chemicals, and it's not the spark, it's the emissions from the aeriel.

And I now rescind my apology, DOUBLE NUMPTY:0
 

Similar threads

R
Replies
0
Views
268
Robin
R
S
Replies
8
Views
542
jords
J
E
Replies
2
Views
355
E
Back
Top