Sad pictures and a Warning/Reminder

[Clem]

Just saw this blog entry from Passion4, a regular on here, and his sad posts ...

http://www.vdubxs.com/the-road-trip-ends-with-the-worst-photo-ive-ever-taken/#sthash.M77xoSsV.dpbs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Real sorry to have seen this Chris Must be gutting.

 

[Resto-raider]

Ouch...that sucks.
i have to get me an extinguisher system soon.

 

[Graham L]

yep saw that a couple of days ago, tragic as he was in Ninove the weekend before.

 

[subheatadey]

That's awful, feel really sorry for the guy

 

[easy]

Oooof poor dood i hope it wasnt something to do with him changing the tank over, which he did recently?

 

[Clem]

I think he said on SSVC that he had no idea how it happened and its probably all to damaged now to really know. Just make sure everything is is in as good order as it can be.
Some stuff just cant be foreseen though ... just do what you can.

 

[KevH]

That is sound advice, Clem, and this a nasty reminder of just how vulnerable these vehicles are.

There is no obvious evidence of the engine bay being fitted with a Firetec or similar, not that it looks like that might have been effective on this occasion. Every little helps though, I guess.

Absolutely gutting, the guy must be devastated.

Kev

 

[gvee]

That's awful

They were bloody brave to move it away from the petrol station, but I'm glad they did or things could have been even worse!

 

[Supertramp]

I saw a flame come out of my airfilter yesterday and it gave me the biggest fright of my life. Had flashes of VW's going up in flames and thought I was going to be next. Just the carb popping but still, then I saw this...
Went out and bought a fire extinguisher for inside and ordered a Firetec system.

My heart goes out to them.

 

[SiDev]

Chilling photo, a very sad loss, but at least he walked away. I hope that's never me.

 

[justcruzin]

I read something on FB that they emptied at least 2 fire extinguishers on it. Didn't help at all. It had a full tank of gas. I myself would like to eventually install a fuel cut of switch, right at the outlet of the tank. I think that would be the best chance on stopping a fuel fire.

 

[ozziedog]

So sorry to hear of this, and even worse when it`s someone you`ve heard of and maybe even spoken with on the forum, but I think Kim has hit the nail on the head with the fuel cut off switch. Each fire extinguisher of every size, will only put out X amount of fire and you`d need a trailer load of extinguishers to extinguish a fire supplied by a full tank or even a load of oil on fire. If you reduce the amount of fuel available to the fire you may have a chance of containing the fire if it`s just burning what`s in the lines.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Let`s be as carefull as poss.

 

[dazza1975]

Absolutely gutted for him. At least no one was hurt. :-(

 

[harper1980]

Reading everyone's comments makes me realise how precious these vans are and it's the worst thing to see looking at these pictures, my heart gos out to everyone who's lost a van due to to fire

 

[mike202]

That's terrible.

 

[Marjorie71]

Terrible, saw this on his blog a few days ago. Scary.

 

[Pellwood]

This is a tragic sight, my heart goes out to him. Fortunately as others have mentioned there were no injuries. This thread has got me searching for fire supression systems.

During my searches i came across the following web site and an article they have written regarding the change in composition of modern fuel and how much ethanol is present which could lead to a premature degredation of older fuel lines.

http://www.vwaircooledworks.co.uk/Fuel-Hose-Safety-Campaign.html

I would like your thoughts. Is this something we need to be addressing or is it a bit of a money spinner for a company who just happen to sell a solution to the problem they have highlighted.

 

[Graham L]

No its not a money spinner by VW Aircooled works and has been widely publicised on forums etc, we only fit SAE30 R9 fuel hose and have been doing so the last 12 months. All the major players sell it but we buy it in wholesale. If you have the old fuel hose with the braided cover on it change it now as we've found that it has perished in less than a couple of years.

Happy to put together a package of latest spec hose and clips if people are interested.

 

[rlepecha]

I also agree with Graham, its not a money spinner and is a serious issue.

Although I've been using cheap GSF R6 hose for 3-4 years now, on my old beetle and now in my bus. I've yet to notice any of the lines going brittle or cracking, the ones in the bus have been in a year and a half now.
I do use copper pipe for at least 80% of the line though, only using the hose where connection to barbs are required and where many bends are made.

I personally think we should all be using proper hard lines with compression fittings at fuel pumps and carbs etc, probably wouldn't cost much more than the proper ethanol rated rubber line!

 

[mike202]

I also agree with Graham, its not a money spinner and is a serious issue.

Although I've been using cheap GSF R6 hose for 3-4 years now, on my old beetle and now in my bus. I've yet to notice any of the lines going brittle or cracking, the ones in the bus have been in a year and a half now.
I do use copper pipe for at least 80% of the line though, only using the hose where connection to barbs are required and where many bends are made.

I personally think we should all be using proper hard lines with compression fittings at fuel pumps and carbs etc, probably wouldn't cost much more than the proper ethanol rated rubber line!

I agree about the copper pipe fuel line, I loved this split bus engine at Busfest last year.