Did you post this right on the spot via wifi?

 

^ ^ ^ no and funny that i didn't even notice that add till after i linked up the pic on this site. who reads ads anywaysż but i guess i could have via their free wif but that just sounds strange having free wifi at a gas pump doesn't it?

 

Well, did you take that pic with your cellphone? Notice the Electronic Devices warning on the pump?

 

welcome to the club?

im in fairfax area and pay that every time. Cheapest ive seen gas is like $3.30

 

yeah i used my cell phone, and i drive down the highway in the dc are so i'm not sure which one is more dangerous. i do not make calls or talk on the phone at the pump though, that just sounds dangerous. there was a guy in a truck next to me who was smoking the entire time so i thought he was more likely to blow up first although prolly not honestly.

i used to live in reston during high school years and gas was always more expensive there so i always filled up in herndon.

 

I don't know who are the idiots on a board that thinks a cell phone can create a spark to ignite gas fumes and then find some way to get some other idiot in the government approve it to be plastered on gas pumps.

People that smoke while pumping gas makes me nervous. All they need to do is to accidentally drop it and it falls near the opening. One time I asked this kid to take his cigarette out while he was pumping his own gas. He apologize and then proceeded to take one last drag. Just seeing the tip glow bright red made think how stupid he really is. As bad as this sounds, I wish these people ends up with a Darwin award. However, I certainly don't wish death on them. I'd rather they suffer knowing how stupid they were.

Enough ranting

 

correct me if i am wrong, but i seem to recall a myth busters type thing where someone flicked a lit cigarette into a bucket of gasoline in it and the burning cigarette just went out (extinguished itself). cuz paper smoldering isn't technically hot enough to ignite a pool of gasoline. not sure about the vaporz though


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well apparently after just reading experiments done on this. there is a very high chance that a cigarette can ignite gasoline but it is not 100% of the time so still very very dangerous.

 

I know a guy who welded a gas tank on a car. He ran a hose from the exhaust pipe into the filler tube, and left the car running while he welded the tank...

 

Mythbuster's did an episode on using cellphones at gas stations and found it highly unlikely that a phone could ignite any gas fumes. I agree. I was jk'ing about the phone. Much more likely to spark something getting in/out of the vehicle.

 

yeah, i have actually seen a spark from a sweater once and was very paranoid.

 

Here's the way it works. In order for ignition to occur you must have the proper fuel/air ratio, called stoichiometric. Fuel itself is too rich and must have oxygen from the air in order to ignite and burn. Fuel vapors from fuel is very rich right at the surface of the liquid fuel. As the fuel vapors rise (or move away from the source) it is increasingly diluted (a leaner fuel/air ratio) until it is no longer able to ignite and burn.

Somewhere in between those two points lies the stoichiometric fuel/air ratio where ignition and combustion can occur. However this fuel vapor/air mixture is invisible and cannot be seen. Even if you could see it, you wouldn't be able to recognize the stoichiometric point.

Therein is the problem and ensuing danger in fuel vapors igniting and burning. If you flip a burning object that has a high enough temperature towards and into a bucket of fuel you would be likely to obtain ignition. But the speed of the flipped object also has an impact on ignition.

With that said, it is best not to take chances while fueling at a gas station.

 

nicely said

 

Is this the sweater you are talking about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlNhnCpZq28

 

Dude that chick had a case of the itchies or twitchies. BTW I'm never moving while pupping my gas again, I'm just gonna stand there from start to finish.

 

Static-induced fires like that have been shown to be most frequently associated with women who, as in the video, get back into the car while it is being fueled.