[zonk]

Hi guys,I don't know if this is the right place but,I would like to have people be aware of this problem.You hear on the news more lately on people filling there cars with gas and a static spark causing a fire.It happened to guy I work withs brother in law.Pulled up on his lawnmower between a pickup and car to fill it up,they suspect a static spark ignited the fumes causing a major fire.He died a few weeks later.Theres alot of probabal causes,don't be talking on cell phone,more plastic be used ,since then when I fill the coupe up(gas tank in trunk)I get some wet rags and put around the fill neck, and touch the car before I begin to fill.Just something to be aware of.

[Benji]

You need to touch the metal car body and the fuel pump at the same time, THEN pick up the nozzle to begin fueling. This will equalize the positively and negatively charged ions between the two objects with you serving as the conductor. I would make sure before touching both objects that there has not been an obvious recent fuel spill or that there is an obvious gasoline vapor smell from another motorist refueling.

I remember years ago, someone attempted to blow up a Chevy pickup of mine. He soaked a rag in some gasoline, stuffed it into the gas filler tube lit it and ran. The rag burned out. Why? Three things are needed for combustion; Fuel, oxygen and an ignition source. There was fuel in the tank, and an ignition source but not enough oxygen inside the tank to support combustion. I suppose had the tank been completely full including the filler tube, maybe it would have exploded, I don't know. I glad his plan was foiled!

Ben

[5.0Towncar]

Yes.........We are going to drop the fuel tank and rip out the pump just to touch it to fill the car up..Ummm . Steve

[lookatme]

no, you just leave a long piece of bailing wire bolted to the frame of your car, then when you go to gas up you wrap it around the gas pump four or five times, then when you feel safe, you can start fuelin'

[5.0Towncar]

Or get one of those colored metalic outfits the Pentium people wear during the commercials and start dancing around the gas pump when it's filling up.Maybe even give it a few pelvic thrusts. Steve

[Busted Knuckles]

No no 5.0,
Benji means you need to hold the nozzle in one hand and touch your car with the other hand at the same time.
Static electricity is a major, MAJOR concern on fighter jets. Not so much because of the fuel, but because of the ordnance that goes on them.
Because gasoline is far more explosive than jet juel (basically diesel fuel), people really should be more careful about how they refuel their cars, especially because more plastics are being used. It didn't used to be a big concern because car bodies were all metal and the voltage potential between the gas pump and the car was equalized much easier. Just the act of transfering fuel from the pump to the car generates static electricity.

[5.0Towncar]

Yeah, I was kidding around. I always lean against my car when I fill up, and never fill up next to somone who has their car running. Of course it won't matter when they blow up. Steve

[Busted Knuckles]

On fighters, we have to run a ground wire from the fuel truck to a grounding rod imbedded in the flight ramp, then run a wire from the aircraft to the ground, then we run a wire from the aircraft to the truck. Pain in the a** but that's how we do it. We save the chrome suits for fires and the pelvic thrusts for the enemy's girlfriends.

[5.0Towncar]

You play with hose all day lol. Steve

[stonedchihuahua]

I know that ford screwed up on one car and didn't ground the gas tank to the body... THey discovered that filling with a jerry can was not safe but pumps are grounded so they were safer...

[38 special]

You guys have me confused between kidding and whats real. Does this happen with just plastic fuel tanks or metal ones or both? Or is the wool totaly being pulled over my eyes? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[zonk]

38, this is very real my friends in law,what they determined was that he had a plastic bed liner in the back of his pickup and a plastic gas can dragged it across creating a static charge igniting the fumes,another case in town west of here caught on tape,a woman started filling her van got back in with the door open,in getting back out sliding across the seat created static when she reached for nozzle static spark she was lucky and got away burned up two vehicles.A static charge can be started by any little charge plastic or steel.All I am trying to do is warn rodders this can happen and to be aware of it.What I have read is to,touch your vehicle before filling,don't be talking on the cell phone,and once filling don't get back in car.