[quote:f6ee39b1f3="josok"]Hi Ron,
My own experience, long ago, driving fast on a motorway. Wondering where the
fuel
smell came from. Nobody in front me, decided to stop and check. Opened the
hood, and saw fuel spraying from a broken fuel line straight onto the hotspot,
hissing away.
[/quote:f6ee39b1f3]
My experience, trying to start an engine. I had used the choke too much. The
cylinders
were soaked with fuel, and the spark plugs were sparking, but nothing
happened.
The lesson here is that you can't ignite gas with a spark. :shock:
Nonsens of course. Gas will ignite, if the circumstances are right. It depends
on temperature, gas/air mixture ratio, etc.
A hot surface will ignite gas, if the temperature is high enough, and if the
mass
of the hot surface is large enough (so that the vaporizing fuel doesn't lower
the temperature below the ignition point) and the air/gas mixture is not too
far off.
Fuel is a risk, as is oil or any other combustible material. In general, the
easier
substance will vaporize, the easier it will ignite and cause enough heat
to vaporize some more, etc.
Aluminium fuel lines are a risk too. With the wrong length, it will resonance
and
quickly fail. Even professionals will fall into this trap: the Thielert engine
had a few failures with cracked fuel lines, finally leading to an AD to replace
them. With our homebuilts, we can never be sure if there is no particular
length of aluminium that doesn't resonate on an engine vibration, or fuselage
flexing.
Of course rubber fuel hoses have their own risks as well, mainly due to aging.
But replace them once in a while and you are pretty safe. You can't avoid the
use of hoses anyway as the final connection to the engine can't be a solid line.
Frans
Visit - www.EuropaOwners.org
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