Using Phones In Petrol Stations

[clarkytrials]

I done it the other week,shat myslef and felt like a right twat lol

Ive always belived it's because of the radio signals off your phone which cause the pumps to knacker up.But my freind told me theres sensor underground which tell the person at the counter which pumps are leaking and useing your phone could f**k them up.

what is the actual cause and why?

has anyone actually done it before,it'll make me feel better if you have lol

Edited August 11, 2007 by clarkytrials

[sidehop]

Our guy said, Small sparks in the phone could egnite the fumes and baaa boooom!

Its more old phones though btw.

[Has anyone seen my shoe?]

Not true, they did it on either mythbusters or brainiac!

[Dani.]

It was brainic I think, turned out to be bullshit.

[craigjames]

yeah it was mythbusters, its small static sparks which were supposed to ignite the fuel. but they found the most likely cause was the static build up created by women wearing nylon itghts and stocking getting in and out of the cars discharging as the touched the car and a spark being created. but even then it was a one ina billion chance, because the fuel/air mix had to be perfect! basically nothign really to worry about unless your into womens clothing...............

[Ben Cox]

seen the effect of mobile phones next to pump, kind of tangled burnt mess (my dad works for one of the main manufacturers of petrol pumps)

[Krisboats]

Its bollocks. Theres never been a documented case of a mobile phone setting off a fire or explosion in a petrol station.

Apparantly it was a hoax email that went round a bit and got to one of the employees at the Shell corporation who forwarded it and as such had the unnaporved shell company signature on the bottom of the email, which is why the only cases you hear of have soemthing to do with the Shell corporation. Theres usually only three stories as well, the one with the person who left the phone on the boot/bonnet and it rang causing an explosion, the person who was talking on the phone and had his face burnt and the person whose phone rang in their pocket, setting them alight.

Explains it in more detail

Backs it up with the whole "never any documented evidence" statement.

BBC covers it up nicely with some statistics and what not

The only reason its stated at the petrol stations is to cover them legally, all petrol/fuel containing electrical equipment are built with static discharge circuitry to prevent them causing a problem. Mobile phones and walkmans don't have the anti-static circuitry and with the wide range of models of mobiles available they can't test them ALL against being an outside contributor to a fire/explosion. So in theory the precaution should state do not use electronic devices... rather than singling out mobiles.

Edited August 11, 2007 by Krisboats

[Gavyn.]

braniac did it once and it never blew up does that mean they've scientifically proved that a spark won't ignite the fumes of the petrol........No

Phones give out a tiny spark for every little button you push so theoretically they could set off an explosion by answering your phone somewhere inflammable.

you can blow your house up by using your phone and having a gas leak or switching on a light.

my local petrol station warns against all electrical devices infact it's the only time i ever see the police turn off their radios.

It's not worth the risk all be it tiny.

Edited August 11, 2007 by Gavyn L

[Krisboats]

braniac did it once and it never blew up does that mean they've scientifically proved that a spark won't ignite the fumes of the petrol........No

Erm, its not just mythbusters

Robert Renkes from the Petroleum Equipment Institute has carried out significant research on this matter and despite being quoted as the origin of this myth, has categorically denied, in interviews and on paper, that mobile phones are the cause of forecourt fires. In fact, worldwide, there has never, ever, been a forecourt fire attributed to the mobile phone.

Besides, mythbusters weren't out to prove that sparks can't set petrol/fumes alight. They were trying to prove that mobile phones don't produce enough of a spark to set them alight. Its this misreading and misinterpreting that lead to the mobile phone myth in the first place.

Phones give out a tiny spark for every little button you push so theoretically they could set off an explosion by answering your phone somewhere inflammable.

This is just plain nonsense, and i think you've gotten confused. The phone doesn't "give out a spark" everytime you press a button, it would be a very inefficient way of creating the device. Most mobile phone buttons are rubber or plastic, which doesn't conduct electricity, so no spark would be generated. The static build up that collects as your fingers rub against the buttons could (although very unlikely) generate a spark, but you would need a lot of friction to do something like that. Think of how much friction goes into rubbing a balloon on your shirt to raise the hairs on your head. Thats the kind of static build up required to create a spark, and even then its probably not going to be enough.

Edited August 11, 2007 by Krisboats

[Rich Pearson]

Robert Renkes from the Petroleum Equipment Institute has carried out significant research on this matter and despite being quoted as the origin of this myth, has categorically denied, in interviews and on paper, that mobile phones are the cause of forecourt fires. In fact, worldwide, there has never, ever, been a forecourt fire attributed to the mobile phone.

Yes, but, TECHNICALLY, in the most over hyped sense, it is possible.

And when you're standing on roughly 200,000 gallons of petroleum and diesel, do you REALLY want to be the one to find out if it can happen?

Just not worth the risk really.

