Mobile Phones and Petrol

dabhoys

Hadn't a clue where to put this but though it quite funny so I posted it here..

I was blissfully unaware today pumping petrol into my jeep and I was on my phone. When the attendant at the station came running out yelling at me to get off my phone. You'd swear I was about to kill someone. Then he points to the smallest sign I've ever seen with half of it missing to inform me phones are also banned from use in a petrol station!!! I couldn't believe it's an offence!! Did a little search around the net and from what I can tell I've more chance of winning the lotto then blowing up a petrol station!!

Think twice about answering your phone at a petrol station. You could be the first!!!

Creamy Goodness

brainiac on sky one done an experiment on this very subject.

they got a caravan douce it in petol and set up a mobile phone inside.
from a safe distance they rang the phone but nothing happened.
they tried it again but this time with a load of phones, nothing happened.

they they were intent on blowing the caravan up so they got a dude to put on nylon clothing (most skanger wear is made out of this) dance around in a bucket (to earth him) and the static from his dancing blew the caravan up.

their conclusion was you're more likely to blow up a petrol station wearing nylon than using a mobile phone

Flukey

No woman in tights will ever buy petrol again. It'll be interesting watching them removing them as they get out of the car in a self service place though!

Tiriel

Cremo wrote:

brainiac on sky one done an experiment on this very subject.

they got a caravan douce it in petol and set up a mobile phone inside.
from a safe distance they rang the phone but nothing happened.
they tried it again but this time with a load of phones, nothing happened.

they they were intent on blowing the caravan up so they got a dude to put on nylon clothing (most skanger wear is made out of this) dance around in a bucket (to earth him) and the static from his dancing blew the caravan up.

their conclusion was you're more likely to blow up a petrol station wearing nylon than using a mobile phone

I remember that!! good show

Healio

But where did that whole myth come from, was a petrol station actually ever blown up by dropping a mobile phone while pumping petrol?

Tiriel

well in that show they had the caravan doused in petrol and had a hell of a lot of phones in it.. so it looks unlikely!

although.. I suppose maybe if you dropped your phone would the circuit create a spark or something?! cos the phones in the caravan were just ringing all piled in together!

Healio

time to go googling!!

EDIT: interesting

That is why they tell you to put your gas jug on the ground to fill it, if it is in the bed of your truck, and you have a bed liner, guess what, no ground for the jug, the ESD from your body jumps through the nozzle of the pump when it hits the electrically charged up plastic and boom, your in flames before you know what happened.

Lump

I worked for Statoil... If you answer the phone it's more likely to cause issues... IE the fumes are the dangerous part... if there is a concentrated amount of fumes in the area answering the phone can cause a spark. TBH You get nut jobs smoking when the tanker is pumping the fuel into the underground tanks. 70,000 Litres of fuel and some twat walks by with a fag.

Also tankers are more dangerous when they are empty, the fumes are the explosive part, and all stations now use vapour recovery.... ie, the fumes, instead of being vented out of the massive tubes to the rear of the station, they go back into the tanker. Anyway... I'd listen to people who work in the place. You are potentially risking the lives of lots of people in the area. Safety is a priority in these places, and it's unlikely that anything major would happen, but if it did, it wouldn't be the explosion that would cause the most damage... it'd be the several hundred tons of concrete coming back down to earth after the explosion.


Rant over.

John

neokenzo

I've heard about this a while ago. I'm not sure why but no harm in doing it anyway. Some places even go as far as advising you to switch off your mobile when you are in a patrol station.
Saw that thing on braniac. It was funny but I dont think they answer the question in this context because they didnt try near a fuel pump or while pumping. Though I think the outcome will be the same.
Chances are 99% you'll be fine talking on a phone at the pumps but then the other 1% may cause the whole station to blow up?

jesus_thats_gre

Can we really believe that mobile phones would be allowed to used full stop if this was a serious possibility. In extreme situation this could happen but 99.999999999999999999999999999999% of the time it wont...

dudara

But if it happens that once, you'd possibly be toast.

It has to do with the fumes, not the actual fuel itself. It's highly inflammable, and there is a chance, no matter how slight, that any electrical circuitry could create a flashpoint.

Lump

WOW! That's Excately what I said!!!!

John

The_B_Man

jaysus, i always thought that the phone fukked up the bit that counts how many litres ur puttin in and resets it to zero! :rolleyes:
im a loser!

dabhoys

The part I found the funniest was the guy coming out screaming at me. It was like I had a blowtorch pointing at the tank or something!!!

I mean my mate used to work in a petrol station he used to smoke and answer the phone all the time. hehe. He's a nutcase thought. But he's still here

Lump

So your friend is a fool then?


John

dabhoys

Stoner would be the best term. He don't give a **** He's nearly killed me I don't know how many times with his driving and other ideas. He's great

Capt'n Midnight

Static electricity is more of a danger - when they have little brushes on the ground to dischage static from cars then I'll believe it's anything more than attempt to prevent a repeat of the problems they had with CB's - which used to jam the meter so you could get extra petrol.

Tires and runners are insulators. It is quite easy to build up static on the car and then it's the nozzle of the fuel pump that earths the car when you put the nozzle into the saturated fuel/air mixture where the cap was.

Yes mobiles could cause problems - but since no attempt is made to reduce something more hazardous - I'd have to say probably best not to use the mobile but also not to switch on OR off..

Rabies

dabhoys wrote:

I was blissfully unaware today pumping petrol into my jeep and I was on my phone.

Petrol?

DEmeant0r

dabhoys wrote:

Stoner would be the best term. He don't give a **** He's nearly killed me I don't know how many times with his driving and other ideas. He's great

So your friend is great for nearly putting you and himself to death? I cannot find sense in that...

Cactus Col

http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw481

Just because there's a small chance, doesn't mean there's no chance.

(but from what I understand, as phones have being improved over the years, the chance has gotten much smaller)

m4cker

I asked a mate of mine about it once when he worked in statoil he said the only reason he would tell someone to stop talking on the phone was because twats would get get carried away with their conversation and spill fuel giving him more work to do.

dabhoys

Pretty much

He's my best friend...

Demeant0r wrote:

So your friend is great for nearly putting you and himself to death? I cannot find sense in that...