I do not see the relevance of the varying resistance of any given stove to a meltdown. Unless you expect to have a stove engulfed in flames every time you use it, which to my mind means you are in enough trouble as it is. Besides, these tanks do not melt on their seams - when in flames - as long as there is fuel inside. Also, 'my' Primus 70 has a brazed-in bottom, suggesting it runs with a hotter tank (it does) than any 2 pinter with a raised and well aired tank. Hence these could be safely constructed with soft solder, which is a cheaper process.
Mexican bookbinders, Dutchmike & the movies aside, opening the filler cap on petrol stoves while they are still lit is still not going to be my prefered method of extinguishing one of these things.
Guys, All this long discussion seems to overlook one basic method of shutting off a self pressurizing petrol stove: simply pour a cup of cold water on the tank. It drops the tank pressure to zero, and the flame dies instantly. I've done it in cases where the shut off valve was bad, when I misplaced the key, and with tiny petrol blowtorches that have no valve. (Obviously this will not work with pump pressure stoves.) Yonadav
A gentleman of my aquaintance, by no means stupid or reckless, made the mistake of thinking that Coleman fuel was a type of paraffin. He used it to fire up an old Optimus brassie he had picked up at a flea market. A leak from the burner riser (bad heatproof gaskets or lead washer) ignited across the tank. He was unable to get close enough to release the pressure, which probably saved his life. The stove burned out of control until the tank swelled up and burst open, spraying burning fuel across the garden. He is now somewhat stove-shy....
Good. Very good in fact, for his sake and those near him. David, I do not know why you call this man "by no means stupid and reckless" as you describe a perfectly 'stupid and reckless' scenario, using a wrong and highly flammable liquid in an unknown and untested stove. It is no big deal to choose the wrong socks, but to blunder with fuel is in principle stupid. His life was probabely saved? I think you probabely love drama, because his life was never in danger in what you describe. Unless of course you think petrol stoves can explode with a lethal shower of shrapnell. Did it? The two burned and blackened, swollen tanks - one with a burst seam - I was able to inspect, both had their internal fuel pipes (riser) blocked with molten lead from the tank/burner connection. Both for paraffin designed stoves had been used with petrol by operators not hindered by any knowledge. But no torn outwards jagged metal, or even fragments missing. Of course not, as this would take an explosion of sorts inside the tank. For that you need an explosive mixture, which does not exist in the overly-rich atmosphere of any petrol tank. Once that mixture gets outside, there will be oxygen a-plenty, so it goes VOOM if there is a spark or flame present. But that is a fireball, deadly for eyebrows and such, but it has no explosive power in the free air. Exploding petrol tanks of cars and such, is stictly Hollywood. You can shoot a car into a blaze with tracer (best chance) but you cannot explode it. I rest my case. Mike Meijer
Canister stoves have been known to explode if the cartridge becomes over heated. Why can't a stove full of petrol? & even if they can't I wouldn't want to be around when burning fuel is sprayed everywhere. A lot of people die in third world countries from fireballs created by stoves - normally with wrong or tainted fuel. It doesn't have to be shrapnel that kills you. I was wearing an old CCS polo-shirt when I went down our local shop. The owners are of Indian heritage & the lass pointed at the stove on my shirt & called it the 'mother killer'. We agreed she could borrow one if she gets any grief off her mother-in-law!
Ross, when I was trained as a medic in the dutch army, many of us got our belly full of the actual footage of films made in Vietnam on burning wounds: it made us puke. I also learned that such wounds can kill if not treated right. Not for one second do I regard fuel stoves as 'just an appliance', but as with my training I stick to facts, not to dramatic nonsense. If the latter is instrumental to keep folks out of harms way, fine, as I do not wish anybody to loose even a small patch of skin. But I did not invite folks to come on my thread with this drama based on assumption and heresay. Or a with a subtle hint on how 'responsible' they are; again, my subject was not on safety, nor on dare-devilling, as likely most of us realised. Mike
My apologies. I will just say in response to the original post - what an interesting phenomena - & say no more.
David, in my reply to you I should have mentioned why I reacted the way I did: I feel strongly against spreading fear. Period. Safety lies also in the quality of caution, and it is my conviction fear is the worst adviser, even if it has good effects. If you feel wronged by my reaction, I hereby do offer my apologies, as I realise I could have worded it differently. Michael Meijer
My attitude is like Michael's. Extinguishing a petrol burner this way is not good practice, and should be discouraged, because in fact heated petrol vapor could catch fire. In turn, the actual incidence of this is very rare, and so when I was in a situation where I needed to put quite a bit of Coleman in a keroburner, it didn't worry me. I put a frying pan shield between burner and airscrew when I put it out. I would not make this a practice, but like Dutchmike, my level of excitement about it was low. 8)
ok slightly off topic but still relevant. I had a Coleman accidental overfilled and had coleman fuel coming out of the burner bowl while the thing was running. Why it never caught light I do not know but the as the fuel was running right past the on off knob I opted for releasing pressure at the cap. It saved the day that time but hardly the best way.
I suppose that, at the end of the day, if you're going to run your stove with home-made parts and without reading the instructions, there's no telling what might happen.
Mike, I pretty much agree with all your points. I also see the other side somewhat. There WILL be accidents with anything that burns fuel if you put enough of them in circulation with a general public which is composed of a 50/50 mix of folks with and without common sense.(that may be a generous estimate) For instance: Priming a Bonfire with Gasoline Anyone who doesn't understand what happened there shouldn't be using a stove anyway. Another for fun: Gasoline Ballerina Mike
Looking down the selections down the side this is not an uncommon occurrence. Unfortunately I know how they feel after trying to light an incinerator on a windy day. Went into the garage after kero and only found the bottle I use with my 123r. Cup of white spirit first match blew out second everything turned yellow. I was in tee shirt and shorts and no longer had hair on my arms or legs Next few days everything tasted like bbq food. Everyone can make a silly mistake Its only when you do it twice that you get labelled an idiot
So looks like two or three gallons of gasoline. At about 114,000 btu / gallon, 342,000 btus produced in about 2 seconds? That's pretty impressive. I love the explosion part. Done properly, it would require a 30 minute road flare, a good throwing arm, case of beer (since this is the kind of thing nobody would do sober). Had they used this logic, it would have been more entertaining and less tragic.
Ever run your fingers through a candle flame.Its suprising how slowly you can do this without burning yourself. Skin can stand quite high temperatures for a second or so without serious harm. I reckon that apart from no longer needind a haircut he would not be really hurt. Video didnt end with everyone running towards him or away.
