Radio on while getting gas safe?
September 1, 2008 11:47 PM Subscribe
Is it safe to keep my radio on while I refill my car's gas?
Yes, it's safe. The problem comes when you start pumping your gas, then get back into your car, and then return to the gas nozzle. You may build up a static charge, like rubbing your feet on carpet and touching a door knob. That spark is sufficient to cause a fire. The relative safety and the real danger was covered pretty well by MeFi's own asavage.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:02 AM on September 2, 2008
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:02 AM on September 2, 2008
Here's Snopes and Mythbusters on petrol station explosions. They both give a definitive yes in the case of mobile phones; I can't see a radio as being any different.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:02 AM on September 2, 2008
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:02 AM on September 2, 2008
I would say yes it is, since there is no sparking involved in running a closed low-power circuit between the car battery and the radio, so there is no danger of igniting whatver fuel vapors may be present in the air.
posted by longsleeves at 12:03 AM on September 2, 2008
posted by longsleeves at 12:03 AM on September 2, 2008
Anecdote: I was pumping gas for my VW Golf last winter and for some reason my car is super prone to the "it's cold and dry out, touch car, get shocked" thing. So, with gas pumping, I touched the car and a visible spark jumped from my hand to my car and I was filled with extreme terror, knowing I would immediately be engulfed in horrible burning and...
nothing.
I'm still here. I still get shocked when it's too dry out by my car. If it happens again, I will probably still mentally prepare myself for death.
Oh, and the radio was on.
posted by knowles at 12:47 AM on September 2, 2008
nothing.
I'm still here. I still get shocked when it's too dry out by my car. If it happens again, I will probably still mentally prepare myself for death.
Oh, and the radio was on.
posted by knowles at 12:47 AM on September 2, 2008
There is essentially no danger. The real reason gas stations want you to turn off your car to fill it is to limit the possibility of having a large amount of gas get sprayed all over the place if your car were to accidentally go into motion. If the car is off this is much less likely. So whether or not the radio is not really relevant.
posted by dseaton at 3:02 AM on September 2, 2008
posted by dseaton at 3:02 AM on September 2, 2008
It is safe to keep your radio on while you refuel, unless you are at a pump next to 517.
The danger comes from sparks (e.g. connecting/disconnecting switches or buttons, or carpet shocks) in air pockets where gasoline vapor is within the explosive limits. According to one MSDS, gasoline vapor has a recognizable odor at a concentration of 1 part per million and is immediately irritating above 500 parts per million; the explosive range of concentrations is 14000 to 76000 parts per million. If there were enough gasoline vapor in the cabin of your car to make your radio dangerous, you would be intensely uncomfortable.
It's technically safe to keep your engine running, too. The main reason gas stations "require" you to shut your engine off it to marginally reduce the chance you'll drive off with the nozzle still in your car. (A friend of mine started a fire this way. Apparently the nozzles and hoses are engineered to not catch fire if you drive off with them, but the protection failed in her case.)
So why all the paranoia? It's at least partly a risk-benefit calculation. If you buy a tank of gas every week, for fifty years, that's about 2500 fills; if the odds of starting a fire during a fill-up are one in a million, and you know a thousand people, there's a roughly even chance that you'll know someone who started a gasoline fire sometime in their life. If you're running a gas station with a hundred customers a day --- that's a sale every five minutes during daylight, and nights off --- you have thirty thousand sales in a year; with the same one-in-a-million chance of a fire in a fill-up, you have a fire every thirty years. But if you live in a town where a million drivers fill up their cars once a week, and the odds of starting a fire are one in a million, you have a fire a week. The newspapers would notice this, and run headlines like "EPIDEMIC OF FILLING STATION FIRES STRIKES MEDIUMVILLE METRO AREA."
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 3:14 AM on September 2, 2008 [2 favorites]
The danger comes from sparks (e.g. connecting/disconnecting switches or buttons, or carpet shocks) in air pockets where gasoline vapor is within the explosive limits. According to one MSDS, gasoline vapor has a recognizable odor at a concentration of 1 part per million and is immediately irritating above 500 parts per million; the explosive range of concentrations is 14000 to 76000 parts per million. If there were enough gasoline vapor in the cabin of your car to make your radio dangerous, you would be intensely uncomfortable.
It's technically safe to keep your engine running, too. The main reason gas stations "require" you to shut your engine off it to marginally reduce the chance you'll drive off with the nozzle still in your car. (A friend of mine started a fire this way. Apparently the nozzles and hoses are engineered to not catch fire if you drive off with them, but the protection failed in her case.)
