Tom Wesenberg
Well-known member
If the nozzle has to be inserted all the way before you can pump gas, wouldn't that mean you could only fill to half a tank, because the nozzle shuts off as soon as gas backs up to the tip of the nozzle?
Fuel tank spark arrestor/ screen
- Thread starter trax
- Start date
If the nozzle has to be inserted all the way before you can pump gas, wouldn't that mean you could only fill to half a tank, because the nozzle shuts off as soon as gas backs up to the tip of the nozzle?
jmeckel
Well-known member
Same for me
triumphleroy
Member
It has Been my experience with filling tanks on Aircraft, motorcycles,autos that the danger is the vaporized fuel above the tank outlet which is the danger. The nozzle and tank when touched together emit a spark which ignites this vapor. The screen is to prevent the vapor from forming! You would be better off grounding the car to the pump before removing the cap! In aviation you must use the grounding method to dissipate the charge that is built up on the aircraft surface!
In all honesty it is my firm belief that grounding your car by touching the pump and your car at the same time has the same effect. Draining off the static charge through your body! This is the same thing that happens when you shuffle across some carpet and touch the light switch and you are zapped by the small screw that holds on the cover plate, you are being grounded to that screw!
But then I have only been at this for the past 65 plus years,starting with the old pump up gravity flow pumps in Stinson's, Luscombe's,Pietinpols Stearmans,as well as Harley's Indian's Triumph's, Matchless, Yes A Models, 1928 Plymouths,and on and on, but I sure as heck am not going to crawl in a hole and stop doing anything that the present ALL KNOWING POWERS tell me that is Dangerous
In all honesty it is my firm belief that grounding your car by touching the pump and your car at the same time has the same effect. Draining off the static charge through your body! This is the same thing that happens when you shuffle across some carpet and touch the light switch and you are zapped by the small screw that holds on the cover plate, you are being grounded to that screw!
But then I have only been at this for the past 65 plus years,starting with the old pump up gravity flow pumps in Stinson's, Luscombe's,Pietinpols Stearmans,as well as Harley's Indian's Triumph's, Matchless, Yes A Models, 1928 Plymouths,and on and on, but I sure as heck am not going to crawl in a hole and stop doing anything that the present ALL KNOWING POWERS tell me that is Dangerous
MikeK
Well-known member
That's not how a flame arrestor works. The metal with tiny holes presents a large heat sink to the traveling flame front. The ignition temperature of the traveling flame front cannot be maintained as it attempts to pass through.
If your tank is 3/4 full or more and you have no flame arrestor, igniting the vapor in the tank will only produce a sudden soft pop and woosh as the expanding combustion products exit the filler hole. The ratio of vapor volume to exit hole size determines how much shock pressure the tank will experience. If the tank is near empty and has 9 or 10 gallons of vapor above it, ignition of that vapor will produce too much combustion product for the filler hole to vent without a severe pressure rise. That severe pressure shock can rupture the tank.
I have original arrestors in both my A's. Still, I touch the metal pump nozzle with one hand while removing the cap with the other to dissipate any static before opening. I have no problem holding the modern nozzle up while I fill and throttle the flow near the end. No aluminum extension, no PVC.
1crosscut
Well-known member
If I understand it correctly the spark arrestor screen dissipates heat thus not allowing the flame to be hot enough to continue to burn from one side of the screen into the gas tank. If the theory is correct you could drop a match into your spark arrestor and you would only get a bit of flame for a short time it takes to burn the vapors on the atsmopheric (sp?) side of the screen.
Not that I am going to test it out!
Big hammer
Well-known member
Goggle or u-tube gas station fire young lady I saw was very lucky or unlucky
She started pumping gas got in her car got back out she didn't touch anything
then the gas nozzle ! Just wanting for model a ers to be careful
She started pumping gas got in her car got back out she didn't touch anything
then the gas nozzle ! Just wanting for model a ers to be careful
DougVieyra
Well-known member
The 'Spark Arrestor' (filter) screen in the Model A gas tank, like many of the car's features, was a requirement of several New England states. To be sold in such a state, Ford had to make certain 'adjustments' and inclusions to make his NEW FORD meet the state's requirements for sale in that state. It is much easier to make a universal change to all of the cars than it is to site specific each region of the country.
The location of the gas tank was another 'issue' that Ford had to fight to get acceptance. As a point of controversey it was a major obstacle that he had to over-come. Sometimes he won, sometimes he lost. It was not Ford's idea to have a fuel screen in his gas tank.
The location of the gas tank was another 'issue' that Ford had to fight to get acceptance. As a point of controversey it was a major obstacle that he had to over-come. Sometimes he won, sometimes he lost. It was not Ford's idea to have a fuel screen in his gas tank.
Chuck Sea/Tac
Well-known member
That's an easy fix. You can use wood or plastic cutting board and just make a U-shaped hole in it that will slide over the bump on the nozzle and that will hold the vapor barrier up and trick the pump into thinking that it's pushed all the way down.
pgerhardt
Well-known member
Somewhere I saw a photo of a Ford dealer lighting a match to a Model A gas tank to prove how save it was. Wish I remembered where!