| Posted By tacoX on 10/06/04 @ 7:19:22 PM |
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I was with one of my buddies today, and he was filling up his tank. So, you know how it says 'Turn of Engine" when you fill your tank, HE LEFT IT ON! And guess what, we DIDNT BLOW UP! So, I need to know - can a car blow up from filling it with gas while it's running, or is that just an assumption I've made my entire life up until today. My mind is still reeling from this! |
| Posted By lincolnluxor on 10/06/04 @ 8:44:52 PM |
| It can... The Air Force sends us little movies to prove it. Mainly about people re-entering their cars... seems to happen most then. I don't get the cell phone one though. |
| Posted By logic on 10/06/04 @ 10:24:43 PM |
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*cracks knuckles* Area of expertise, all things automotive related. Filling up your gas tank, or *diesel tank, can potentially 'blow up' your vehicle, from various potentials. The number 1 cause of this happening, is static electricity.. I'll explain this in the form of an example. When you fill up your car, you usually get out of the vehicle, close the door, swipe your card or prepay, then open the fuel door, remove the cap, life the nozzle, insert, and begin fueling. Then, you will go to get back into your vehicle. After your done fueling, you will open the door but not close it, and go to remove the nozzle. You'll notice that this is when it usually happens. Most vehicles have carpet floormats, and when people are just sitting, waiting for the fuel to finish, they rub their feet around. Most of you have been to elementary school, this creates static electricity. For those of you who don't know this, stand up, take your shoes off (since it does it better) and rub your foot back and forth on the carpet real fast, then go touch something metal. Zap. Back to the example, your sitting there, fuel stops, you get out but don't close the door. You are now static, you have a charge, and you go to touch the fuel pump nozzle, which is typically metal, and this will generate a minute spark, ergo, boom. Quick fact, gasoline is absolutely NOT flammable. The fumes are, this is what is explosive, not the actual liquid. So, you just finished fueling, there are fumes surrounding that particular part of your vehicle, and, if conditions are perfect, enough for that static spark to ignite and, well, boom. Why this doesn't happen to everyone? Some fuel locations have depolorized their fuel handles, to prevent this, most frequently, the conditions are not perfect (believe it or not, it is more difficult for scientists to control the conditions to be perfect, then for it to happen in a natural setting), or, another reason, is that you close your door (ergo touching the outside, negating the static charge), or another part of your vehicle first, or something else that removes the static charge. Most vehicles are designed that you can not leave your vehicle running and it explode if you put gas into it, there is nothing sparking or igniting near your fuel tank, thats why most fuel tanks are towards the rear of the vehicle, and all of the fuel is transversed via fuel lines to the engine, where it can be injected and then ignited. You can go to How's it work or just go to google and search up on it, to get much more detailed and informative explanations on all of this. Hope this helps *diesel- Diesel fluid is not flammable either, it's the fumes, but they are much, much more volatile. It's a common myth and misunderstanding, by people that are not in the automotive industry, that gasoline is explosive. As i've said its the fumes, but they do not 'explode', its a slow process. Typically, you'll hear some absolute retard say that he gets the 'ultra premium hot rod' gasoline at the pump, because it explodes more, or, my personal favorite, it burns faster. Slap yourself. The ideal gasoline would burn as long as possible. In a gasoline engine, whether your on a 4 stroker, V6, V8, V10, 12, whatever, if it's gasoline, you have cycles. Intake Combustion Power Exhaust. On intake, you will draw in O2 (this is oxygen), this is where your cylinder expands, downstroke, to draw it in, then, the second cycle is combustion, this is where the cylinder goes back up, compressing the air, then you have power, where it is ignited, and it goes back down, thus giving power from the ignited fuel, then you have exhaust, where it's gone out, then repeat. Now that you have an extreme elementarian understanding of this, your cylinder goes up and down, but it's similiar to how a train wheel moves, you have a rod attachted to it, that goes in a circular motion to make it move up and down. Gas doesn't explode, so you have what is known as timeing. This is the actual 'time' your computer has set to 'ignite', or, spark the spark plug for the fuel, so that you can get maximum effeciency. You have to advance or retard your timing to collaborate with your other cylinders. With gas engines, you typically have timing right before TDC, or top dead center, because you will have a miniscule pause before the flames are actually providing power, and you want to have that 'pushing' the cylinder down as long as possible. The reason for the * is because diesel fluid is different. Ever notice how diesel engines are so much bigger, louder, thicker, stronger? They are for a reason, diesel flames are explosive in every way, there is no "burn" like gasoline, its ignited, and it explodes.. hard. So the engines are built to take it. The "timeing" as you would say, on a diesel, has no real retardation need to it, its right after TDC, instead of BTDC (before top dead center), because as soon as it's lit, it explodes, thus giving maximum thrust. Wow.. I went off on a tangent. Hope this helps someone.. |
| Posted By platnum on 10/07/04 @ 4:44:18 PM |
| Wow, very interesting. Good job logic, I always thought that the gasoline itself was flammable. |
| Posted By tacoX on 10/07/04 @ 6:03:23 PM |
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God damn, I wasnt expecting such a infomational message! Very nice! Now, couldnt you have the gasoline 'blow up' even if the car wasnt on - from static. I always though it was a myth. |
| Posted By logic on 10/07/04 @ 7:02:06 PM |
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Yes, you could. The reason behind it being because the car is on, is because if people leave the car on, it is because they want to be inside of it, either for music, air conditioning, or heating, meaning that people generate that charge because they get in the car. Usually, if people turn the car off, it's because the weather isn't that bad and they just stand outside, waiting for it to finish. Furthermore, there is a miniscule possibility of back fuel. In an extremely elementarian definition, most cars today are modernized, meaning that if you just stick the nozzle in, put on the lock-key, and stand there, it'll automatically shut off once your fuel gauge, which is just a floatation defice inside your fuel tank connected to electrical sensors, reaches the full mark, then it will shut it off. Older cars don't have this, which means that if you dont stop filling, gas will overflow. In modern cars, rarely happens, but if it reaches that far, alot of cars now are so electrically inclined, that they have diodes everywhere (a electrical device that prevents electricity from flowing the opposite way), meaning that if it doesnt work, and it sends a faulty signal saying stop fueling, then it will generate a charge to disrupt that connection, and if the fuel conditions are right, could ignite the flames. Like I said, this is very unlikely. |
| Posted By platnum on 10/07/04 @ 7:14:47 PM |
| How did you get to know so much about cars? |
| Posted By tacoX on 10/07/04 @ 7:28:59 PM | ||
I *think* he took some classes in it during high school, and continued his education in cars before school. |
| Posted By platnum on 10/07/04 @ 7:29:59 PM |
I think this is the best thread we have had in the spam forum for a long time. 
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| Posted By Tokin on 10/07/04 @ 7:58:48 PM |
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I could care less if people say there have to be perfect conditions, no way in hell would I do that all the time purposefully. It is still a scary thought, even if unlikely. |
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