The worse case scenario is a static spark when you reach for the nozzle after fueling up. There is plenty of fuel vapor near the fill tube that can become ignited. A static spark all the way inside the drivers side vent is for all practical purposes incapable of causing a fire that way. You'd have to intentionally work pretty hard for something like that to happen. So I don't think you have to worry about it. For what it's worth, I saw my dad throw a lit cigarette into a puddle of gas when I was a kid. It put out the cigarette and other than that, nothing happened. I don't think I'd repeat that experiment though.
Yep they do say that. Keep in mind they also say a kid playing a Game Boy in row 23 will bring down a jumbo jet.
A cigarette will possibly ignite a puddle of gas if it is lying on the ground a foot or two away from a puddle. Even then atmospheric conditions must be just right for the vapor concentration to occur. It has been demonstrated numerous times that a cigarette just thrown into a puddle of gasoline will not ignite. In the movies a special effect tech pushes a button that fires an electronic igniter located off camera.
I stand corrected. I thought a cig was hot enough but apparently only while being smoked. It is still 'partly plausible' according to the infamous MythBusters but very improbable...
I too have a pilots license and learned the same ritual. But a cell phone does not generate static as do non-conductive liquids rushing from one location to another (filling with fuel) or engines that are running with spark plugs. I think I have read that the static from getting in/out of a car is mostly associated with nylons on women - that fuel fires that rarely start with cars and static are caused by women in the winter. But the cell phone myth is an extrapolation of these know static hazards.
Even the Petroleum Equipment Institute says cell phones don't cause static fires. PEI Safety-Stop Static Campaign
I thought the PlasmaCluster® was not on unless you hit that little button that has the |::| logo next to it. Yes, it also turns on Recirculation, but even if you turn it back to fresh air, the light on the |::| button stays lit for its 3 minutes of miasma removal.
That's separate from PlasmaCluster. PlasmaCluster is always on and comes out of the driver's side vent.
|::| = pollen/dust filter When you press it, it runs on recirc and circulates the air aggressively so that the filter can trap more pollen/dust. I do NOT believe that this has anything to do with plasmacluster. Plasmacluster is ON all the time if your fan/AC is on. At least, this is how i understand it from the owner's manual.
Okay -- here's my question: Is the air being passed through the in-cabin filter whenever the ACC is running or is the air only routed through the filter when the |::| button is pressed?
There's no separate filter for the pollen/dust button. The only difference is it switches to 100% recirculation (rather than 80%) and runs the fan at higher speed to clear the interior air faster. Normal A/C recirc still lets 20% of outside air in.
The FM is poorly written and I've had to ask a number of technical questions on information not found in the manual.
Excellent! That button has really been bothering me and the manual is useless. Thanks for the insight! How did you figure this out?