Petrol pump stopping

mazza111

Does it really matter if it's going to go up in flames or not? Surely the fact of the matter is, the garage don't allow mobile phones to be used on their forecourt, especially when filling up.

As a previous poster said, it's like going into someone's house who has a no shoes rule and refuse to remove your shoes.

Or someone going onto a game server where cheating isn't allowed, but they run around with an aimbot.

You go onto someone's property, in this case the garage, you follow their rules. It's disrespectful not to.

red_eye

jackieb wrote: »

It doesn't matter that it was a mobile phone, the fact is you weren't giving your full intention to putting in the fuel and could have spilled it - maybe that was the reason they were stopping it.

there is a vent in the nozzel little tube thing shuts the pump when the fuel in the filler neck stops it from venting.

Ever tried to fill up a 5 gallon jerry can? takes about 5 years

almillar

Just one small question to those who say that a lit cigarette can't ignite fuel (or vapour) - how did you light the cigarette?
The mobile phone rules, I had always thought, related to batteries. Now I know that mobile phones are a bit different today, but if you dropped one of these old phones whilst yakking and trying to fill up, there would be a risk of a spark from the battery if it came apart, and sparks can ignite fuel last time I checked a spark plug...
Maybe your iPhone would create a spark if the metal dropped on the tarmac, then a smashed screen would be the least of your worries...

Catherine_Johnson_2

You have to wonder if some people are just a little, well, thick, don't you?

Either that or they are simply wind up merchants.

Either way, it doesn't say much for their level of intelligence.

It's safer to stay at home, I think, and keep away from all the crazies out there!

CrazyRed

My understanding of the ban on mobile phones in petrol stations is this:

Mobile phones work at pretty high frequencies - very close to the microwave spectrum (1800/1900MHz) - albeit at a much lower power level.

We all know not to put metal items in a microwave, for some very valid reasons. The principle is exactly the same near a car fuel filler - nozzles are metal, as are most fillers. Microwave-level energy and metal in close proximity to each other would not make for a good combination in the presence of petrol vapour.

Frankly, OP, I think you are being exceptionally foolish and taking unnecessary risks with not only your own safety, but that of others around you as well - you say you were checking the flight times? Surely you'd have found out this information BEFORE leaving, so you knew what time you were aiming to be at the airport?
Checking this sort of information could easily wait until you stop for a break - NOT to fill up the car - a BREAK.

w211

I'd have just gone in and paid their £30, and told them I was going to put in £100 worth of fuel in but the pump is not working (+ buy lunch, top-up phone etc....), then leave.

If it was such a risk, then they should have just stopped the pump there and then, and someone should have come out and told you, or said something over the tannoy, instead of playing games and letting you carrying on filling up to £30.

almillar

CrazyRed - you are crazy!
You're right about the frequencies being the same, but don't you think a microwave is a wee bit more powerful?! Like 1000W more powerful? And also operates in an enclosed space...

colino

It has oft been tested here and the US that mobiles working, ringing, switching on or off simply do not emit enough energy to excite fuel vapours into flame or explosion. Even the respected engineer who is quoted as being the empirical source of the warning to fuel handling equipment manufacturers about this potential hazard is sick of denying the claim and has categorically stated in print and on TV that the claim is untrue. He knows because he did the tests!
There have been petrol station fires but they are largely attributed to our lardy arsed American cousins clicking the ratchet to keep the fuel flowing on the pump (remember them) and repeatedly sliding their generously upholstered, leisure-suited rears over the nylon car seat covers creating a massive static charge. Then, when Shewanda touches the metal nozzle, probably still talking to Duwaynetta, that spark discharges and causes a fire. Darwinism in operation.
Thinking back, when I worked for a large, very safety conscious, multi-natonal "energy" company, their safe working practice when taking on or discharging product to a tanker was for a poor junior engineer to sit on the quayside manifold and communicate with the bridge on antique walkie-talkies. To my certain knowledge there was never a fire caused by these things (which were hot in your hand when you charged them) when used with all their static-crackle effectiveness right beside millions of litres of fuel, and the subsequent angel cloud of fumes, in one of the most hazardous situations you could imagine.
BUT. Their fuel station, their rules, and if you've ever been a bored, plookey youth working in one of these places, a funny break in your shift.

AlexisV

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

A dropped cigergette will not ignite a pool of petrol because the liquid dissipates the heat too quickly. A cigergette will ignite petrol VAPOR. Which is why it's not a good idea to smoke near the pumps.

Petrol vapor is much more flammable than the liquid itself.

Pretty sure they tested this theory on Mythbusters as well. Nothing happened.

mikey72

colino wrote: »

It has oft been tested here and the US that mobiles working, ringing, switching on or off simply do not emit enough energy to excite fuel vapours into flame or explosion. Even the respected engineer who is quoted as being the empirical source of the warning to fuel handling equipment manufacturers about this potential hazard is sick of denying the claim and has categorically stated in print and on TV that the claim is untrue. He knows because he did the tests!
There have been petrol station fires but they are largely attributed to our lardy arsed American cousins clicking the ratchet to keep the fuel flowing on the pump (remember them) and repeatedly sliding their generously upholstered, leisure-suited rears over the nylon car seat covers creating a massive static charge. Then, when Shewanda touches the metal nozzle, probably still talking to Duwaynetta, that spark discharges and causes a fire. Darwinism in operation.
Thinking back, when I worked for a large, very safety conscious, multi-natonal "energy" company, their safe working practice when taking on or discharging product to a tanker was for a poor junior engineer to sit on the quayside manifold and communicate with the bridge on antique walkie-talkies. To my certain knowledge there was never a fire caused by these things (which were hot in your hand when you charged them) when used with all their static-crackle effectiveness right beside millions of litres of fuel, and the subsequent angel cloud of fumes, in one of the most hazardous situations you could imagine.
BUT. Their fuel station, their rules, and if you've ever been a bored, plookey youth working in one of these places, a funny break in your shift.

But an ATEX class II device for use in an explosive atmosphere, not a Blackberry.