Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 13:46:20 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: vanagon fire
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we don't really know what happened.
pretty sure the article said the had a fire extinguisher but it wasn't
enough.
so we don't really know if he was carelessly driving a very neglected oil
air cooled vanagon ..
or didn't tighten a hose clamp properly, or what.
or if he worked on it and didn't check his work carefully before driving ..
so hard to really know..
the person could have been ressponsible and careful in every possible way ..
yet some little 'vw gotcha' still happened.
or they coulda been a complete goof ...but we don't have enough info to
know.
we're not even sure it's fuel related ..
the article only said 'engine area'.
One van ...........I still have the body, an 85 ..
tangled power supply wires to a large booster amp under the back seat..
shorted and started a fire in the back seat area ..
The guy didn't have a fire extingisher, or a fast way to disconnect the
battery. It burnt up the entire interior and blew out all windows except
one vent window. All he could do was get out , call 911, and stand there
and watch. There was even a whole case of great reggae CD's under the
middle seat ..
not even damaged, they guy never even looked through his van to see what he
could salvage.
that fire 'started' ........
likely , months or years earlier when someone might have run power wires to
a device, but didn't fuse them until after they reached the device, leaving
6 feet of tangled hot wires under the rear carpeting..waiting to short out.
the electrical is just as dangerous as the fuel.
another example..
diesel vanagon ..
there is a small plastic clip that holds the positive battery cable in place
opn these vans.
if that clip is not there, the positive battery cable can ride on, and rub
on, the oil filter.
It took about 5,000 miles..
( and this is why I am nutty about the damage that the increased vibration
that diesel engines can have, and the damage that vibration can do on
anything from rubbing ) ....
Pos batt calbe shorts and zaps though the oil filter.
the oil in the fitler catches on fire.
the plastic parts on top of the engine start melting and burning.
fortunately, a power company came by with a fire extinguisher, van was saved
with not-too-bad damage.
( the very heavy metal engine covers that diesel vanagons have ..
is also a firewall...litterally ........they can help prevent the spread of
an engine fire, giving more time to get it out.
ALWAYS ..on all engine fires ...shoot the extinguisher into the vents..
or license plate opening . It can be very dangerous to open up a strongly
burning area.
and time ..it's all about time.
I have had at least 4 fires in vehicles , both fuel and electrical over the
decades.
In each case I got them out within seconds.
I had an opportunity to use a Halon small extingisher about a year ago.
I had gasoline flames two feet high, and about a foot wide.
One instantaneous burst of halon ..and that fire was out magically.
Nothing was even hurt or burnt or blackened. .
I happened to be catching fuel ( injector testing ) in a yogurt container.
it had two inches of liquid gasoline still in it after the flames were
extinguished.
I don't know how halon works...it doesn't just displace oxygen, it
neautralizes flame somehow.
It's banned for environmental reasons now though.
That was well worth it to know how well halon works. There was absolutley
zero damage from that very real fire, to the vanagon , or subaru engine in
it.
and really ..we should all have battery shut off switches we can get to
quickly ..
plus good extinguishers ..
and not one rolling around under the back seat either.
in boats, to the Caost Guard, a fire extinquisher does not count unless it's
properly mounted in a good holder bracket for it.
it is kinda 'dangerous' that such a flamable fuel as gasoline is in close
proximity to igntion and hot exhaust in cars and on their engines.
and electrical..
'anything' can happen at any time really ....the power that's in a car
battery is huge. Things wear, they short, the just fail electrically,
and sometimes electrons misbehave badly. At least as dangerous as fuel.
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Whittaker" <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: vanagon fire
> dear expression of sadness
>
> too bad the event took place
> by the read of the story this happless owner was just setting out to road
> test a recently worked on vehicle
> too bad the owner had not read the post about engine fires ...
> regards
>
> On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 4:25 AM, Dake Collins <wuwe423@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Sad article with pictures of a Vanagon fire in Hope, Maine.
>> http://knox.villagesoup.com/news/story/flames-decimate-volkswagen-in-hope/396334
>>
>> I live in Liberty, Maine. Where's Liberty, Maine & what's that got to do
>> with a Vanagon fire in Hope, Maine you ask. Well, as the saying goes -
>> Liberty, Maine is just south of Freedom and a bit beyond Hope. I don't
>> know
>> the man but I think I'll give him a call today.
>>
>> Dake
>>
>
>
>
> --
> roger w
> From Proverbs:
> Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a
> servant who becomes king ...
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Explore printed work at: http://www.prliving.ca/
> View the growing list of video work at:
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