Fueling - Dangerous or ? ? ?

Our local TV station did a article on the approx. same thing last year. Women wearing nylons were having fuel tanks catch fire while fueling.

The fire department did a demo and sure enough after rubbing nylon he touched the metal rim on the fuel neck filler and set off a fire. they showed the reaction in slow motion so you could see the spark jump from his finger tip to the filler neck ring. Shot fire back up his "coverd" arm to almost his shoulder. He then covered the fuel neck snuffing out the flame on the filler neck.

what the fire department said was the reaction of the person fueling is too pull away when they saw the flames thus spraying fuel all over the outside of the car creating a larger fire.

What charged the finger was the nylon rubbing against the car seat upholerstery so people should not get back into there car while fueling. They also stated talking on cell phones while fueling could also cause the same problems.

T_Bone

Think what you want but cell phones have been proven to start gas fires. While it is on store video tape it could be put off as blamed on cell phone but just static elec. But on the other hand their has been documented cases of a cell phone ringing and a fire starting just as the phone was answered in oil refineries.

About the cell phones, there was a show on the Discovery channel recently dealing with legends, fact or fiction? They tried every way anybody could think of to start a fire in an explosive atmosphere with a cell phone and couldn't do it. In any kind of normal use, a cell phone just doesn't put out the kind of energy needed.

Pumping gasoline through a hose generates static electricity. That's why the NFPA 30 code for flammable and combustible liquids requires a grounding wire in fuel hose. It's purpose is to electrically bond the tank or can being filled to the supply tank and pump.

LMAO, ahh come on, wearing nylons never hurt anyone...:)

I didn't explain myself clearly. What the fireman did was get the static charge then touched the fuel tank filler neck without the fuel nozzle being there so there would be no ground present. At one time there was plastic covered fuel nozzels, still is?, and that insulated you from discharging the static charge, then with there free hand the person tried to install the cap before they hung up the pump handle.

Ya I also have a hard time about cell phones setting off explosive charges, or in this case a fuel tank. Remember back when the CB craze hit they also kept saying a CB could set off a explosive charge. I never remember hearing about any explosive set off by a CB. Don't mean that it can't but I just don't remember ever hearing about it.

T_Bone

None of us want to be "over-regulated" but none of us want to be in the adjacent bay of the service station when one of these fires breaks out, either!

Ask the town "gummit" types about using ground wires like the ones used at the airports. Instead of rolling the ATV's/snowmobiles off the trailers, just ground them to a metal pipe or a metal portion of the pump. Seems kinda knee-jerk to me to make you offload the equipment--don't you have to start up the machines to load/unload? Doesn't that mean potential for sparks and hot mufflers near fumes????

Sorry no offence; but I had to giggle after reading your post. While I very much understand your point as I load and unload over 40,000 gallons a day think of your post from this point of view and you will giggle too.

You pull into the gas station with your ATV in tow. On the next isle there is someone pumping gas into their SUV. You get out your truck and hook a set of jumper cables to the gas pump. Now look up at the person on the next isle. What is the expression on his face? Sorry but it makes me laugh every time I try to picture his face.

Have a great day
JOHN