Thread: FJ Cruiser Goes Boom.........

I moved away from gas stoves because I hate the idea of a pressurised cylinder in an enclosed space. This guy smells acetylene and starts the vehicle anyway and he's surprised it went boom?

Acetylene is explosive over a wide range of gas/air mixture.

As commented - he is lucky to be alive! And worth remembering if you keep your welding equipment in a reasonably airtight shed! Also points out why you should not carry gas cylinders in a closed vehicle.

Thanks for drawing attention to this incident!
John

If it was caused by an acetylene leak rather than a dodgy vindaloo the night before then this only proves again that a Fender is a better and safer option than a Tojo.

If he had stored his gas bottles in a Fender there would have been no explosion for sure ...all the gas would have leaked out through the holes in the floor and poor fitting doors. ...

cheers,
Terry

Those pics popped up on 4wdAction last week with a link to the US forum. From my perspective there's something not right, firstly from what is supposed to be an acetylene explosion, there is no visible burning or even heat damage that I could see, the guy was supposedly in the car when it went off and only suffered a hearing problem ???

Given (as John stated ) the explosive range of acetylene (~8-90% IIRC) I have no doubt it could be ignited by a window winder motor, the supposed ignition source, but having seen the pics from the fire investigation as a result of the plumbers van in Melbourne the two are chalk and cheese with the heat/flame effect.



Martyn

The fact that he survived shows it was a pretty mild explosion, consistent with not much heat as shown by the damage. But if the vehicle was totally closed, it would not take much of a sudden pressure increase to do that sort of damage, particularly with a vehicle like the FJ having a lot of plastic panels. There was probably not very much acetylene involved, but it all went off at pretty much the same time. If a door had been open it would have been a lot less spectacular.

John

Surely with that much explosive force the guys brain would be mince meat ? I dont see anyone surviving while being in the vehicle, i smell something and it isnt acetylene .

I've been in an accetylene / hydrogen explosion and I'd say it rings true both the damage and lack of heat are consistent.

It was my fault & a really stupid thing to do, I had a battery on charge in a VW Beetle , (the battery is under the back seat) so we have a hydrogen / oxeygen environment .

I had a really bad habit of starting up the gas axe by arcing the leads from my battery charger together.

So I stupidly took the Accetylene torch to the charger & turned on the Gas & struck a arc over the top of the battery - KaaBOOM.

There was a bright flash & my world went black , The door was already open on the beetle so not so much explosive force but it blew a bulge in the roof , The battery had blown out sideways & I had acid burns on my clothing but not my face. Nothing was burned, not even my eyebrows but I was deaf for a week & now suffer tinnitus.

Well he bought an FJ cruiser didn't he? Why the surprise when he starts it with gas everywhere?