Spontaneous combustion
- Thread starter capta
- Start date
I won't speak for @capta, however spontaneous combustion of oily rags is a concern. How do you clean up the engine room after changing to oil? Or bleeding the fuel lines. What about cleaning brushes after varnishing? Or oiling the teak?
Neighbor wife put a bunch of brush cleaning rags in their garbage cans next to their house. Next day at around 10 AM, I smelled smoke and found the can blazing and beginning to scorch the side of their house. I put it out; they were not home.
I am a bit sensitive since my house burned while I was on vacation in 2000.
certainly something to consider.
I am a bit sensitive since my house burned while I was on vacation in 2000.
certainly something to consider.
It only happens with catalyzing/oxidizing oils. Engine oil isn’t one. Catalyzing oils are ones that harden. Some mistakenly describe them as “drying oils” but they do not dry or evaporate. They harden through oxidation. Hydrocarbon oils/diesel do not self combust neither does solvents but if the proper oil is cleaned with a solvent the oxidation takes place a lot faster generating higher amounts of heat causing potential combustion if the situation is correct.
Cardinal rule has always been no rags, paper towels, brushes, etc etc that have been used with oils, varnish, fuel, etc are ever left onboard. I don’t know the chemistry of combustion, however, whenever I leave the boat, I’m carrying a trash bag if the project used such.
Thanks, capta!
It's not something we typically associate with sailing, but as dlochner alluded to, oily rags are common on some sailboats. Good thing to be mindful of.
Hey, here's a question: Which of the following two is more responsible for sailboat fires?
-Lightning strikes
-Onboard fires
I know which one I would lay my money on...
It's not something we typically associate with sailing, but as dlochner alluded to, oily rags are common on some sailboats. Good thing to be mindful of.
Hey, here's a question: Which of the following two is more responsible for sailboat fires?
-Lightning strikes
-Onboard fires
I know which one I would lay my money on...
The one fire I actually saw start was on a truck. The battery cable did have a fuse, but it chafed on the frame, no enough to blow the fuse, but enough to melt and ignite the fuel hose it shared a pass-through with. So add chafe protection.
I keep my shop waste in a steel drum with a lid. I keep all of the solvent-based materials (paint, spray, solvents, gas additives etc.) in very heavy steel cabinet that is closed. If I have solvent or paint-soaked rags from a project, they go outside on a concrete slab at least overnight. Fire risk, and it reduces solvent fume in the house.
I have witnessed several spontaneous combustion fires at work in several scenarios. Not common, but it does happen. Several were just used oil with no reactive oils.
The oils will continue to oxidize once removed from the water and produce heat. Under special situations they can combust after they are removed from the water and placed in the garbage. . It’s safest to leave the rags out laid flat to allow them to dry and disipste the energy.
A common one is potting soil. It’s not soil, it’s compost materials. I’ve had several smoldering fires from it.
I couldn't think of a better place to reach the most people.
This is a very real danger on any vessel, deck box, or dock box, so let's just pretend that it's a boat, not a wood shop, OK?
Actually, it doesn't necessarily only happen with oils. Wet a cargo of coal and as it dries, poof. Many a ship has been lost that way. Other materials which could spontaneously combust;
- Towels and linen, during laundering and drying.
- Haystacks.
- Green waste piles and compost.
- A number of chemical substances, such as cellulose nitrate.
Also, be careful the next time you take on a load of rice. It expands by approx. 100% and could compromise your hold in a big wayI'll keep that in mind next time I take on a load of coal.
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