REFLECTOR: How to fuel up and live to tell about it.

Laurence Coen lwcoen at hotmail.com
Tue Jan 31 13:15:07 CST 2012


All.

It's winter and the time for static electricity.  It's also the time for fueling accidents.  Last week in Kansas City someone totaled his Chevy pickup at the gas pump to say nothing of what he did to the canopy he was parked under.  This was all caught in the station surveillance camera. The gentleman was sitting in his truck with the door open and the gas hose filling the tank.  He then slid off the seat, turning himself into a 40 thousand volt time bomb.  He walked back and grabbed the fill nozzle.  FOOM!  Since fill nozzles have to be grounded by law and it was in contact with the all metal truck, this was not a grounding problem of the vehicle.  If this guy had of touched anything metal as he slid of the seat this would not have happened.

You can ground the metal stuff on a Velocity but you cannot, no matter how hard you try, ground your fuel tank wings or the gas in the tank because they are all non-conductors.  The metal ring for the fuel cap is metal and can have a static charge if it is not wired to the ground of the plane and you attach the ground clip like you're suppose to.

If you follow this technique it won't matter if it's grounded or not.  Leave the gas cap in place until the plane is grounded and you have the fuel nozzle in your hand  Now use your free hand to open the gas cap.  This will guarantee that the nozzle, you and the gas cap/filler ring are all at ground potential before combustible vapor is available.  Flowing gas will produce static electricity so make sure the nozzle remains in contact with the ring during fueling.  Replace and latch the cap before going to the next tank.  Repeat.

Larry Coen
N136LC
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