Guys,
This is a strange one but one that needs to be shared here because all of us, except our electric compadres have fuel tanks and gasoline to contend with.
An old firefighter buddy of mine, recently retired, knowing that I have motor bikes, called me and relayed a story he had read about in a firefighter newsletter he subscribes to.
A man was working on his motorcycle and had removed the gas cap. Presumably to keep dirt out and to keep the fumes in, he covered the hole with a strip of cellophane tape and when he was ready to put the cap back on he ripped the tape off and, apparently, there was a static spark that set off the vapors. He was not badly burned but his bike and garage were destroyed by the ensuing fire. The man was not smoking and there were no other ignition sources in the vicinity of the bike so static spark was ruled the culprit. It is not known if the tape or the man's hand generated the spark but with that in mind I plan to be a little more careful whenever I have the fuel tank open for any reason. This is probably one of those 1 in a million cases but still something to be aware of.
Tom
This is a strange one but one that needs to be shared here because all of us, except our electric compadres have fuel tanks and gasoline to contend with.
An old firefighter buddy of mine, recently retired, knowing that I have motor bikes, called me and relayed a story he had read about in a firefighter newsletter he subscribes to.
A man was working on his motorcycle and had removed the gas cap. Presumably to keep dirt out and to keep the fumes in, he covered the hole with a strip of cellophane tape and when he was ready to put the cap back on he ripped the tape off and, apparently, there was a static spark that set off the vapors. He was not badly burned but his bike and garage were destroyed by the ensuing fire. The man was not smoking and there were no other ignition sources in the vicinity of the bike so static spark was ruled the culprit. It is not known if the tape or the man's hand generated the spark but with that in mind I plan to be a little more careful whenever I have the fuel tank open for any reason. This is probably one of those 1 in a million cases but still something to be aware of.
Tom