Every year when I lived in
the Midwest, I’d read about some poor
SOB who was using gasoline to clean parts in his basement during the winter and
it had ended in tragedy. Often it was a motorcycle that had been taken to
a basement for cleaning and repairs. I just saw another report that came
from Nebraska,
I think. A couple was working on a fuel pump and a gas tank and it torched
off from a water heater pilot. Gasoline fumes are heavier than air and
will find a water heater or furnace if one is there.
Other workers at a Phillips 66
station where I worked in the ‘50’s in Des Moines blew all the windows out of the
station after draining fuel into a drainage sump in the wash rack.
Turning on the water to flush the floor kicked on the flash water heater and
blam. Burnt all the paint, tires and wiring off the Dodge Military PowerWagon
wrecker, but they were built to last and it was rebuilt, repainted, rewired and
returned to service—all after repairing the hole in the gas tank which
started the ruckus. Experienced mechanics and technicians (and
engineers!) are not beyond making serious blunders as familiarity sometimes breeds
contempt.
Don’t let it happen to
you. Never, ever use gasoline to clean parts or paint brushes, inside
anyway—and don’t refuel your mower, car, motorcycle or any other
gasoline burner while it is in the garage, especially if there is a water
heater there. Electric water heaters probably have arcing contacts that
will serve nicely as a sparkplug! Here in our town in California,
furnaces and water heaters are required to be set up on an 18” high
platform in an attempt to protect the unsuspecting, forgetful and incautious from
themselves. This is a good idea and may be required
elsewhere.
Sermonette over.
Looking Forward to more interesting and less hazardous discussions.
Rich
Barber
Brentwood, CA
Date: Sat,
3 Mar 2007 17:14:03 -0500
From: ted
dudley <moparp2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Old Gas
One member wrote the
following on Old Gas: "Weed control, clean greasy
parts, fire starter, a few
of the many uses for old, stale, foul smelling
gasoline! None of
these uses are legal in WI if not all of the United
States."
PLEASE don't use gas as a
fire starter. I had a young man working for me at
a Marine Dealership in Atlanta, GA
who was asked to burn the engine crates
out back in "The
Pit". Not being the brightest light on the Christmas
tree, he poured USED TWO
CYCLE GAS on the pile and then stepped back to
light it off. We, who
work on engines, know that liquid gas does not burn.
It's the vapors that
ignite. As you pour gas out of a container on to
anything, the vapors WILL
get inside your cloths. As soon as Tommy lit the
match, he went up in flames
first, not the crates and he spent many months
in the hospital being
treated for the burns over 85% of his body. He will
carry the scars for the rest
of his life. I believe this is my first post
to the list server, but it
is a subject close to my heart, and a sight I
will never forget. As a two
tour Vietnam
era Marine Corps S/SGT, I saw a
lot, but that is one thing I
don't want to happen to any of our members.
I'm not picking on the
member who posted this, I'm just concerned about our
safety as restorers of these
great MoPars. Ted, Ocala,
FL
ted dudley
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