ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion Static problem at the gas station

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Dave

The warnings at Mobil specifically ask the customer to touch metal on their vehicle to disipate static charge. I looked today to make sure . Not that I expect anyone to read it or actually do it.

Ryan, you can save the file directly: https://www.electrical-contractor.net/Forum/Safety/gasfireclip02-13-04.avi

Thanks guys.

Awesome video!

I agree that the static appears to have been caused by her clothing; you can see her undo the 'static cling' of her trousers to her (probably nylon-wrapped) legs.

"Mythbusters" did their best to set off an explosion with a cell phone- and failed. I think we can discount that fear.

Her behavious was exemplary; while she should have left the nozzle in the car, she did shut off the flow before leaving for help.

Untill recently, you never heard of this sort of thing- but you DID hear of people driving off with the nozzle still in the car! Saw some real nice fires from that!

The only remedy that I can think of is to incorporate flame detectors in the design, to shut down the pumps when this happens.

More info on gas pump fires & safety
http://www.pei.org/static/

-Randy

Here in NJ, there is only "full-service" (rather than self-service, though the service isn't always so full...).

Are there any statistics about fires at gas stations, in terms of "full-service" versus "self-service?"

Thanks for posting that video. Almost makes me want to take the bus again... (Nah, forget that!)

Ok! While sitting in the car right before the fire she did one or more of these things. Lit a cigarette, talked on the phone, started the car, turned on the radio, then rubbed a cat vigously against the cashmere sweater, or all of the above!
All of this in the two 30 second intervals that are missing from the film!

But note: She did not touch the frame of the car while getting out. In fact, on second look, it doesn't look like she touched the car frame at all from pulling in. The static is from the tires, when she pulled in from the freeway, or what have you. And it looks like her rear end was on the car when she reached for the pump. She not having touched the frame of the car during all of this, until her second contact with the pump, that was grounded. I think we need super slo-mo here!



[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 06-01-2004).]

That static would have been discharged when she first put the nozzle into the fill spout. The static is most likely from getting out of the car.
Don

Isn't tire rubber heavily filled with conductive carbon black to prevent static buildup?