info on BP fuels for you, as you can see only E10 has ethanol
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_inte..._and_Power.pdf
info on BP fuels for you, as you can see only E10 has ethanol
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_inte..._and_Power.pdf
TODAY TONIGHT on Ch7 tomorrow night(friday 25th) have a story on petrol station fires & static electricity. Leigh
To a certain extent I can see the problem.
Cars are manufactured in large volume by large companies that have some sort of engineering practice about how fuel tanks are installed.
after market fuel tanks....or fuel tanks installed by owners will be in the definite minority in cars.
Almost all cars are metal bodied
even if the tanks are plastic.......note that they are usualy black......they probaly have some carbon content in the plastic that produces at least some electrical conductivity.
boats on the are a free for all...... most boat manufacturers are relativly small concerns and do not have the ingrained engineering and standards.
walk up to a boat and who knows how the fuel tank / fillers will be installed......one of the bigger boat manufacturers recently had to recall years of its boats because it used the wrong fuel filler hose.
allmost all cars have the fuel filler on the outside surface of the car, if fuel overflows it is most unlikley to enter the car or the pasenger compartment.
almost every boat filler system I have seen (with the exception of some big fancy boats)......it is possible......almost inevitable.....that in the advent of a fuel filling overflow that some fuel will enter the boat.....possibly soak into the carpet, flow into the bilge or whatever......where it may remain for many hours.......the boat is a bucket and fumes will remain in the hull of the boat
just the problem with people filling thru the rod holders could be a major concern.
A boat with even a couple of liters of fuel in the bilge would be considered a serious fire and hazmat issue...............It would not surprise me if the fire brigade closed down & evacuated the service station...........1 regular fire fighting uint and 1 hazmat unit........that will probably be a bill for over $1000
I can see how easily a public liability focused manager could break out in cold sweats over boats.
as for all portable tanks......the advice is very clear......they should be removed from whatever and placed on the ground for filling.
as for the whole static thing.
If you have a fibreglass boat.....this is a boat made of glass ( one of our best insulators) and polyester ( an excelent insulator used for its high dilectric strenght)......the only thing you have to earth to is the frame of the motor........now iff you have a motor support to the trailer....it will have rubber on it to stop scraging the paint.........so even if your fuel system is nailed down to the motor......the whole thing is still floating and capable of holding static charge.
so you have an aluminium boat........it sits on rubber or plastic rollers and usulay plastic skids......if you have a steel winch cable that might tie the boat to the trailer and thus to the car...... but what if you have a synthetic strap or rope.,....it still sits on plastic rollers or skids.
As for the dangers of cars......yes there sre risks and documented cases of static fires filling cars.
to be the safest....................when filling the car.........take the filler in one hand.......place the other hand on the body of the car.....then insert the filler into the tank.
do not lock the filler on and re-enter the car whilst filling, do not let anybody enter or exit the car whilst filling, particularly on the side of the filler. ..........all petrol filler nozles in australia can not be locked on anyway
sure there are thousands of cars and boats filled every day without incident.........but there are incidents.....and a service station fire is a very serious incident indeed.
I am not paranoid..... but let me tell you I am a lot more carefull fueling the boat than the car.
having thaught about this a bit.................I am seriously thinking about making up an earthing strap and changing to a metal filler.
think about it all... seriously
cheers
Its the details, those little details, that make the difference.
Everything carries static electricity. The problem of a spark arrises when there is a difference in the static fields. When you fill up your car at a servo you will most times equalise the two fields (yourself and the car) by touching the vehicle when you get out, taking off the fuel cap, closing the door for example. The silly woman who we have seen in the news footage recently has gotten back into the car while fueling and then when getting out grabbing the bowser hose and there is a spark. The spark has jumped because she hasnt equalised the two fields and has a greater build up of static than the vehicle. A static spark will always jump from the stronger to the weaker field.
If you watch a tanker driver unload fuel you will see him touch the barrels every time he gets out of the truck even though the tanker is earthed through the hoses while he is unloading, same thing again minimising the static risk between himself and the vehicle. Filling a boat with built in tanks should be no different to filling a car but plastic tanks should be removed and placed on the ground. It is amazing there aren't more accidents at servo's considering the nature of petrol. IMO Belly
absolutely belly, static can build up on anything, we can have fun with this at work by shuffling around on the carpet and zapping ya mate on the ear. don't tell me you haven't done it and laughed. it'll be either earth straps or carbon brushes poking up from the ground F1 style i reckon
Wouldn't the boat be earthed throught the winch cable, tow ball, and then the car anyway. Not sure but seems a bit much.
the car's not earthed either twist, that's the wierd part of the whole argument, filling up the car is no different.
It looks like I will be removing the tank from the boat every time I fill up, it sounds safer.
Murray
Very interesting thread....
The old Earthing Issue... as a sparky i do find it very amusing, just like our Reg Book.
If they think there is a potential static discharge issue here, there should also ban anyone wearing those "Crocs" shoes so many boatys wear these days.
Those things are the best dielectric and will built up a ripper charge in you until you touch something to discharge yourself... Something metal is always good... i believe Service Stations are full of such things
I have not seen this precaution taken into effect down our way, but will keep a look out now.
"Oh well go Shell!" sounds like BP's new advert!!!
So would we be better off going barefoot when filling up and wetting our hands before getting the nozzle?Jim
Haines Signature "FinaLeigh" 580F 135 Optimax
CH 81 & 72 VHF
Funny thing is, Shell makes everyones fuel.
The Shell Refinery wholesales the base fuel to BP, Caltex and others whom then add thier on additives and detergents and give it all kind of funny names
Barefoot is better than wearing "Crocs" that is for sure!!!
I have to laugh at Servos, they have all these rules about Mobile Phones and now Static Charge, yet they have ICE fridges everywhere around the pumps that have basic motor start contacts that spark everytime they activate.... often down low where fuel vapours would concentrate.
[quote=Salty_Dog;1077166]Funny thing is, Shell makes everyones fuel.
The Shell Refinery wholesales the base fuel to BP, Caltex and others whom then add thier on additives and detergents and give it all kind of funny names
Not quite correct mate. Depends on where the servo is, most companies do share some types of fuel depending on where the refineries are, they may trade normal ULP/E10 for example or Diesel etc if the other companies if the same spec as their product, but alot won't let other companies use their higher spec (normally 98 octane) products as they are company specific
If i have a 50ltr plastic fuel tank in my boat, full this is way to heavy to be trying to lift back into the boat. what is the safest method for filling up ?.
Steve
DoNotFeedTheTrollsAandBelligerent
[QUOTE=rowanda;1077177]Actually you are right.. I just remember the Geelong Shell Refinery used to sell millions of dollars in fuel the Mobil via its pipe line to Altona and load ships of fuel for others like Caltex and BP.Originally Posted by Salty_Dog
Funny thing is, Shell makes everyones fuel.
The Shell Refinery wholesales the base fuel to BP, Caltex and others whom then add thier on additives and detergents and give it all kind of funny names
Not quite correct mate. Depends on where the servo is, most companies do share some types of fuel depending on where the refineries are, they may trade normal ULP/E10 for example or Diesel etc if the other companies if the same spec as their product, but alot won't let other companies use their higher spec (normally 98 octane) products as they are company specific
Put now you jog my memory, they all used to pool it around to keep storage and supply under control... Sure is a strange insider industry.
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