Rich

[Krisboats]

Yes, but, TECHNICALLY, in the most over hyped sense, it is possible.

And when you're standing on roughly 200,000 gallons of petroleum and diesel, do you REALLY want to be the one to find out if it can happen?

Just not worth the risk really.

Rich

Thats why i put this in my earlier post

The only reason its stated at the petrol stations is to cover them legally, all petrol/fuel containing electrical equipment are built with static discharge circuitry to prevent them causing a problem. Mobile phones and walkmans don't have the anti-static circuitry and with the wide range of models of mobiles available they can't test them ALL against being an outside contributor to a fire/explosion. So in theory the precaution should state do not use electronic devices... rather than singling out mobiles.

I know mobile phones "could" lead to a forecourt fire, but so can walkmans, digital watches, gameboys, psp's etc. Anything electrical without the anti static circuitry "could" cause a fire but its only mobiles that are singled out... which i guess is because they are the most probable electronic device someone might have on them.

[Alan]

Didnt brainiac like throw petrol all round the inside of a caravan put it everywhere then ring a mobile that was inside it and it did f**k all?

[Fixed Pants™]

Didnt brainiac like throw petrol all round the inside of a caravan put it everywhere then ring a mobile that was inside it and it did f**k all?

Yup, but with a spark and not a naked flame, you need the exact (not that exact, but it's gotta be pretty close) fuel air mixture for it to combust, they just threw a load of petrol in there and didn't take that into consideration (IIRC).

Spudgun knowledge ***.

[Dai the Socket]

f**k that.

Same thing as with no phones on when a plane is flying or taking off or whatever. I had mine on all the way, did it crash? no. Did it do f**k all? No.

[Rich Pearson]

f**k that.

Same thing as with no phones on when a plane is flying or taking off or whatever. I had mine on all the way, did it crash? no. Did it do f**k all? No.

But again, that COULD interfere with the instruments in the cockpit due to the radiation from the phone, and is actually more likely to happen than the phone in a petrol station thing.

Rich

[N.Wood]

I did it the other day, but i didn't blow up.

[Si-man]

Theres going to be a memorial soon for all the TF users that got blown up trying to prove a point wrong or not.

Probably like 100000000 to 1 chance, but f**k that lol

[Gavyn.]

f**k that.

Same thing as with no phones on when a plane is flying or taking off or whatever. I had mine on all the way, did it crash? no. Did it do f**k all? No.

Were you flying the plane? No, then how do you know it never did anything.

The chance of it happening is incredibly low but then the chance of you winning the lottery is also incredibly low and that doesn't stop the millions of people that play twice a week.

[Dai the Socket]

Were you flying the plane? No, then how do you know it never did anything.

The chance of it happening is incredibly low but then the chance of you winning the lottery is also incredibly low and that doesn't stop the millions of people that play twice a week.

Shut the f**k up. No I wasn't flying but it evidently didn't do anything 'cos we flew and landed fine. If it was doing something no doubt they'd make an announcement to ensure everyone WAS turning their phones off you retard.

[Will Arnold]

Shut the f**k up. No I wasn't flying but it evidently didn't do anything 'cos we flew and landed fine. If it was doing something no doubt they'd make an announcement to ensure everyone WAS turning their phones off you retard.

you get good signal up there?

lol

[Dai the Socket]

you get good signal up there?

lol

No lol.

[anzo]

Right, it comes under the DDEAR (Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002) and Section 6 states;

"the avoidance of ignition sources including electrostatic discharges".

So any petrol station (being extremely high risk) would have to carry out a risk assessment. Although the risk is slim, there is still a possibility.

When doing this you take note of control measures as a 'time, cost and effort' factor against the severity of the event occuring...so therefore it is cheap, quick and easy to ban mobile phones against the severity of a petrol station blowing up.

Good old health and safety

[Gavyn.]

Shut the f**k up. No I wasn't flying but it evidently didn't do anything 'cos we flew and landed fine. If it was doing something no doubt they'd make an announcement to ensure everyone WAS turning their phones off you retard.

ha no need to get all aggressive if you weren't flying then you don't know if anything went wrong do you? Just because you got there safely doesn't prove the flight was trouble free.

anyway i'm not the one who can't read and obey signs.

[Dai the Socket]

ha no need to get all aggressive if you weren't flying then you don't know if anything went wrong do you? Just because you got there safely doesn't prove the flight was trouble free.

anyway i'm not the one who can't read and obey signs.

I can read, I choose not to obey 'cos like loads of other people, I don't believe it's worth the effort of getting up, getting my bag, finding my phone at the bottom of it and turning it off when every other flight I've been on my phone's been on and we've been fine.

No need to be a cocky little shit is what I'm getting at, just as with your last sentence.

[Gavyn.]

I suppose you just leave your phone on in the hospital too. After all it's not your life thats at risk, so is it really worth the effort of looking for your phone in your pocket and switching it off?