Poll:Gas Station question?

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: flot

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
when the engine is running a constant charge is occuring throughout the body of the vehicle (the chasis is ground) when you sit inside your car or stop touching your cars chasis you will build a postive charge in your own body in relationship to the car, when you touch the chasis again that positve charge will discharge, occasionally a very small (but big enough) spark will occur when you are close enough for the negative electrons on the chasis to have an alternate path of least resistance, this equals fireball if you are around enough gasoline fumes. this is a very small chance that the worst case senario will occur, I'd rather your stupidity didn't burn the fvck outa me in the off chance you start the fire from being an ignorant moron.

Uh-huh. I'd love to hear what graduate physics program you got kicked out of for that explanation. The static electricity danger is a real one (to those people who don't live in florida, we have too much humidity for it to happen) - but it has nothing at all to do with your car running or not.

then why'd you erase this?

(actually anytime the ignition is on, the engine doesn't have to be running)

you don't need a physics degree for basic AC/DC understanding.

edit: reletive humidity has little to do with your accumulation of a static charge, I live in north Texas (in the Lake Texoma area), we have 80-90% humidity nearly all the time.

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong

(actually anytime the ignition is on, the engine doesn't have to be running)

you don't need a physics degree for basic AC/DC understanding.

Apparently some people do.

edit: reletive humidity has little to do with your accumulation of a static charge, I live in north Texas (in the Lake Texoma area), we have 80-90% humidity nearly all the time.

Perhaps you should do a little more homework on humidity and static charge, as well.

Static electricity is an electric charge caused by an imbalance of electrons on the surface of a material. It is most commonly caused by the contact and separation of materials. The area of contact, the speed of separation, relative humidity and other factors determine the amount of charge created in this process.

An example of this occurrence would be a person walking across the floor. Static electricity is generated as their shoe soles contact and separate from the floor surface. The amount of static electricity generated will increase due to the size of the sole surface, lower humidity and increased speed of movement.

The shock we receive upon touching another object is the transfer of the static charge or balancing of our charge to that of the object. This transfer is called Electrostatic Discharge or ESD.

Virtually all materials including water and dirt particles in the air are subject to this occurrence. The charge that is created, where it goes and how quickly is dependent on the materials characteristics and that of the materials it comes in contact with.

There are three basic types of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD).

Direct ESD to a device (Most Prevalent)
ESD from a device
Field induced ESD
Direct ESD to a device ? A person walking generates a static charge then touches a device causing a transfer of the electrostatic charge. A similar occurrence can happen when an electro statically charged device is brought in contact with another object.

ESD from a device ? Automated part movements within a device can generate an electrostatic charge, which will discharge when the device is brought in contact with another object.

Field induced EDS ? Whenever an object becomes electro statically charged there is an electrostatic field associated with that charge. If a device is placed in that field, a charge may be induced on it. If the device is momentarily grounded while within that field a transfer of charge from the device will occur.

 

[flot]

This is pretty funny, I actually found this in some oil company's FAQ. Note that they also completely avoid the question. In fact, they make two blanket statements (the exhaust components can glow red hot - probably referring to catalytic converters, and that the typical ignition system creates 40k voltages.) However, they don't mention that 1) your cat converter is underneath your car, and obviously sits about 2 feet from your fiberglass/plastic gas tank anyway. 2) your typical ignition system does create 40k voltages, but if your car is running smoothly, the odds of your STARTER creating a spark when you go to start your car are about 100x more likely than your ignition system sparking outside of the engine. And if it were, again, that would be 10 feet away under the hood and there is plenty of gas under there anyway.

Oh, and PS: If you did in fact pour gas on a hot exhaust component, it would probably just smoke and turn to vapor.

Their legitmacy to the claim is in the 2nd paragraph, where they're like "um, well, ok, maybe if it was running, and your fuel line burned because of an existing fire, then maybe your fuel pump would start spewing gas all over the place, making the fire worse."

Q: Engine Running
Why is it dangerous to leave your car running?

A: Many people believe this safety warning only applies to older cars. That is not true. A running car presents a number of "ignition sources" for fuel vapor. The exhaust components of a modern car can literally glow red hot during normal operation. The typical ignition system creates voltages above 40,000 volts.

