newtothis
Well-Known Member
Given that it's well below 55°C in London today, what are the chances of a discarded fag butt leading to mass immolation?
Flammable diesel?
- Thread starter newtothis
- Start date
Given that it's well below 55°C in London today, what are the chances of a discarded fag butt leading to mass immolation?
KevinV
Well-Known Member
Sod all
Stemar
Well-Known Member
That sound about right,
The Fuel Spillage Manual says it must be done, so, it must be done. Common sense might get you sued, but following the manual won't.
noelex
Well-Known Member
I used to think diesel was very hard to ignite until I started using a drip-fed diesel stove.
To light this stove, we drip a small amount of diesel into a tray, drop in a tiny paper wad (less than a fingernail piece of paper screwed up) into the tray. Light the paper wad with a match, and the diesel is happily burning away in no time. All this still works in sub zero temperatures.
The paper is a better ignition source than a cigarette, but the bottom line is diesel is more flammable than I had been led to believe, especially a shallow pool of diesel.
To light this stove, we drip a small amount of diesel into a tray, drop in a tiny paper wad (less than a fingernail piece of paper screwed up) into the tray. Light the paper wad with a match, and the diesel is happily burning away in no time. All this still works in sub zero temperatures.
The paper is a better ignition source than a cigarette, but the bottom line is diesel is more flammable than I had been led to believe, especially a shallow pool of diesel.
KevinV
Well-Known Member
Try the same with a cigarette - you'll put the cigarette out.
newtothis
Well-Known Member
Only boat I've been on that had a diesel heater required a complicated process of putting meths in first to get things up to temp before the diesel could be introduced.
noelex
Well-Known Member
If you dropped the cigarette into a deep pool of diesel, say a diesel tank, I would be confident it would just extinguish the cigarette.
Drop a lit cigarette into a shallow tray, say 1-2mm of diesel, where the oxygen can still reach and support the combustion of the cigarette, and I am not so sure.
I can understand the skepticism; before owning a diesel stove, I felt the same, but lighting a tray of diesel every winter’s morning taught me that it is surprisingly easy to start a diesel fire.
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noelex
Well-Known Member
Using methylated spirits to start the stove is an option, but the accelerant is not necessary. We found the small wad of paper igniting the diesel itself less fussy and, importantly, when cruising out of the way places, removes the need for methylated spirits.
The main drawback is there is a little more carbon buildup in the bottom of the tray from the residue of the burnt paper. This needs to be periodically cleaned, but the effect is minimal if you only use a tiny bit of paper.
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oldharry
Well-Known Member
If it wasn't flammable it wouldnt work as fuel! It takes a lot longer, bit it's easy enough to see how a diesel spill could be ignited even from quite a small flame:
newtothis
Well-Known Member
mjcoon
Well-Known Member
Paraffin blowtorches and stoves are similar...
mjcoon
Well-Known Member
Can you use a bit of non-flammable wick or oven seal instead to get something cleaner and more persistent?
noelex
Well-Known Member
That is a good idea, thanks.
I will try this next time, but our current temperatures are a far cry from our winters in Scotland. When it is only dropping to around 27°C, there is not much incentive to light a heater
.st599
Well-Known Member
Surely any combustible liquid can work as a fuel, whether it's flammable or not?
noelex
Well-Known Member
The video is quite accurate. It does take some time to start burning (the video measured a minute), but the paper acts as a wick so even a tiny bit of paper burns for a long time when it is soaking up diesel.
Diesel is much safer than gasoline, but in emphasising this message, it has left the impression that it is harder to start a diesel fire than is true in practice.
Before using the diesel stove, I would not have thought you could start a diesel fire with the small flame from a simple match, without using a more flammable accelerant to start the process. Maybe this was my misunderstanding alone, but if other yachtsmen have a similar impression, it is important to dispel that myth.
The video does that better than my ramblings, so thanks Harry for posting.
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ducked
Well-Known Member
Might be a slight airbourne fibre particulate hazard, especially from asbestos, but perhaps also from glass fibre. Maybe less than the particulates from paper, though.
Cigarette papers might be convenient, and cigarettes are obviously good for you, otherwise they wouldn't be legal.
mjcoon
Well-Known Member
Perhaps oven seals are only safe because they are usually soaked not in diesel but in edible grease...
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Obviously, you can get diesel burning, and a proper diesel fire isn't something I want to be anywhere near, unless it's well confined in a heater but, just supposing someone dropped a cigarette in a shallow puddle of diesel, and it acted as a wick, you've now got a small oil lamp flame; I just can't see it spreading, any more than the flame of a candle spreads over the molten wax. One plod with his size 11 - or even a lady plod with her size 5 could deal with it.
billskip
Well-Known Member
???
st599
Well-Known Member
Combustible means a liquid can be made to release explosive vapours (usually by heating), flammable means it releases explosive vapours at ambient temperature. A liquid doesn't need to be flammable to be a decent fuel.