So why all the paranoia? It's at least partly a risk-benefit calculation. If you buy a tank of gas every week, for fifty years, that's about 2500 fills; if the odds of starting a fire during a fill-up are one in a million, and you know a thousand people, there's a roughly even chance that you'll know someone who started a gasoline fire sometime in their life. If you're running a gas station with a hundred customers a day --- that's a sale every five minutes during daylight, and nights off --- you have thirty thousand sales in a year; with the same one-in-a-million chance of a fire in a fill-up, you have a fire every thirty years. But if you live in a town where a million drivers fill up their cars once a week, and the odds of starting a fire are one in a million, you have a fire a week. The newspapers would notice this, and run headlines like "EPIDEMIC OF FILLING STATION FIRES STRIKES MEDIUMVILLE METRO AREA."
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 3:14 AM on September 2, 2008 [2 favorites]
An old time gas station/repair shop operator I knew in the 1960s pumped gas daily while smoking a cigar. I once watched him fill up a coffee can with gasoline from the pump, cigar firmly stuck in his mouth, so he could clean some car parts in it. His station is probably a Superfund site these days, but he died of lung cancer, not an explosion.
I don't recommend emulating him, but I wouldn't worry about the radio.
posted by beagle at 6:55 AM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
I don't recommend emulating him, but I wouldn't worry about the radio.
posted by beagle at 6:55 AM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
The warnings don't say not to. Just make sure the ignition is off. Also, I'd avoid touching the keys while filling or you could complete a circuit and cause a static electricity spark. Of course touching the keys would probably involve getting back in the car which is already warned against, since that could cause a static buildup. Of course it's safer if you have leather seats.
If you're really worried about it, don't do it. Pull into a parking spot reasonably away from the pumps and wait for the segment that you're really interested in to be over, then fill up. But like fantabulous said, the odds aren't that great. It's just that there's a really marginal chance that something pretty bad could happen. It's mostly stuff that could cost the station or you money, but that you would easily walk away from. Once in a blue moon there's an actual explosion. There's a low enough risk to not be ultra paranoid, but high enough to do simple things like turn the car off, don't smoke, and don't enter or exit the car, building up a charge.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 8:03 AM on September 2, 2008
If you're really worried about it, don't do it. Pull into a parking spot reasonably away from the pumps and wait for the segment that you're really interested in to be over, then fill up. But like fantabulous said, the odds aren't that great. It's just that there's a really marginal chance that something pretty bad could happen. It's mostly stuff that could cost the station or you money, but that you would easily walk away from. Once in a blue moon there's an actual explosion. There's a low enough risk to not be ultra paranoid, but high enough to do simple things like turn the car off, don't smoke, and don't enter or exit the car, building up a charge.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 8:03 AM on September 2, 2008
A lot of it depends on the air temperature. If it's cold enough it's pretty hard to ignite gasoline vapors.
posted by fshgrl at 6:19 PM on September 2, 2008
posted by fshgrl at 6:19 PM on September 2, 2008
A lot of it depends on the air temperature. If it's cold enough it's pretty hard to ignite gasoline vapors.
Absolutely. I've had a hell of a job starting a car in cold weather (it was old) never mind a petrol fire from filling up.
Generally, I'd say the chances (as mentioned) of the radio being any issue at all are zero. I've filled up with the car running/radio on/while getting in and out/while using my phone and all sorts. I've even done much the same with much more volatile fuels than you are likely to ever use. I've also seen many people working with and using petrol while smoking, welding and generally being blase. I've never seen a petrol fire that wasn't caused by a crash (although they are damn scary) except on TV.
I imagine my chances of igniting the car while filling up and being so seemingly care free would have been much improved by wearing a nylon sweater, as the static charge is the only real danger (and even that is pretty slight), but to be honest, petrol fires at the pumps are just a tiny one of the many, many reasons not to wear a nylon sweater.
So, in short, to all intents and purposes, yes it is perfectly safe to listen to your radio while filling up. Whether you're worried about it or not, it's perfectly safe.
posted by Brockles at 4:01 PM on September 4, 2008
Absolutely. I've had a hell of a job starting a car in cold weather (it was old) never mind a petrol fire from filling up.
Generally, I'd say the chances (as mentioned) of the radio being any issue at all are zero. I've filled up with the car running/radio on/while getting in and out/while using my phone and all sorts. I've even done much the same with much more volatile fuels than you are likely to ever use. I've also seen many people working with and using petrol while smoking, welding and generally being blase. I've never seen a petrol fire that wasn't caused by a crash (although they are damn scary) except on TV.
I imagine my chances of igniting the car while filling up and being so seemingly care free would have been much improved by wearing a nylon sweater, as the static charge is the only real danger (and even that is pretty slight), but to be honest, petrol fires at the pumps are just a tiny one of the many, many reasons not to wear a nylon sweater.
So, in short, to all intents and purposes, yes it is perfectly safe to listen to your radio while filling up. Whether you're worried about it or not, it's perfectly safe.
posted by Brockles at 4:01 PM on September 4, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 11:58 PM on September 1, 2008