[Rhodes22-list] Gasoline spill under the floor

[Bill Effros]

Barry,

I agree with Brad.  I don't think your boat is in constant danger of 
exploding.  It might burn down to the water line, but it probably won't 
explode.  The 747 should not have exploded either--its gas tanks were 
designed to suppress fires.  Something went wrong.

The World Trade Center was also designed to suppress the effects of 
burning jet fuel.  It failed, also.  Not once, but twice.

Perfume is not gasoline.

Gasoline is amazingly volatile.  It puddles.  It seeps.  It coats.  It 
packs an extraordinary number of btus into a very small volume.  It has 
an ignition temperature of almost 500 degrees--which is why you don't 
hear of many gas tanks on boats exploding in the sun.

The space under the floor of a Rhodes connects to just about 
everything.  4 gallons of gas is a lot, and you have no way of knowing 
how many gallons of gas you have removed.

You are playing with lives here.  Do you really have the courage of your 
convictions?  Would you be willing to take a thimbleful of gas and put a 
match to it?  (I wouldn't, and haven't.)  What happens?  Are you sure 
there isn't a thimbleful of gas puddled somewhere inside your boat?  How 
about throwing a thimbleful of gas into the barbecue?

I know this sounds shrill, but ever since that day (and it really did 
happen) I have been very very careful with gasoline.  People used to use 
gasoline as a solvent to clean their floors.  You don't hear much about 
that any more.  I think it's a Darwin Award thing.

I assume your motor has an electric start.  Are the terminals inside the 
lazarette?  I have seen electricity arc across the terminals at night, a 
scary thing.

Call me paranoid.  I wouldn't want to call you "KaBoom!"

And with that, Rummy entered, stage left.  The last time we checked, 
Rummy was pouring gasoline, using a large funnel, into a specially 
designed bladder which he stores in the lazarette of his boat.

Bill Effros




brad haslett wrote:

>Barry,
>
>This will shock a lot of folks on the list but I
>disagree with Bill on this issue.  Relax, and don't
>torch the boat.  I fly 30 year old airplanes, 2/3 of a
>football field long, with LOTS of really nasty stuff
>(like drums of purfume) spilled in the bellies over
>the years (they clean-up OK).  Rummy is right, let it
>get lots of air, and sunshine.  The incident that Bill
>related was pretty predictable.  Even the slightest of
>vapors in a confined space, baked in the sun, and
>given ignition will light.  That is precisely what
>happened to the TWA 747 that blew up after taking off
>from JFK.  Yours is a different situation in that the
>boat is not sealed as tight as a fuel tank and the
>vapor pressure will never get so high as to explode. 
>Having said that, don't smoke while you're cleaning
>it.  Keep flushing with water, pumping out the bilge,
>and soon you'll have the gas/water solution well
>beyond the point of ignition.  The smell will be
>difficult to deal with but obviously it has been
>handled by others before.
>
>Brad Haslett
>
>
>--- Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Holy Shit! Barry.
>>
>>"No more fire danger?"  I think not.
>>
>>I can only tell you a story from my misspent youth.
>>
>>Along with some friends, I completely disassembled a
>>1955 Oldsmobile 
>>Rocket 88 when I was in high school.  We were going
>>to put it back 
>>together again, but we never got around that.
>>
>>When we took off the gas tank, we were very
>>concerned about our safety, 
>>so we got a garden hose and immediately started
>>running water through 
>>the tank night and day for five days.  We then
>>stopped the water and 
>>sniffed.  There was still a slight gasoline odor
>>which we felt no amount 
>>of water was going to get rid of.  So we put the
>>tank in the shade, 
>>outside, to let it air dry.  We did this for three
>>days, and when we 
>>were done the gasoline odor was almost gone.
>>
>>So we put the tank out in the sun, and left it there
>>for a week.  By the 
>>end of the week there was virtually no odor at all. 
>>We felt it was 
>>completely safe.  "But how can we be sure?" asked my
>>friend Matt.  
>>"Light a match, and throw it in."  Said my friend
>>Bob.  "It's the only 
>>way we can be sure."
>>
>>And so we did.  The flames that came shooting out of
>>that gas tank were 
>>between 10 and 20 feet long.  The gasoline continued
>>to burn for roughly 
>>5 minutes.  No one got hurt.  But it's a lesson I've
>>never forgotten.
>>
>>Now you may think I'm exaggerating, and maybe I am
>>-- it happened a long 
>>time ago.  But ask yourself this question "Would I
>>be willing to put my 
>>boat to Bob's test?"  I wouldn't do it, and quite
>>frankly, I wouldn't 
>>ever want to go on that boat.
>>
>>After the fire in the gas tank burned itself out,
>>and our pulses 
>>returned to normal, Bob said "I'll bet if we throw
>>in another match, it 
>>won't light up again."  And so we did.  And Bob was
>>right.  There was no 
>>gasoline left in the tank.
>>
>>This is the only method I know to be completely sure
>>you have gotten rid 
>>of all spilled gasoline.  I would not recommend this
>>method for your boat.
>>
>>Bill Effros
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>b.ivers at att.net wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>  After a sail on Pyramid Lake. (60 mi. N. of
>>>      
>>>
>>Reno) I was cleaning and detailing our 76 model
>>R-22. It was the end of a perfact day. After
>>flushing the Yamaha 9.9 I decided to disconnect the
>>fuel line, when the phone rang. The call generated a
>>couple more calls and I dropped the disconnected
>>fuel line in the deep opening at the aft end of the
>>cockpit. I did not know the connector had a bad
>>o-ring. Overnight it siphoned 4 gallons of gas under
>>the cabin floor.
>>    
>>
>>>  Up to now what I have done is wash with a
>>>      
>>>
>>fiberglass friendly degresser and 20 gal of water
>>and go for a drive to slosh the liquid around. Then
>>using a syarange to evacuate all the liquid and
>>clean it up as best I could. I have done this twice
>>with very good results. BUT there is still a slight
>>smell that is not plessant.
>>    
>>
>>>  I am looking for remedy for aftersmell. Ther is
>>>      
>>>
>>no more fire danger so I might use a small 6" fan
>>and draw air out of underspace via the 5" inspection
>> hole in the center of the cabin. Any other ideas. I
>>cannot wait for all the match jokes, flamming r-22
>>jokes and usual jabs and pokes. Hit me Rummy I
>>deserve it.  Barry
>>    
>>
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>>>      
>>>
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>>    
>>
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>>>      
>>>
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