"MikeWhy" wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote in message


How many gas pump fires? Having a difficult time here googling up hard
numbers. I suppose just one is enough to ruin your day, but just how many
fires? (Never mind explosions. We're pretty much safe even with the filler
neck on fire, unless you happen to be filming a movie.)

It seems like at least once a year there is news coverage of a fire at a gas
pump. IIRC gasoline cans or pump lables warn about this possibility.


Regards flammables in the shop... One of my most favorite toys is a
Swedish Firesteel. It's a magnesium rod that throws off little burning
bits of itself when struck. Finding usable tinder isn't really difficult,
but it's bad enough that I keep it with a box of cotton balls already
soaked in petroleum jelly. In context of DC fires and static discharge,
the energy content in even one magnesium spark is magnitudes larger than
what leaves your fingertips.

Conditions being rightand on a cold dry day I can see an arc that measures a
quarter inch or so if I grab the ungrounded end of the DC hose. Much longer
than that of the typical spark plug. My concern is if you have some acetone
near by or on a rag. I am not so much worried about whether the DC is
running or its particular contents.


Not sure what I'm trying to say. Yes, the potential is there, but just how
big a danger is it? How much energy will it take to ignite the gas fumes
exiting the filler neck? How easy is it ignite that pile of wood dust? For
that matter, I have died of BLO soaked rags yet...

The potential is probably very low for even flamable fumes but the danger
could be high if they actually ignited. The quarter inch arc is way past
enough to ignite flamable fumes if they are present. You only need a simple
spark in the right atmosphere.