can cell phones cause an explosion?

Not at a gas station.

You didn't see that episode, did you? I suggest you get a TiVo, or if you have one, record the episodes. I also suggest you read the first topic in this forum ASAP!

An interesting note from Shell Oil Company.
It would be a good e-mail to pass along to the entire company.
With winter coming on and the dry cold fronts that pass through the area, static electricity will be on the increase.
I always touch the metal when I leave my vehicle so I will discharge the static electricity.
It is generated when we slide over the seats of our cars.


Safety Alert!
Here's some reasons why we don't allow cell phones in operating areas, propylene oxide handling and storage area, propane, gas and diesel refueling areas.

The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes during fueling operations

In the first case, the phone was placed on the car's trunk lid during fueling; it rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the gasoline pump.

In the second, an individual suffered severe burns to their face when fumes ignited as they answered a call while refueling their car.

And in the third, an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when the phone, which was in their pocket, rang while they were fueling their car.


You should know that:
Mobile Phones can ignite fuel or fumes

Mobile phones that light up when switched on or when they ring release enough energy to provide a spark for ignition

Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations, or when fueling lawn mowers, boat! , Etc.

Mobile phones should not be used, or should be turned off, around other materials that generate flammable or explosive fumes or dust, (i.e. solvents, chemicals, gases, grain dust, etc.)

To sum it up, here are the: Four Rules for Safe Refueling


1) Turn off engine
2) Don't smoke
3) Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off
4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling

Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of"static electricity" at gas pumps . His company has researched 150 cases of these fires.


His results were very surprising:
1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.
2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while the nozzle was still pumping gas. When finished, they went back to pull the nozzle out and the fire started, as a result of static.
3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
4) Most men never get back in their vehicle unt il completely finished. This is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires.
5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas
6) It is the vapors that come out of the gas that cause the fire, when connected with static charges.
7) There were 29 fires where the vehicle was re-entered and the nozzle was touched during refueling from a variety of makes and models. Some resulted in extensive damage to the vehicle, to the station, and to the customer.
8) Seventeen fires occurred before, during or immediately after the gas cap was removed and before fueling began.

Mr. Renkes stresses to NEVER get back into your vehicle while filling it with gas.

If you absolutely HAVE to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping, make sure you get out, close the door TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull the nozzle out. This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever remove the nozzle.

As I mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with several other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware of this danger. You can find out more information by going to <http://www.pei.org/> . Once here, click in the center of the screen where it says "Stop Static".

I ask you to please send this in formation to ALL your family and friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas. If this were to happen to them, they may not be able to get the children out in time. Thanks for passing this along.

Cell phones cause explosions all the time. See you hook up the ringer to the detonator of the IED you are planting. When your target comes into range you call the phone and thus the cell phone cuases the explosion. Besides that you are pretty safe.

[quote]You can find out more information by going to <http://www.pei.org/> . Once here, click in the center of the screen where it says "Stop Static". [/quote]

I'm guessing you didn't bother to follow those simple instructions before copy/pasting this spam.

If you had, you'd have seen what PEI ACTUALLY says about cell phones: "PEI has investigated hundreds of refueling fires and flare-ups. We have not documented one single incident that was caused by a cellular telephone."

That email did NOT come from Shell Oil, and is a mix of truth and hysteria. Static electricity CAN cause fires at the pump; cell phones do not.

Try catching one or both of the episodes in which the Mythbusters busted this.

[quote]An interesting note from Shell Oil Company.[/quote]

NO it's not. Shell never sent that email.

I guess the real reason is that chatting people tend to forget to pay

[quote]Cell phones cause explosions all the time. See you hook up the ringer to the detonator of the IED you are planting. When your target comes into range you call the phone and thus the cell phone cuases the explosion.[/quote]
Very true troll. But other than that method it is not going to make anything go boom.

i got an urban legend email about cell phone explosion... that you shouldn't answer the phone while your phone is plugged into the charger and that a tv station in pittsburg did a spiff on it. If you answer the phone while the charger is plugged in you risk explosion and or electrocution...true or false?

