Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2006 01:28:08 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Vanagons in garages with gas water htrs
In-Reply-To: <003701c6f472$408efe80$7fee9643@computer>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Interesting.
I used to work for an Engineering firm whose business it was to test and
provide backup data for the lawyers suing the hot water tank
manufacturers when fires, explosions, injuries and deaths occurred
involving HWT's.
There was a block building with a single room and in that room a hot
water closet. a standard household door clearance existed under the door
- about 1-1/2 inch for "return air". A given brand of HWT would be
installed per the building where the fire/explosion had occured, then
the pilot lit was lit and the door closed. A small open can of gasoline
was set in the middle of the room, the cameras were set to rolling, and
everyone exited the building. After a while,there would be this muffled
'boom" as the vapors from the evaporating gasoline reached the pilot
light on the hot water tank. The door on the HWT room would be blown off
the hinges and across the room and the can of gas set on fire as a
fireball raced across the room. It was very dramatic, especially when
the film was run in a court room. The engineering dude I worked for got
paid $150/hour for his engineering expertise in the courtroom. He did good.
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Gerald Masar wrote:
> No, not a tale of woe, but could be a recipe for disaster, not that Vanagons EVER leak
> anything :).
> If you park your van in a garage with a gas water heater, and haven't replaced it in
> the last couple of years, here's some info you might find interesting. For many years,
> most building codes required gas water heaters in garages to be elevated on a stand,
> at least 18" above the floor, to reduce the possibility of the flame igniting
> flammable vapors, say from a leaking gas tank, the theory being that the vapors stay
> close to the floor.
> About two years ago, new technology was developed, called Flammable Vapor Ignition
> Resistance, that prevents a water heater from igniting flammable vapors outside the
> combustion chamber, which is now sealed. It's an ANSI standard they all have to meet.
> Oh yes, you no longer have to stand on your head with a BBQ lighter to light the
> pilot. They have Piezo ignition devices. And if local codes have been updated, they no
> longer have to be elevated 18".
> Different retail sellers will call it by different names (GE calls it SmartSensor,
> Rheem calls it Integra),
> but since there are only a couple of manufacturers, they are all pretty much the same.
> I will spare you more details, which you can find on-line.
>
> Oh yes, be prepared for "sticker shock"! They are expensive.
>
> Jerry
>
>
>
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