But turning off your engine while refueling isn't just to prevent your car from starting a fire. There is also a safety issue in the event of fire, regardless of the source. In case a fire does occur in a gas station a running car is a danger. Imagine that fire burns through one of the rubber fuel hoses under your running car. Most fuel pumps deliver gasoline at about 15 to 40 pounds per square inch (PSI). Your fuel pump is now spraying a tremendous amount of gasoline at an open flame.

 

[FoBoT]

only Nazis leave their vehicle running when fueling

 

[KoolDrew]

Don't drive.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Text

video footage of some idiot moron.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: psiu

Originally posted by: bradruth
It's rare to see someone shut their vehicle off while fueling in the winter here.

I used to work across the street from a gas station. I noticed that the local pd NEVER turned their vehicles off while filling up.

Although I think the police never turn their vehicles off regardless, now that I think about it...

Do you?

Only when we end our shift & park it in the lot.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: His Lord Uberdude
Once while filling up, I noticed the guy next us was running while filling. It was like -15 with a wind chill that day, so passengers inside had demanded it be left on, I guess. Then we sat there for a REALLY long time while the tank filled up, when we noticed it wasn't filling because the pump was leaking. :shocked: So, we reported it, went to another pump, and ANOTHER guy pulls in and starts pumping and filling!!!!! :shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked: AND THE PUMPS LEAKING!!!!!!!! :shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:
:shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:
THEN as we were leaving (lucky to be alive) someone ELSE started filling while running the engine!!!!!!!!!
:shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:
:shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:

I don't usually look for them, but I can think a LOT of stations that have pumps with buttons on them indicating 'emergency stop' - or some other nearby control - I know one nearby station that has a huge red button on every concrete pillar for emergency stop. I think I would have pressed the emergency stop button if I saw a pump itself leaking gasoline (and it wasn't stopping).

I turn my car off every time I get fuel... out of habit, I suppose. I can't remember ever leaving the vehicle running.... ever... even other people, when I'm with them, etc. I don't recall seeing (m)any vehicles refueling while they are running, either...

Now that I think about it, I will always shut off my engine while fueling... simply because of the ERR code that is thrown is the gas cap is removed while the engine is running (or the tank otherwises changes pressure). I'm too lazy to bother with clearing the code. It's easier just to shut the engine off.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: psiu

Originally posted by: bradruth
It's rare to see someone shut their vehicle off while fueling in the winter here.

I used to work across the street from a gas station. I noticed that the local pd NEVER turned their vehicles off while filling up.

Although I think the police never turn their vehicles off regardless, now that I think about it...

Do you?

Only when we end our shift & park it in the lot.

Which, by the way, why is that? Just so that you can hop in and go without the delay of starting the engine??

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: psiu

Originally posted by: bradruth
It's rare to see someone shut their vehicle off while fueling in the winter here.

I used to work across the street from a gas station. I noticed that the local pd NEVER turned their vehicles off while filling up.

Although I think the police never turn their vehicles off regardless, now that I think about it...

Do you?

Only when we end our shift & park it in the lot.

Which, by the way, why is that? Just so that you can hop in and go without the delay of starting the engine??

Mostly. Also, we have a ton of electronics on in there, so the batteries would drain pretty quickly without the engine on.

 

[Evadman]

I almost always leave it running. I used to shut it off, no longer.

 

[Actaeon]

Always turn it off... never even thought about leaving it on.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Actaeon
Always turn it off... never even thought about leaving it on.

Same. I can't think of a reason I'd need or want to leave the car running while pumping gas...

 

[95SS]

Some of us have to, or the attendant won't pump for us. Gotta love Oregon, where it's too dangerous to pump your own gas. I usually don't mind, but just thew other day, I had to wait 5 minutes after the pump stopped for the lazy attendant to remove the nozzle from my car. Sometimes not being able to pump it yourself is just a pain in the ass.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: 95SS
Some of us have to, or the attendant won't pump for us. Gotta love Oregon, where it's too dangerous to pump your own gas. I usually don't mind, but just thew other day, I had to wait 5 minutes after the pump stopped for the lazy attendant to remove the nozzle from my car. Sometimes not being able to pump it yourself is just a pain in the ass.

New Jersey is like that also, but they also have Car inspections at special state locations which sounds better than NY were you just find a repair shop that is certified.