OK to use wet-dry vac to siphon gas?

[sue_dbastard]

You could die, so, in other words, nothing.

[sue_dbastard]

And I suppose you never sued anybody. My first case was against Mother and Father, for Santa Claus fraud.

Siphoning gasoline with a wet-dry vac isn't that uncommon. Only last month, this misguided youth tried it:

[terry]

Yup. All these rank right in there with those about the lady who washed her telephone in hot water in the kitchen sink "Because it was dirty"!. (It short circuited the telephone line so none of the phones in the house would work!). Or the kids who put a pet cat into the microwave to dry it off after giving it a bath' etc./ etc. (First Kitty was shivering; and then was dead.). Misunderstanding of the tools and technology we have at hand makes us modern humans more stupid than a 'primitive person's' understanding of more natural events. Such as "Don't eat those berries they will kill or make you sick. That water or that animal/fish etc. is unclean and will give you disease. Of course what we are currently doing to the planet is going in that direction anyway!

[DerbyDad03]

re: Siphoning gasoline with a wet-dry vac isn't that uncommon

It's uncommon by this definition:

un=B7com=B7mon - adjective, -

1. exceptional; remarkable.

As in, exceptionally stupid, remarkably idiotic.

[Ron]

Well, there was an episode of "Mythbusters" were they *tried* to get a vacuum cleaner (wet/dry) to blowup using this method and nothing happened.

[Ron]

Shop-Vac Jet Engine

Myth: A guy was cleaning his pool and heard an explosion. He went to his neighbor's house -- his neighbor was using a shop-vac to get the sediment off the bottom of the gas tank in his boat. The fumes went through the shop-vac and turned it into a turbine engine.

Test 1: Shop-Vac + Gas Can

They put a small amount of gas in a gas can so that it was mostly full of fumes. They hooked it up to a shop-vac for five minutes to see if they could get an explosion.

No explosion. It turns out that the shop-vac that they had chosen, like most new shop-vacs, has a safety feature: the motor is isolated from the tank and air running through the tank, so the motor can't spark the fumes.

Test 2: Short-circuited shop-vac + Gas Can

By accident, they short-circuited their shop-vac parts, sending sparks everywhere. Happy with this discovery, they decide to rig a worst-case shop-vac: short-circuit and a hole drilled through to allow the spark to reach the fumes. They also added more gas to the gas can.

No explosion.

Test 3: Creating a Jet-engine out of Vacuum Parts

Tory went to A&G Vacuum shop to pick up some more vacuums. A&G Vacuum was the site of Adam's facial run-in with a vacuum motor (Adam decided to stick his face near a motor, which pulled in and chopped up his lip). The Vacuum Man showed Tory an older vacuum that was capable of sparking fumes into a fire.

This proved that it's possible for a vacuum to catch on fire, but it didn't turn into a jet engine. With this in mind, Tory was tasked with replicating the results of the myth, i.e. creating a jet-engine out of vacuum parts.

Tory's design:

• Vacuum motor sucks in air into a tube * Fuel injector made from a propane ring from a propane stove * Flame catcher made from a conical strainer * Fans at back

Tory: "There are going to be a lot of engineers out there going, 'What the hell is he doing?' and I'm asking myself that on a moment-by- moment basis, 'What the hell am I doing?'"

Tory's vacuum-based jet-engine was hung up chamber with an ignitor. First try: no ignition. Tory moved the ignitor to the end of the engine. Second try: still no ignition. Tory then tried an open flame at the end of the chamber: finally, ignition.

There was a tiny, tiny bit of thrust when the vacuum motor started, but for the most part it just tossed flames around the chamber.

Jamie's explanation:

"The whole concept of a vacuum cleaner being a jet engine is all wrong. It goes against the principles that make jet engines. Vacuum cleaner create vacuums, that's low pressure. A jet engine works by creating more pressure, which completes the compression, so it's just not practical."

mythbusted

[DerbyDad03]

It may not have become a jet engine, but it did make a pretty decent flame thrower. Check out this video..it's worth waiting until 4:08 in.

[WalkingMan]

After you finish with the gas, you can dry it out by sweeping up the hot ashes from your fireplace! WM

[Ron]

Unbelievable, especially with kids around.

[DerbyDad03]

Kids *around*? It was kids that were doing it. Did you hear one kid say "We definitely can't tell Mom and Dad?"

[Ron]

What I meant was, there seemed to be two "older kids" around and then two younger ones around. I would have to watch it again to be exactly sure.

[trader4]

I saw this episode too. They tried pretty hard to get it to ignite, but couldn't. But I don't doubt that with the right vac under just the right conditions it could explode. And of course anyone doing this with a shop vac is an idiot.

Reminds me of a teacher back in high school. He decided to use a shop vac to suck water out of his swimming pool, which might not be such a bad idea, if there was a small amount on the bottom of the pool. But he did it by taking the top part of the vacuum and holding it while standing in the pool water, thereby electrocuting himself.

[Harry K]

Right after we installed a wood stove 30 years ago, I saw my wife vacuuming up ashes around it. I pointed out what would happen if just one little spark was to be sucked up.

Harry K

[DerbyDad03]

Tell us...what would happen if just one little spark was to be sucked up?

[Steve Barker]

Well nothing happened. So what's the big deal? Watching plastic burn?

s

[Steve Barker]

it burns a hole in the bag.

s

[DerbyDad03]

Did you watch it up to and past 4:08 when it turned into a pretty decent flame thrower for few seconds?

[DerbyDad03]

oooh...scary.

[Steve Barker]

ya, really.

[Steve Barker]

yep, and i've made better flames with a lighter and a can of b-12.

s