[prostreet64]

I was in Alabama for a family reunion last weekend and stopped to fill up a BP station. It was night time and cold and windy and pretty dark out at the last row of pumps near the highway. I set the handle for auto shutoff and put my hands in my pockets as I watched the pump. It was also very noisy as the traffic came by on the 4-lane. Next thing I know some guy down the way is yelling at me, and as I turn I see the gas overflowing at full speed. About 2 gallons I would estimate went to the tarmac. I got some kitty litter from the station manager and spread it out over the gas. Note to self: never assume that the shut off will do its job! Thankfully nobody rode by and decided to flick their cigarette out at that particular time. It could have been really ugly.

[Txbobcat]

I have never had that happen before. You could have gone up in flames

[zeebo]

my buddy had the gas nozzle unthread from the hose and blow gas all over him and the car--had to get the attendant inside to stop the pump....about 20 yrs ago this happened..he was covered in gas..

[Qball]

I had the breakaway joint on the hose be leaky and spew gas all over the place. Scared the ever lovin' sh-- out of me.

[Lemans64]

Had one of our smart sales men drive away with nozzle still in car, tore hose off pump, caught fire, but guy inside was smart enough to hit stop button and extinguish with fire extinguishers real fast.

[400 4spd.]

Twice last year I discovered that the trigger was locked full open on a handle. It got me the first time, as I hit the Regular button while taking the handle out of the pump. It instantly started blowing gas out as I swung it to my side and triggered it to release the lock.

After that, I always check before starting the pump.

[Pontiac Slim]

Had that happen TWICE.....

[steve v]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

Twice last year I discovered that the trigger was locked full open on a handle. It got me the first time, as I hit the Regular button while taking the handle out of the pump. It instantly started blowing gas out as I swung it to my side and triggered it to release the lock.

After that, I always check before starting the pump.

There's been some punk kids doing that at the station we frequent here too, fortunately I've caught it before any spills. It's probably a good practice to stick the nozzle in the tank first then select the fuel grade.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by prostreet64

I was in Alabama for a family reunion last weekend and stopped to fill up a BP station. It was night time and cold and windy and pretty dark out at the last row of pumps near the highway. I set the handle for auto shutoff and put my hands in my pockets as I watched the pump. It was also very noisy as the traffic came by on the 4-lane. Next thing I know some guy down the way is yelling at me, and as I turn I see the gas overflowing at full speed. About 2 gallons I would estimate went to the tarmac. I got some kitty litter from the station manager and spread it out over the gas. Note to self: never assume that the shut off will do its job! Thankfully nobody rode by and decided to flick their cigarette out at that particular time. It could have been really ugly.

There is an O ring inside of the nozzle that controls the shutoff, if that O ring is leaking or the nozzle is loose it won't shutoff. A word to the masses is don't ever assume the nozzle is working. In some states it's against the law to leave a gas pump unattended as it should be everywhere. I have seen dozens of times where an automatic shutoff has malfunctioned working in gas stations since 1969 and leasing my own station for 5 years in the late 70s early 80s.

Until recently I drove fuel tanker and it is against DOT regulations to be more than 20 feet away from your hoses and shutoffs while unloading. Never assume when transferring fuel that you can ignore the hose and sit inside where it's warm. One other thing people do all the time, especially women is sit inside the car while it's filling and jump out and take the hose out when it shuts off. This practice is dangerous 2 ways:

1) Not watching the hose is very dangerous in case of a malfunction as we have seen here.

2) Static electricity can be generated by sliding on the seats while getting in and out of the car and if the person is statically charged and doesn't touch ground on the way back to the nozzle a spark can jump through the fumes setting off a fire.

Two more points I feel I need to touch on:

1) If filling a gas can don't fill it in the bed of a truck or in your trunk, do it on the ground so static electricity generated by the filling process can go to ground. Filling it in the vehicle insulates it from ground and static build up with the possibility of a discharge.

2) A lit cigarette won't start a fire in the presence of fumes or actual gasoline so tossing a butt only starts a spectacular fire in the movies. An ember won't start gasoline, an open flame such as a lighter or a spark will start gasoline. My father proved that to me when I was young because I was paranoid about it. Try it if you want to by simply pouring some gas on the ground and toss a butt into it, that's how my father proved it to me, nothing happened. I have seen many people smoking while working in and around gasoline over the years around cars, never saw any of it ignite, open flame or a spark, a whole different ballgame.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by prostreet64

I was in Alabama for a family reunion last weekend and stopped to fill up a BP station. It was night time and cold and windy and pretty dark out at the last row of pumps near the highway. I set the handle for auto shutoff and put my hands in my pockets as I watched the pump. It was also very noisy as the traffic came by on the 4-lane. Next thing I know some guy down the way is yelling at me, and as I turn I see the gas overflowing at full speed. About 2 gallons I would estimate went to the tarmac. I got some kitty litter from the station manager and spread it out over the gas. Note to self: never assume that the shut off will do its job! Thankfully nobody rode by and decided to flick their cigarette out at that particular time. It could have been really ugly.

This is why they took MTBE out of our fuels saddly . I never use any auto shut down....most here try to shut down as you get started

[66bonne]

SirroticA:THANKS FOR THE TIPS.

Jim

[sdbob]

I talked to a guy checking the pumps for accuracy. he said the static electricity from you or container can/will have an explosion, he personally has seen it happen. Put teh plastic can on the ground/concrete. Around here some of the stations have taken those 'tabs' out of the handle so you can't lock the handle.

[79TA455]

We use to have the little lever that locked the handle in the ON position so you could take your hand from it while pumping gas but they did away with that more years ago than I can remember. Now you have no choice but to hold onto it the whole time you are pumping. I'm pretty sure it was like that in all the parts of Canada I have been so far.