RE: [Chrysler300] New question on fuel tank sending units

["Rich Barber" <c300@xxxxxxx>]

The stories of fire and explosion of volatile fuel tanks are many and true.
Fairly first-hand stories I'm knowledgeable of often include welders and
mechanics that think they know what they are doing taking a somewhat
arrogant and macho attitude that they can get by with cutting corners.
Those made wiser by personal or close experience know that it is very
difficult to absolutely assure a tank is safe to weld on, especially since
welding heat can drive flammable vapors out of surfaces, sludge and
crevices--even after a water wash.  Incidents I'm familiar with include:
Gasoline drained into sludge basin in wash rack at a filling station ignited
when flash water heater kicked on as water was used to flush the gasoline
down a drain.  Blew all windows out of a 4-bay station and burnt the wiring,
tires and paint off of the military Power Wagon wrecker.  New glass, wiring,
tires and paint--back in service--built Dodge tough.
LNG vapors oozed out of insulation inside the huge tank, welding set it off
and resulted in multiple fatalities.  Tank had been tested six ways from
Sunday before entry, but after work started.
Welding brackets on the bottom of an empty methanol tank vaporized the small
amount of remaining methanol-fumes flowed out of tank, found the welding
arc, traveled back inside the tank that had a combustible mixture in it.
Tank took off like moon rocket.  Blew all windows out of nearby building and
the welding truck.  No one hurt, but welder had a ringing in his ears for
some time.
Nearby hot rod shop owner welding on an empty gas tank that exploded and
flash burned his face and torso.  Life flighted and received excellent care
and returned to work several months later.

Not 300 stuff, but worth emphasizing to extend the lives of 300 owners and
mechanics, as well as the 300's themselves.  Please be careful and watch out
for your fellow man or woman so they don't have to relive any of these
experiences.

Wishing all a Happy 300'ly New Year
Rich barber
Brentwood, CA


-----Original Message-----
From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Tim Tomlinson
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 9:11 PM
To: jlsavard@xxxxxxx
Cc: Chrysler 300 club
Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] New question on fuel tank sending units

Group:
  I got to get in on this one!  I am in a farming community.  As such we had
and still have a large welding shop.  The previous owner used to weld lots
of deisel tanks, ammonia tanks and a few gasoline tanks.  Always had them
full to nearly overflowing.  Got away with it for many years.  Once he
didn't, and was killed.  His son took over, and also has welded many a fuel
tank, etc. but prefers (funny about that) not to do so.  Will not touch an
ammonia tank nor gasoline.
  I do not know which type of fuel blew up the one time.  Guess it really
isn't all that important.  I have heard conjecture it may have been too full
and heat expansion pushed some out that then vaporized, others that it
wasn't full enough.  His son picks and chooses what he will and won't work
on, now.
Tim Tomlinson
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: jlsavard@xxxxxxx 
  To: DAN300F@xxxxxxx ; Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 7:05 PM
  Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] New question on fuel tank sending units


  In a message dated 12/28/2007 7:48:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
  dan300f@xxxxxxx writes:

  Hi all:

  Years ago when I worked for the telephone company, in the motor vehicle 
  yard, 
  the cap on an underground gas tank needed replacing. A guy came out, took
a 
  torch and cut off the old cap and welded on a new one. The trick was that
he 
  first put a hose down the pipe shaft from his exhaust pipe on his truck, 
  filling the void in the tank with carbon monoxide. With that, no oxygen,
no 
  danger 
  of fire.

  Dan Reitz
  Northridge, CA

  That's all very nice, and pretty clever, but I can still remember working
at 
  a large garage that had a radiator repair department. Whenever we got a
gas 
  tank in that needed repair, the serviceman immersed the gas tank in the 
  radiator hot boil out tank for several hours, then ran an air hose through
it for 
  long enough that we all got tired of listening to it. You'd expect that to

  be enough to get any fumes out of the tank, but the service guy had one
more 
  trick up his sleeve. He set the tank into the little room where he worked,

  and reached around the corner of the door with a torch to see if anything
was 
  still coming out of the filler pipe. You would be surprised at how many 
  times he was rewarded with a resounding "Boom" and a puffed-up fuel tank.

  I'm also reminded of the airliner that blew up off the coast of new York. 
  The cause was finally determined to be an electrical short in an empty jet

  fuel tank. Jet fuel is less volatile than gasoline.

  I still don't know how/why our fuel gages work, but I'm sure glad that
they 
  do!

  Joe Savard
  Lake Orion, Michigan

  **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes 
  (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



   

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