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Billy

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DISPOSABLE LIGHTERS WARNING
The following story appeared some time ago in an American company’s staff magazine.
“It has come to the attention of the Safety Program that recently a major railroad has experienced two (2) fatal accidents caused by disposable Butane cigarette lighters. These accidents occurred inwelding areas while employees were welding with the butane lighters on their person.
A spark from the welder landed on the Butane lighter, burned through the case, exposing the liquid
Butane, which then exploded. One lighter was in a shirt pocket and killed the individual instantly.
The other employee had a lighter in his pant’s pocket. The explosion blew the man’s leg off - he died a short time later.
There is the same amount of force in a Butane lighter when it explodes as there is in
approximately three (3) sticks of dynamite.
HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT TRUE
You should be aware of the danger present with these lighters in areas where welding and flame cutting operations are performed, also anywhere there are sparks or an open flame.
 
#2 ·
First rule in welding, if you smoke, get a zippo.
That being said....I think the exploding lighter deal is BS. Never seen it happen. I have burned holes in them before, thrown them in fires, etc., and have yet to see one do anything other than produce a long flame.
 
#3 ·
There is the same amount of force in a Butane lighter when it explodes as there is in
approximately three (3) sticks of dynamite.
Click to expand...
Not even close! Whoever wrote that just doesn't understand physics, math or chemistry.
Butane doesn't even explode in the same sense that nitroglycerin or other true explosives do; a mix of it plus air undergo a very rapid burning under normal circumstances. Also, the amount of energy contained in the small lighter is considerably less than that contained in a single stick of even low-powered dynamite.
Just 'cause you see it on the internet, (or even in a newspaper or magazine) does not mean it's correct or true.
 
#4 ·
Oldiron2 said:
Not even close! Whoever wrote that just doesn't understand physics, math or chemistry.
Butane doesn't even explode in the same sense that nitroglycerin or other true explosives do; a mix of it plus air undergo a very rapid burning under normal circumstances. Also, the amount of energy contained in the small lighter is considerably less than that contained in a single stick of even low-powered dynamite.
Just 'cause you see it on the internet, (or even in a newspaper or magazine) does not mean it's correct or true.
Click to expand...
Yes you are correct!!
 
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#6 ·
Boostinjdm said:
First rule in welding, if you smoke, get a zippo.
That being said....I think the exploding lighter deal is BS. Never seen it happen. I have burned holes in them before, thrown them in fires, etc., and have yet to see one do anything other than produce a long flame.
Click to expand...
I used to be quite a pyro when I was a kid. Butane lighters would either erupt into a good size fireball( about the size of a basketball) or it may explode with about the force of a good firecracker. I could see some serious burns and maybe shards of plastic spearing into the skin, but I highly doubt it would blow someone's leg clean off.
 
#9 ·
I had a Bic brand lighter explode but I was not welding. I was living in a small cabin at the time which had a propane space heater in the bathroom. Said heater was near the bathtub and I had laid my cigarettes, lighter and ashtray on top of the heater, as I had done all summer long, while I was taking a bath. It was no longer summer and I had just lit the heater and ran a tub full of hot water. I was not looking at the time of the explosion, in fact I had laid back in the tub to get my hair wet. Sounded like a shotgun went off in the bathroom, and I did see the flash through closed eyelids. The lighter case had split but was still right near the heater. There were no scorch marks on the wall or heater and no plastic shards. It was noisy and bright, and I never laid another lighter on that heater but there were no injuries or even minor damage as a result of the explosion. Still, I always carried a Zippo after that, if nothing else that butane was very noisy when the lighter split open. Quit smoking a little over 2 years ago so I no longer carry a lighter at all.
 
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#11 ·
It appears that some of the lower writing in post #1 was yours; if you'd use quotes, or set things off with lines or something, it would be easier to tell what is your writing and what is the copied original.
I guess you found out what we think about the story! :laugh: No harm in askin'! :drinkup:
 
#14 ·
I have heard about one set of circumstances where a disposable lighter can do massive damage. Long before I became a weldor, I did some industrial cleaning. This one aluminum foundry, when you go through security you have to hand over any butane lighter you may have. Zippos are okay, or they'll even give you matches. The rumor is that some disgruntled employees used to toss butane lighters into the remelt furnaces which are full of liquid aluminum, resulting in a large explosion and a ruined batch of product.
 
#18 ·
The blender looks fine to me, all I saw was a quick fireball, no flying parts.

But the video looks rigged to me.
How would the butane fueled flame escape through the bottom of the sealed blender cup?
While not even blowing the lid off of the cup?
I'm not buying it.
Click to expand...
Good point.
Maybe they used [an already broken] one from the Goodwill?
 
#19 ·
"The blender looks fine to me, all I saw was a quick fireball, no flying parts."

I did not think of the difference between burning an intact lighter casing vs the blender method. but my point was that the blender is almost unharmed... stick of TNT indeed!


Now, as I see it, what happened in the blender video is:

lighter in blender is smashed to bits, releasing butane.

butane evaporates, seeps out of jar and may have been ignited by the (presumably Brushed) motor, resulting in a quick flash fireball. and if you look, not all fuel in the jar appears to have burnt and keeps burning at the end of the vid.

I suspect the fuel took a bit to leave the jar and light, and it probably vaporized more slowly in the jar.

igniting an intact lighter would be more of a bang, but nowhere near bad enough to dismember anyone...
 
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