On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 05:19:52 -0500, Nick Hull
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

There are lots of safe ways, and a small heat job far from the mouth of
the tank has an inherently low danger. Dry Ice sounds good, I often use
a CO2 tank for the same purpose. My father often welded diesel tanks
full to overflowing; often a fire (fireman standing by) but never an
explosion.

You have a fireman standing by for diesel...this is _p e t r o l_
according to to the OP.

Water works but is a bitch to clean out afterward.

If the
diesel

..........read the OP...........

tank were empty, I would consider just adding a cup of 30W oil
and go at it for such a low heat job. A small amount of oil added to
gasoline so supresses the flash that the mix can be poured on open flame
without the disasterous flashback you get trying to pour gasoline on an
open fire.

The guy is rebuilding a whole machine! USE WATER! CLEAN IT OUT
AFTERWARD! Why is everybody trying to offer dangerous advice to save
1% of the job? The savings are minor. _Probably_ nothiong will
happen. If it does, it's bad

I will try your statements sometime. A "small" amount of oil to how
much petrol, please? I have had plenty of opportunities to try petrol
on hot situations, where I could control the amount of "gas" and could
leap out of the way. Tell me how much oil stops it being really
dangerous, please. Diesel will _almost_ explode "on an open fire".
Petrol is amazing.

If you disagree then you have not seen the right conditions. Many
have. The problem is that you do not know what the "right conditions"
are until your eyebrows/face disappear, or the shop burns down.

And how are you going to assure that the petrol has been mixed with
the oil, in the tank. What if there's a burnthrough?

OK. I have never had a petrol accident. I know a guy who did. He
nearly died. Apparently he was washing the engine of a car down with
petrol in a spray bottle.

never done that?.....I have...

Something...happened. (the _shadow_ knows) Watch strap on battery
terminal? Nylon clothes and static?

Four years later he was still wearing a pressure bandage on his hand
and forearm. It's just come off. His son talked about it recently and
said that when he was called by the hospital, it was touch and go, and
when he went in there he could not believe what he saw. "Melted man"

Hang on! Sorry. Two guys. The other one tried (well no, he succeeded)
to light an incinerator that would not behave by "helping" it with
petrol...but it was already warm....stupid huh? He was just the
laughing stock of the workplace for a couple of weeks. He looked
really funny. Bald...no eyebrows...sheepish expression.

So anyway.......... All the theories and arguments are crap, unless
the proponent has suffered the consequences.

If you get it wrong you are stuffed.

So do your best to be careful. Err on the side of caution.

If you are going to risk your life, at least have fun doing
it...bungey, paraglide, abseil, have unprotected sex with someone....

sorry.
************************************************** ** sorry

..........no I'm not!
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