Thank you for using the find button Galahgirl. To answer your question. No it will not make it expl0de.

DON'T ANSWER CELL PHONE WHILE IT IS CHARGING!!!! Hard to believe!
>
>CELL PHONES Wow - I often picked up my cell phone to use it while it's
>charging - not any more!!!!!!!! WARNING: DO NOT ANSWER YOUR CELL PHONE
>WHEN IT IS
>PLUGGED IN ! (This was also on Pittsburgh's WTAE channel 4 news recently
>
>Never, ever answer a cell phone while it is being CHARGED!! A few days
>ago,
>a person was recharging his cell phone at home. Just at that time a call
>came and he answered it with the instrument still connected to the wall
>outlet.
>After a few seconds electricity flowed
>into the cell phone, unrestrained and the young man was thrown to the
>floor
>with a heavy
>thud. His parents rushed to the room and found him unconscious, with a
>weak
>heartbeat and burned fingers. He was rushed to a nearby hospital,
>pronounced
>dead on arrival. Cell phones
>are a very useful modern invention; however, we must be aware that they
>can
>become an
>instrument of death. Again, never use a phone while it is hooked to the
>electrical outlet! FORWARD THIS TO THE PEOPLE WHO MATTER IN YOUR LIFE, SO
>THEY
>WILL BE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME. I JUST DID !
>
is this true!!!!!!!!!!???????????

Yah.....no.

If Jack Bauer hands you a phone, don't answer it, it might explode

You know Adam and Jamie tested and re-tested this myth and could never generate an explosion from a cell phone at a gas station. Now I know cell phone technology has changed since they were first hit the market, maybe newer cell phones incorporated safety features to reduce sparking. Older models might have generated sparks if they used more metal.

The other thing I have wondered when they test the myth. I live in Buffalo and they probably tested this myth around San Fransisco bay area where it might have been more humid and that reduces the chances of a spark. Now here in the winter, the air is much dryer and I get more static when I touch metals. I wonder if this may be happening where there are dryer environments like this area in the winter, far away from water, or near desserts. Plus the gasoline or other vapors could saturate the air more.

Cell Phones and Fireworks: At the Moapa Indian Reservation near Las Vegas, the fireworks store has a sign posted that all cell phones must be turned off because they could cause an explosion. The place looked like an armaments factory and you could smell the gunpowder, but could a cell phone really ignite the fireworks.

if you answer your phone with a fork

Cell phones can blow up gas station? In Brazil it could be happened. If you want to get video about it, please asked to Bandeirantes TV, Brasil Urgente program, data Dec 26 2007. The recording shows a blow up after the guy open the tank and remove one cell phone from his pants. The scientist police believe in 3 option: static eletricity, sparkly from cell phone or both. The atmosferic conditions in Brazil, at few days of the year, can ben similar to desert and accumulate a lot of static eletricity. But the damage could be caused by sparkly from cell phone. People used buy battery not originals. The other important factor: Brazilian gasoline is different than American gasoline. Our gasoline contais 20% of ethanol and produces a lot of vapor and there is more lead (Pb). This substance is putted in Brazilian gasoline to improve the oxigen reaction. If is fact or not is another problem. The important is that could be happend.Sorry for my bad speeling, my native language is Portuguese.

Eduardo, your spelling is fine, considering the language differences.

As far as the video, if it is the one showing the gasoline tanker pulling up to the pumps, and then a man climbing up on the tanker just before the fire starts, no where in that video do you see a cell phone.

It's just being used by people to boost their premise that cell phones cause gas station fires, without any real evidence, aside from stories passed from one person to another, without any verification.

Hi, I'm new to mythbusters so this is probably the wrong message to jump in on, but here is my myth: I am locked our of my car. Can I call my wife on her cell phone and have her hold her key chain remote to the phone while I hold my cell phone up my car door and she can open the lock by pushing her key chain unlock button? The idea is that the car can be unlocked remotely from a cell phone that sends a signal through the phone to the door mechanism. Thanks and please direct me to the right place in necessary. calebine