a penny in the cigarette lighter

[wajajaja02]

Saw a Friend's Denali today, a burned out shell of a SUV. He explained how a penny fell into the cigarette lighter socket on the console when he unplugged the GPS. Fuse didn't blow , It melted the glass like plastic.

 

[mthieme]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

What glass?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

I smell an insurance job....


I had once fixed an older corvette that I found a dime had fallen into the lighter in the console...... nothing would work......

 

[angus63]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

Dead short 12VDC and the fuse link did not melt, but enough current was transmitted long enough to heat up an excellent conductor like copper inside a metal lighter receptacle until a fire started? I think Bob VT is on to something. Hello...CSI....I've got a story for you!

 

[mthieme]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

I'm tending to agree. The only time I've seen glass melt is when 5 gallons of gas just happened to be sitting in the passenger seat. Not that I've ever been privy to any illegal activities in my 13 years of working in garages.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

Friend's Denali today... SUV

So an overpriced, rapidly depreciating, gas hog, truck burns up by a means that could happen eveyday, yet isn't common at all? Yep, this one has RED FLAGS all over it.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

Oh, I went to a automobile fire seminar in Suburban Chicago a few years back. Even with gasoline on the passenger's seat, and a notebook or two worth of loose paper in the right front passenger footarea, the flare went out without the fire staying lit. They had to pour more gas, and open the door to get the car to burn. Fact is, it is very hard to get an interior fire to stay lit. Not enough air to allow the fire to generate enough heat to do much of anything.

 

[Mark42]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

Car torching 101: Windows down, hood up.

 

[freddyray21]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

when I worked in the garage we used to fix "shorts" all the time. We worked in high dollar cars and they guys who owned these would be cheap tippers at the car washes. The car wash guys would put a penny in the cig lighter and it would blow the fuse everytime. These high dollar cars were wired in such a way that if the fuse for the cig ligher was blown the radio would only work when the door was open. We used to charge 30 dollars for half an hour labor and the cost of the fuse. Pull the penny out replace the fuse and they were good as new. Point is don't believe a penny in the cig lighter burned the car up.

 

[aspeck]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

Oh, I went to a automobile fire seminar in Suburban Chicago a few years back. Even with gasoline on the passenger's seat, and a notebook or two worth of loose paper in the right front passenger footarea, the flare went out without the fire staying lit. They had to pour more gas, and open the door to get the car to burn. Fact is, it is very hard to get an interior fire to stay lit. Not enough air to allow the fire to generate enough heat to do much of anything.

I came out of my house one day to find my Olds Bravada filled with smoke ... seems I left the spotlight on over night and light down on the passenger seat. An neat round hole was burned the whole way through the seat, but no flame ... not enough air to start it. I was fortunate!

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

I came out of my house one day to find my Olds Bravada filled with smoke ... seems I left the spotlight on over night and light down on the passenger seat. An neat round hole was burned the whole way through the seat, but no flame ... not enough air to start it. I was fortunate!

I'll bet it still smells!!

 

[aspeck]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

No ... I had the seat redone and then had a fire cleaning specialty company detail the interior of the Bravada AFTER I had removed all the seats, shampooed the seats, carpeting, and headliner, and thoroughly cleaned everything else. Left the windows open for about 3 weeks, and it was fine after that. Traded it about a year later. Haven't smelled a thing since!

(It truly did not smell after the cleaning and 3 weeks of airing out ... or maybe I was just used to it ... but the buyer never complained of it smelling like smoke either)

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

On Fox news out of Cleveland last night, they showed a clip of a maintenance worker on a high school gym floor. They had some of the flooring replaced and he was doing the clean up. He finished up and left leaving his shop vac unattended in the middle of the gym floor. Later that evening, the security camera caught the shop vac catching fire and setting the floor on fire. The part of the floor they just had replaced.

Fires will do things unexpectedly.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: a penny in the cigarette lighter

No ... I had the seat redone and then had a fire cleaning specialty company detail the interior of the Bravada AFTER I had removed all the seats, shampooed the seats, carpeting, and headliner, and thoroughly cleaned everything else. Left the windows open for about 3 weeks, and it was fine after that. Traded it about a year later. Haven't smelled a thing since!

(It truly did not smell after the cleaning and 3 weeks of airing out ... or maybe I was just used to it ... but the buyer never complained of it smelling like smoke either)

Yah, trading it will have that effect aspeck.