Originally Posted by
Schlafen
Lol, where is this place with random sparks everyone is talking about whenever petrol comes in a discussion?
Any number of places. Sparks, pilot lights, some idiot smoking, etc. The point is that the flash point of gasoline…or petrol, if you prefer…is so low that there is no temperature where it can be used without the risk of ignition.
500ml of petrol in a jam jar with the lid screwed on doesn't generate enough vapour to explode or catch on fire after you agitate the contents except if you remove the lid and check how clean the chain inside the glass jar is, with an open flame. Otherwise every car fueling up would leave the petrol station as a fireball.
At some point, the chain will have to be removed from the jar. It can’t make the bike go if it is sealed in a jar. Out of the jar, there is a significant amount of gasoline
on the chain which evaporates and offers an fuel source for ignition. The jar is also vulnerable to breakage or even just getting knocked over. But buddiiee is talking about a whole lot more gasoline than 500ml. He is cleaning chains in coffee cans which are usually have a volume of 64 oz (1.9L) and are large enough to hold 2lb of bad coffee. They have a 5.125” (13 cm) mouth and usually have a plastic lid. And he is soaking multiple chains. I know exactly what he is talking about because my father used to do just this kind of stupid stuff with gasoline.
Fueling fires aren’t unknown. Fires from fuel tank ruptures in cars isn’t unknown. There are roughly 85,000 car fires in the US per year. There are roughly 35,000 house fires caused by gasoline in the US (52% of flammable liquid caused fires) per year. There are 100,000 gasoline (61% of flammable liquid fires) caused fires in business per year. It’s not a substance that should be handled without extreme caution.
I mean, I know some people are dense but come on, how are they riding a bicycle in that condition?
I agree. How could anyone have a such a cavalier attitude to something that is close to an explosive.
If petrol is 'scary' use diesel.
Diesel would be a far better choice than gasoline. It doesn’t evaporate cleanly however. Mineral spirits does a better job without leaving an oily residue or, more importantly, burning down your house